If outsourcing software development is new to you it may seem a bit daunting at first. Not surprisingly – as you are essentially putting your trust in another company to deliver on something that is critical to the smooth running of your business. But there are many reasons why outsourcing software development projects makes sense. In this article we take a look at some of those reasons.
Reduce Development Costs
Recruiting and maintaining an internal software development team is costly. Even if it just consists of one or two members – costs are still high once you factor in benefits, holiday pay and more. Hiring an outsourced software development company will help keep costs down. You can engage them as you need them, you don’t need to invest in upskilling and training your own staff as you have access to a team of experts on an as needed basis.
Drive Innovation
Working with a team of experienced software developers, who have worked across multiple industries, brings deeper insight to a project. Their experiences will help drive innovation as they will have real world examples of what works and what doesn’t. Fresh eyes and expert minds are a great combination which will bring new perspectives, often from a user’s point of view, to a project. This can really help shape the solution in a way that an inhouse developer would not be capable giving it much longer shelf life.
Shorter Development Time
Software cycles tend to be faster and shorter when outsourced to a team of experts. Milestones are reached more easily as engaging with a software dev company gives you access to a team who can work on your project simultaneously.
Improved Project Management
A software development company will be very well experienced in managing software dev projects. They will have worked with a variety of companies, on differently scaled projects with variable budgets attached so they will have a well-honed project management process. A business can benefit greatly from this expertise and it gives stakeholders within the business assurances that the project is being well managed and pushed through the various stages.
Access to Talent
It can be difficult to hire, train and manage developers inhouse. With outsourcing software projects you can hit the ground running as you don’t have any lead time for recruitment. And as development can be carried out remotely you can outsource to a company that is not in your locality broadening your choices. Outsourcing gives you access to talent and skills that it would be difficult and time consuming to acquire in house.
Increase Flexibility
Working with an outsourced software development company gives you more flexibility for scaling resources up and down as the project dictates. The software development company will be able to add and remove developers on the project as needed. This makes the project much more cost effective as there is no wastage of resources. Look at it as development on demand.
Bespoke Solutions
One of the major benefits of working with a software development company is they will be focused on you and your business operations. Their job is to make sure that the solution they develop fits hand in glove with your business and what it needs to run efficiently. This is a major advantage to outsourcing software dev as opposed to going with an off the shelf solution. The company will do a diagnostic on your business, listen to your needs and what operational challenges you are facing and design a solution to meet those precise concerns. New Application Development
Focus on your Core Business
Outsourcing is a great way of allowing your inhouse resources to focus on other matters. Allowing those in the business to give attention to the core operations while outsourcing specific projects will undoubtedly give a better overall result.
So now that we have covered the many reasons why outsourcing software development makes perfect business sense the question you might be asking is how do you go about it.
Choosing the right Software Development Partner
As the solutions staff use are integral to the successful operations of a busy workplace you should take some time to research software development companies before you engage. You don’t want to be in a situation where you are losing money and a lot of time because you chose poorly. Here are a few tips from us to help you make the decision on who to partner with for your software development project.
Think about what it is you need – don’t go into discussions with potential partners blindly. Put aside some time to think through what challenges you and your staff face. If you have used an out of the box solution previously, why did it not meet your needs? What direction could you see the company going in in the future? Might you expand into new markets? Adopt new products? Employ need staff? All these considerations will help future proof the solution that is designed and a good software development partner will encourage you to consider all these aspects of your business.
Look for experience in the latest technologies – the world is going more and more mobile! Check that any prospective software partner is experienced and preferably certified in the latest technologies such as cloud and mobile app development so that they can bring these advancements in technology to your business.
Make sure to consider Security – Cyber security is critical in times where cyber crime is on the rise and attack surfaces have increased due to remote working and IoT. A software development partner that is cyber aware and develops solutions with security in mind is a big bonus.
Do you research – Once you have narrowed the field of prospective companies check their website for customer testimonials, case studies and even check rating sites such as Clutch and Goodfirms. And don’t be afraid to ask them for customer referrals.
All these things will help you pick the right software development company for your business to work with.
In summary there are many, many reasons why outsourcing software development makes sense. Those coupled with the fact that the right solutions are critical to staff being productive and being able to service customers well makes it an easy decision to outsource. But make sure you do the legwork to select the right software partner as this will be critical to the success of your venture.
