5-Step Quick Heal for Software Development Outsourcing

IT projects fail for several reasons, but the success stories have a few things in common. One of them is a well-thought-out approach to managing an outsourced software development team.

Proper management among various things provides efficient resource allocation, maximizes production & reduces time to market.

An effective software development outsourcing plan begins with selecting an outsourcing model that helps the organization perform the tasks effortlessly.

A dedicated team or extended team model often gives an abundance of control over an outsourced development team. Moreover, it also gives you a good understanding of their roles.

That said, there are a bunch of things that play a role in managing an outsourcing software development company.

In this article. we will talk about some key issues involved in managing an outsourcing software project. Moreover, I will also provide advice on how to get the most out of your outsourcing relationship.

Before, getting into the details let’s quickly understand what is Software Development Outsourcing.

What is Software Development Outsourcing?

When an organization hires an external IT force to meet their software development needs it is known as Software Development Outsourcing. Read Outsourcing Software Development: 5 Tactics for Project Management

Now, let’s understand who should you outsource software development to & when.

Who should you outsource software development and when?

One report by Entrepreneur Media states that 92% of G2000 companies are using IT outsourcing services already. Whereas, it also stated that at least 37% of enterprises should look to outsource at least one business process.

So, there is no one-size-fits-all rule that confirms who should outsource & when, but yes there are a few scenarios to help find the answers: Are you ready to uncover all the scenarios?

You have a startup with limited resources

For every startup, budget is always a constraint. Moreover, they also lack the right in-house expertise. That's when outsourcing models like IT staff augmentation or outsourcing development outsourcing services can help.

These startups can hire remote developers to meet their needs to gain access to a talented pool of skilled developers. Doing this will allow them to shift their in-house team capacity to focus on other core activities.

You have a large enterprise project surge

Would you believe me if I said that even large enterprises would benefit from a well-established development team? I believe you would get surprised but yes it's a reality. Even large-scale IT enterprises would feel happy when they are facing a situation of project surge.

But, how would they meet the need for hiring the right resources? That's when software development outsourcing comes into the picture. How? These large-scale enterprises can benefit by outsourcing their development project & save millions by minimizing the need for hiring.

Your company is rapidly growing

Organizations that want to scale up speedily might find hiring & onboarding new software developers a time-consuming task. In such a scenario using an outsourcing software development service would prove to be a beneficial idea.

You need access to specialized skills

A few of your software development projects would need specific skills that may not be available in-house. But, software outsourcing or IT staff augmentation can help you gain access to a specialized global talent pool.

Cost is a concern for you

Are you afraid you would lose a chunk of money if you hire full-time developers? Then let me tell you I know a way to bring you out. By using software development outsourcing organizations can save an abundance of money flushed behind lengthy hiring processes. By simply outsourcing software development projects companies can attain a successful project deliverable.

also read a real case study on how a fintech startup saved 60K on annual hiring

24*7 Development & support

Global companies operate in different time zones & thus can leverage outsourcing services to ensure 24-hour services. For instance, if you are based out US, you would look to hire software development outsourcing services from India. Doing, this will allow you to overcome time zone differences & hence your work will progress even when your in-house team is not available.

Now let’s understand Tips to manage an outsourced software development team.

5 Tips for managing a software development project effortlessly

As the CEO of a Custom Software Development company, I've learned how to manage software development projects. My expertise & learnings will free up your team to juggle around the questions surrounding software development outsourcing.

So, let's begin the journey & dive into the ocean of software development outsourcing

Communicate your plans clearly & effortlessly

Clear communication is an important tool in a project manager's toolkit.

One of the vital elements missed here is the importance of providing a picture to your team members. For instance, you should provide enough details to your in-house team to ensure smooth communication flow with the outsourced team.

As a project manager, you should ensure the information below is effectively shared with the team.

• Your project's overall vision

• Are any related long-term projects in place?

• Indicators of KPIs

• Your short, medium & long-term company goals.

It is essential to communicate regularly to get everyone on the same page. Additionally, you should also check that your outsourced developers are working parallelly with your in-house team. Moreover, encourage both the teams to use proper communication channels & set up meetings to ensure a smoother workflow.

Extend your workflows & best practices

One more major positive of good communication is to introduce the hired remote developers to all internal resources. Moreover, you should ensure they are informed about the workflows required during the work, some of them are as below:

• The tech stacks you use

• The programming languages & processes you implement

• The post-production work

• Coding practices you follow

• The quality assurance tools you use

• Internal documentation and self-learning resources

The best rule? The best way to streamline the software development process is to ensure you explain the project requirements in detail. 

Also, understand the working style of your in-house developers will be different from remote teams. Thus, it becomes important to provide all the project requirements to your tech talent beforehand.

Make collaborative work & knowledge sharing possible

Now that's an eye-catching advantage of software development outsourcing. It becomes easier to deliver software products when your in-house team & remote team collaborate. Moreover, this will encourage a cost-saving project deliverable as the hired remote developers charge based on hourly rates.

You can use collaborative measures to encourage developers to contribute their technical skills by:

• Company-wide & team events

• Informal knowledge-sharing sessions

• Peer programming & training

• Peer feedbacks

• A regular check-in with developers

• Build a dedicated communication channel to ensure both teams have access to educational content.

Leverage Your Outsourcing Partner's support structure

A few outsourcing software development service providers also assist you with support services to get the best services.

For instance, my team Acquaint Softtech Private Limited always ensures we provide the best after-project services to maintain relations. Likewise, if your external software outsourcing company provides support services then make the best use of it.

Consider remote developers as a part of your in-house team

Imagine, you are joining a new organization & the hiring company welcomes & greets you. Would you feel valued? You definitely would. Similarly, when you hire remote developers ensure to continue the same process by welcoming each remote member.

Why the need, you would ask? When the remote developers feel welcomed & valued they are more likely to contribute to your team's success. Moreover, they will also ensure to assist you in meeting your strategic business goals.

This is specifically seen in larger firms, where building a welcoming approach might seem to be a difficult thing to pull off. However, maintaining regular communication & collaboration is inevitable to prevent these challenges.

Now, let's understand how can you hire an outsourced software development company to meet your software development needs

8 Step process to choose Software Outsourcing Development

Step 1: Deciding to outsource software

The first in the process is to analyze what kind of project you have got from your client. After analyzing the project needs, the next step is to check what project aspects can be covered in-house. After a thorough analysis make a list of non-doable tasks & start looking for external specialists for each pointer.

Step 2: Selecting a supplier

After knowing what skills you need to hire, the next step is to find a relevant supplier. Based, on the level of proficiency & quality of software categorize outsourcing suppliers & choose the best candidate for the task.

Mr. Darren Fuller of Pinpoint UK's leading supplier of Promotional products wanted to expand his business in a diversified niche & he had a software concept in mind but unfortunately, he couldn’t find the right person to do the job.

He reached out to me for help. After, understanding his requirements, I suggested him to hire remote developers through Staff augmentation to meet his software development needs. 

He hired four remote developers from my organization to get convert his project into a finished product.

Step 3: Description of Tasks

When you are outsourcing from an external organization make sure you analyze all the risks related to it thoroughly. For example, you should not share every information about your client with the service provider. Instead, you should make sure you only share information related to their software development project.

Step 4: Deciding to model

Whenever you are working with an outsourced developer, make sure to mutually choose a relevant payment model.  Whether you choose a work first payment later model or pay first get work later model ensure you choose the best fit option. Moreover do not forget to have a thorough background check of the external partner.

Step 5: Contract Procurement

After hiring a resource make sure to sign a mutual agreement with them to confirm the deal. Moreover, ensure you are taking approvals from your stakeholders, consumers & end-users (if the need arises).

Step 6: The Implementation stage

During this stage make sure you are putting consistent efforts to follow each step of the process without any quality mishaps. Moreover, if you find any comprise in the project quality try to find the errors & improvise them quickly.

Step 7: Monitoring & Controlling

Never fail to keep an eye on your outsourcing project. During the development process keep testing each phase of the project before launching. Furthermore, make sure to monitor the performance & if there are any flaws take due measures to rectify them.

Now, let's understand the last step in the process of Software development outsourcing.

Step 8: End of Contract or New Project

End the outsourced software development project once it's done. Further, it's time to market the project & move towards the new one.

Now, let's understand how I can help you with Software Development Outsourcing

How Can I Be Your Go-to Software Development Outsourcing Partner

As an acclaimed LinkedIn Top Voice for IT Outsourcing, I can help you meet your custom software development needs. For more than 15+ years now, I have been helping my clients meet their software needs. Acquaint Softtech Private Limited which is an IT Staff augmentation & Software development outsourcing company is my brainchild.

If skill scarcity is a pressing issue for you then my expertise in the field can help you hire remote developers. Now you would ask what's the cost? I would say it is as minimal as a gold steal. Want to know how can I help you hire remote developers?

Then, let's talk.

Before, wrapping up the discussion I have a few interesting facts to talk about Software Development Outsourcing.

Software Development Outsourcing - Some Facts & Figures

• #1 concerned reason for software development outsourcing is to attain cost-reduction.

• The surprising business growth from the developers' community is possible due to outsourcing.

• A surprising statistic shows women as a successful player in outsourcing as compared to male tycoons.

• Edge computing has the highest demand in the outsourcing business.

Endnotes!

The increase in the demand for custom software development has led organizations to shift towards building an external remote team.  Even large-scale software development companies are looking to hire remote developers to achieve quality project deliverables. In this article, I have covered some unique bits of value circling software development outsourcing.