Are You Also Making These Mistakes While Outsourcing Software Development Projects?

Outsourcing software development isn’t a new practice, but it’s becoming much more desirable. As technologies advance rapidly, hiring and maintaining an in-house team of developers is expensive in more ways than one. Employee costs ,and the hardware costs and software licenses needed to get the job done can make custom software out of reach for many businesses. In order to keep up with rapid growth, startup web companies often turn to outsourcing software development in order to stay on track and meet project deadlines. Outsourcing the nitty-gritty details allows companies to focus on the big picture while also ensuring the product is ready for market.

Outsourcing the software development has a significant number of advantages. First of all, it makes it possible to choose highly qualified professionals since there is access to the best offshore developers around the globe. Moreover, you can save your development costs by choosing the country where the average cost of the software development is lower than the one in your country. Eventually, it enables focusing on your core competence and not diving deep into the development details since this function is delegated to your outsourcing partner.

However, there are some common mistakes businesses very often come across when outsourcing, which result in failures, costs and time loss, and postponed project launch or no launch at all. Therefore, extremely important here is to be aware of those pitfalls and be ready to prevent them. In this article, we look at some of the most common mistakes companies do while outsourcing software development projects.

1. Lack Of Research

Selecting a software development outsourcing company without conducting a thorough research is a common blunder that most small businesses make. Most startups base their outsourcing decisions solely on cost-efficiency. Although the cost factor plays an important role in the decision-making process, it’s not the only one. Other things that must be taken into consideration include – the vendor’s portfolio and expertise, feedback and reviews, the way your vendor functions on the market. Research enough in order to have a good idea of all of the work your potential IT partner has done. You may even ask for individual resumés from the team and everything you would like to know.

Make time for research and preparation — it’s worth it. The time spent on researching and preparation should be in correlation with the investment size and expected cooperation length you would like to have.

2. Unclear Requirements and Project Vision

Often, due to misunderstanding and unclearness of the requirements in the beginning, work results of the team do not satisfy a customer and it takes time and money to fix it. That is why, it is necessary not only to have a clear vision of the project and a plan how to reach it, but also, what is of the utmost importance, be able to communicate it clearly to your team. Your team must understand exactly what you want to create and how you see it in order to get into your idea and start implementing it. There must be clear requirements set so that your outsourcing vendor realizes how to fulfill them. Everything has to be understandable from both sides and if there are any questions – they must be asked upfront in order to avoid any troubles.

Other times, you might know what you want your software or app to do, but do you know how you want to get there? Clear, realistic expectations and a well-defined project scope help your outsource team complete the project on time and deliver the product you envision. It also makes for a super smooth relationship.

3. Lack Of Communication

Communication is an issue that should not be underestimated. Even well-planned projects fail miserably due to poor communication. That is why it is extremely important not only to make your idea and requirements clear from the beginning, but also to continue constant collaboration with your team and be aware of what is going on. So, when you choose a software development vendor, you have to be really attentive to the speed with which they respond, communications channels they use, and their communication capabilities since it will have a direct impact on your working process.

Good communication starts from day one. Asking the big questions up front helps you know what to expect. Important questions might include: What is the technical focus of your company? What is your process? What is your security policy—how do you handle disaster recovery and data security? How do you ensure our data is properly secured?

4. Lack Of Basic Technical Know-How At Your End

Although outsourcing companies have technical expertise, it doesn’t mean that you presuppose that you will place the order and get the exact desired result at the end of the project. Regular checks are essential. Therefore, lack of technical knowledge from your end may pose some major risks for the project.

So, if you are not in a position to manage the project on a daily basis on your own, you need to have an internal person or a project manager take care of you for that or opt for a partner who takes a consultative approach towards your project.

Opting for such a partner releases you from the pressure of bringing on your toes with technological upgrades and implementations and also gives you the benefit of leveraging the latest technology for your projects.

5. Cultural Misfit

Effective communication can be challenging when it transcends not only organizational cultures but also geographical and language barriers. Intonations, vocabulary, gestures, idioms, unspoken assumptions, acceptable and unacceptable behavior varies in businesses across the globe. These variations can result in tremendous failure in communication but a key to maintaining a consistent level of involvement is frequent communication and regular exchanges of business-related information.

While fluency in English is important, there are also gestures, intonations, behavior norms, traditions, and customs, which differ from country to country and, in case of neglecting them, may be the cause for misconception and bad influence on the working progress. Therefore, it is worth getting acquainted with the cultural differences and even having some orientation programs for the staff.

6. Absence Of Team Spirit

The last but not the least common and important mistake is that despite the close work, there is no team spirit and connection between the outsourcing vendor and the party, which hires him. It is understandable that the distance can be the key obstacle here, but there are ways to tackle this issue. As long as you find and start managing the international software development firm, the employees of that company who work on your project also become your employees and your team. So it is essential to make them feel part of something great and not be ignorant about their growth. As a matter of fact, the project becomes more successful when all the parts form one strong team, which works on the project idea.

Conclusion

37% of small businesses currently outsource a business process.? This percentage is set to increase as we have moved into 2020. There are a multitude of reasons which you can find online on why you should outsource your business development needs to a custom software development company. Outsourcing custom software development to the right vendor can significantly reduce development costs and decrease the workload on your employees.

Despite a great number of advantages, there are some significant pitfalls that businesses often make while outsourcing, which can result in failures, additional costs, and time loss. The best way to avoid these mistakes is to discuss it with your development team beforehand. Ensure that both sides have the right and clear expectations and remember that this is an equal partnership and that it is important to work as a team to get the desired results.