Software Development Outsourcing setbacks to avoid from now on

Software development outsourcing is one of the most important technological trends in 2019. Experts predict that the number of projects outsourced to professionals will grow. It doesn’t strike as surprise due to outsourcing being known for ensuring high quality of implemented projects while maintaining cost effectiveness. To put it simple - outsourcing pays off.

Though there are much more advantages to outsourcing, in this article I would like to elaborate on the most common mistakes that are made when choosing an outsourcing software house. Over the time of working in this sphere I’ve noticed that several of them are commonly repeated. That's why I’m willing to share my insights on this topic with you.

Choosing a provider based on low price rates is a mistake!

When doing an online research or contacting your network, you will notice that there are really quite a lot of companies offering their services from outsourcing. Each has its own special methods to get a client and catch their attention. A common way is to offer relatively low prices for services. Nevertheless, you should know that a low price does not always come together with high quality.

If the price offer presented to you seems to be too attractive, you should check it carefully. The point is to exclude the risk of cooperation, which in fact may turn out to be ineffective. Later, it may appear that developers working on your project do not work on it according to your expectations. This situation is very likely to cause delays, necessity of introducing utter changes and, as a result, additional costs.

Your provider has no developing experience in similar projects

• Are you focusing on the development of an e-commerce platform? In this case you should look for those developers who know this industry and have previously had the opportunity to work on similar projects.

• Are you going to develop a startup? Excellent! Find a company that not only has great recommendations, but is also known for a broad business understanding. You will receive consulting support as well as valuable knowledge that may help in further development of your organization.

• Do you work in the advertising industry? Look for developers who specialize in AdTech. You may rest assured that you will be working with specialists.

These are just a few examples, but what makes them so important? If a development team has previously worked on a project similar to yours, then it has valuable experience that can be used in cooperation. What I mean is that you will be able to both minimize the risk of errors and use solutions that work. As a result, it should have a positive effect on the reduction of working time and even costs.

Minimizing the risk of ineffective communication

A key factor is communication with a team of developers. It provides efficient information exchange when sharing your insights and feedback. It is a good practice to get to know the entire team you are going to work with before you actually start. During such meetings, the rules of everyday communication should be determined. Thanks to this, you will avoid unnecessary understatements in the future.

In the IT industry, many projects are implemented in accordance with the Scrum approach. If you have not had any experience in this type of projects, you should check how this work is done. For an efficient communication with your development team project management tools will also come in handy. Such tools as Jira, Trello, or Slack will work perfectly well. All works are transparent for both sides. More advantages? You will get a constant control over a current developers’ progress.

Check developers in practice!

The quality of work is utterly important, which includes the quality of a written code, communication or a professional business approach to cooperation with a client. It's best to check it ... in practice. Just like that! If you hesitate and cannot decide on the right developers, you should check the way they work. You can suggest a short-term test period so that you can verify both effectiveness and required knowledge.

Some software houses are reluctant to deal with this type of solution. Through my experience at Codest, I have noticed that more and more customers are eager to decide on a pilot period to make sure they’ve chosen the right partner to work with. From my perspective, I can say that I fully understand this approach. The credibility and high quality that I have already mentioned in projects related to software development are crucial to achieve success. Therefore, there should be no obstacles to check it in practice.