Outsourcing your software development is not scary when managed correctly. How to choose your development partner?

Author: Zee Gimon

Outsourcing your software development is not scary when managed correctly. We do understand that your business idea or product is like your baby, and actually, that’s the way we treat it too.

In this blog post, we’ll talk about the possible risks and mistakes people make when choosing an outsourcing provider. We’ll also talk about what we do at HUSPI to mitigate these risks.

Read also: HUSPI as a TOP Industry Leader in Software Development

Doing business analysis and planning

We sometimes talk to people who think that outsourcing doesn’t require much business analysis or planning. After all, “If you’re Agile, then you have to be flexible, and we can just add tasks along the way. I’ll know what I want once I see it.”

It doesn’t work that way (unfortunately or fortunately, depending on the situation.)

Business analysis is a helpful step before the planning because it allows us to understand what exactly are you expecting from this software product. Once we know the expectations, we can recommend the technologies or frameworks to use that would meet the requirements.

For successful outsourcing (especially for outsourcing), planning is a critical step. Only when everything is planned, our developers can create task backlogs and set approximate deadlines for demos and releases. And yes, we understand that there will be inevitable changes along the way, but if everything is planned, we can set the correct priorities together.

Define and share your expectations

Whether you’ve got an idea or an existing business, you always have an expectation of how everything should work. Perhaps, you want the processes to be more streamlined. Maybe you want to reduce operational costs. Perhaps you simply want the product to be more user-friendly. Whatever those expectations are, tell us.

Without a defined goal of what we would like to reach, we have no way of understanding how to get to that dream of yours.

Have a dedicated person in your team for communication

HUSPI provides project management services when we work with your business software. However, you still need to assign the primary contact person in charge on your side, who understands the main goal and purpose of the project.

It can be the owner or CEO of the business, or it can be someone in charge of this particular project (for example, digitization of the marketing department.)

With such an arrangement, we can be sure that once we have a question or recommendation, we know whom to talk to.

Keep the balance in terms of the price tag

When you are thinking about the project’s development budget and outsourcing companies’ prices, we advise you to consider the companies in the middle.

There is a Venn diagram that illustrates the point:

When choosing your software development partner, consider the priorities of your business and don’t run after the cheapest price tag. Practice shows that usually, that ends up in a lot of overhead expenses or blown deadlines.

At HUSPI, our main priority is always high-quality development because we want to be proud of creating this or that product. After all, when you, as a client, succeed, we have a success story to tell potential clients. This is our motivation for making everything right.

Choose wisely

There are several things you can check when you’re shortlisting software development companies to choose from:

Testimonials and reviews. Personally, I tend to trust reviews and testimonials on such websites as Clutch or GoodFirms more than I believe what the company says about itself (after all, it’s the job of the marketing department to make the company look good, but real clients tell real stories.) You can check out HUSPI reviews here. Project portfolio. Check out the portfolio of the company you like to see if there were any projects similar to yours (or in a related industry). For example, HUSPI has experience with FinTech, MedTech, and Retail industries. However, keep in mind that there are projects under NDA. Therefore the portfolio on the website might not reflect the entire expertise of the team. Prices. We have talked about the prices already, but do negotiate with the company. Your business had a budget, and it is important to stick to it. However, there are always some things that might not be critical for the first version of the product, and therefore, you can reduce the initial price tag a bit. Talking to the company representative. Testimonials, portfolio, prices - that’s all great, but don’t neglect to meet with a company representative to go over the details. This can be done via Skype or in-person, whichever option is more convenient for you. Bring your concerns and discuss the issues that might worry you in the software development outsourcing process.

Are you considering outsourcing your project?