4 common mistakes to avoid when outsourcing your Software Development
There are just simply two things you have to do in order to outsource your software development to a technology partner.
- Find THE ideal technology partner. (For this, MSBC Group is here to serve and save you!)
- Avoid common mistakes.
For those unfamiliar with the term, “outsourcing” is a way of contracting a company to do a certain kind of work rather than doing it all in-house.
This means that you can focus on your core business functions and have someone else take care of development for you.
However, outsourcing isn’t without its risks — just as any decisions involving human beings, there are mistakes that can be made.
That’s why we’ve put together the below list of 4 common mistakes to avoid when outsourcing software development.
- Lack of clarity in regards to goals and scope of work
- Improper communication
- Not knowing the development methodologies
- Ignoring the ‘Quality of Code’
Let’s get a deeper understanding of how these common mistakes can turn out to be a disaster for your outsourcing project.
1. Lack of clarity in regards to goals and scope of work
Can you envision the ultimate software outcome and its use-cases? If yes, have you clearly stated and documented it with your outsourcing partner?
You know what you want as an end product & your outsourcing partner knows how to get there. Thus, not establishing clearly defined outcomes and use cases of the software product mutually is a big mistake.
If all the entities involved in the process don’t have the clarity of the ultimate goals, they will end up making something that is far from the software that you have envisioned.
Thus, make sure to clearly define & document the end goals and use cases with the software along with the detailed scope of work while getting on board with an IT Outsourcing partner.
2. Improper Communication
Outsourcing software development doesn’t mean outsourcing your thought processes. You have to keep communicating with the developers in the outsourcing team to feed them in with your thoughts.
Properly engaging two-way communication facilitates the developers with the complete development process. Along with communicating your thoughts, you should also listen to the feedback of vetted IT professionals for the betterment of your software.
Lastly, you should also be respectful to the time of the outsourcing team and trust their expertise. Entangling every hour to check up on them will not be a healthy practice for the development process.
3. Not knowing the development methodologies that is being used
Building the perfect software as per your vision is not enough. For context, consider the outsourcing team ensures you build great software but, it can only be deployed once the complete software is developed. It can’t be rolled out in pieces for alpha testing small features. This increase the time-to-market for the software and incurs a huge opportunity cost.
Consider that an outsourcing partner delivers you the completely developed software very quickly but once you start using it, you find out that the security of data and the backend structure are compromised in churning the software quicker.
That’s why you should be aware of what kind of development methodologies are incorporated to develop your software. You should ask for the choices and options that your outsourcing partner has to offer for development methodologies.
It is always a good decision to hire a software solutions partner like MSBC Group who has expertise in working with various methodologies like Agile, Waterfall and DevOps.
4. Ignoring the ‘Quality of Code’
A software product is 1% of what end-users see and 99% what happens in the backend. Good quality coding consists of well-structured and well-tested codes.
You don’t want to be a lab rat for the software that is developed. Before onboarding, an outsourcing partner, make sure they are proficient in development as well as in testing.
An examined set of codes and software will have a negligible chance of breaking down & it will empower swift operations.
Other than the ones listed, there are a few more risk factors that require your due diligence before outsourcing your software development. So it is in your best interest to thoroughly research before opting for the best software solutions partner that can cater to you and your business needs.
If you are looking for a software solutions partner who takes care of all the above-mentioned factors why not get in touch with us?