15 Points You Should Consider Before Going for a Software Outsourcing Company

Quick Overview:
Outsourcing software development projects seems an exciting venture for many businesses. It allows you to bring an additional level of expertise and helps you finish projects on time or before due dates.

However, deciding which offshore software development company is good for you or which one you can go with is an equally important discussion. And, if you’re juggling with which software outsourcing company to go with or want to know key points to consider before making the decision, keep reading.

List of 15 Points to Look After Before Choosing a Software Outsourcing Company

Here below are fifteen points that we at Positiwise believe everyone should consider before deciding on a software outsourcing company.

Meets Your Requirements

Before choosing any software outsourcing company, ensure you know your requirements and what outsourcing software development company provides them. For example, if you’re looking for ASP.NET developers, then be sure they’re providing that service, have well experienced ASP.NET developer team, and the projects they’ve delivered projects made using ASP.NET in the past. Likewise, make sure you know whether you want to give an entire project or a part of the project to meet your deadlines.

Location of Software Outsourcing Company

The location of an outsourcing company makes a lot of difference in development costs. For instance, if you choose to go with a local outsourcing company, it may charge you more. In contrast, if you choose to go with any other country’s software outsourcing company, you may get reduced costs for the same requirements and better technology. Therefore, before going for offshore software development, it’s better to research companies and then decide which one you should go with.

Total Experience of Developing Software of Your Industry

Experience is one of the valuable factors that makes an overall difference. Henceforth, going for the software outsourcing company that is aware of your industry and has delivered projects earlier will benefit your project.

In other words, if they’re aware of your industry and have prior experience, it’ll be beneficial in the software development lifecycle and development process. Likewise, they will also be able to provide their advice, like which necessary features you’re missing to add and what your users should get.

Experience of Technology

A good software development outsourcing company will always ensure they’re up to date with the latest trends and provide proper education to their software developers. For example, if you intend to develop your project using a specific technology such as ASP.NET, ensure that they furnish it with the latest framework compatible with all the current devices, free from any complications.

Maintenance & Quality Check

The more focused the software outsourcing company shifts towards maintenance and quality checks of the software projects, the less trouble you’ll face. For instance, ensure that the company you’re willing to partner with tests the software project before making the final delivery and provides technical support whenever needed.

Essentially, make sure the company ensures continuous delivery by conducting regular testing whenever implementing any code update. Likewise, find out whether they use logging issues or manage backlogs.

Software Development Process

Get to know how the company divides the task and manages the software development process. It’ll prove beneficial to you if you’ve partnered with them.

Knowing how long the development process will take will allow you to plan activities related to your project launch. Likewise, once you get to know the details of the process, it’ll also help you understand project costing in detail. And be sure you prefer a time and material model where you’re comfortable with their payment structure, and it doesn’t become an issue for you.

Make Plans According to Budget

After defining your software project goals and objectives, the next step is to create a suitable budget for the project. Similarly, you make a budget by doing thorough research and analysis and discussing it with team members. Finally, make some realistic estimations for the investment you’ll require to make for your project. So, you can stay assured that you’ve needed cash flow to complete the project.

Project Management

Flexibility is needed for running a project continuously, and it’s likely to happen. Therefore, go with a software outsourcing company that is flexible enough with agile software development practices and adapts to the changing priority throughout the project.

Likewise, ensure they have a proper project management process, including the latest and updated tools for execution. In other words, make sure you’re choosing to go with an outsourcing software development company that is established and, has its tools & processes in check, and fits your requirements and budget.

Transparent & Effective Communication

If communication is not practical, the project may lead to failure. So, it’s better to make sure that you go for the convenient communication methods with your software outsourcing company. Likewise, ensure the company agrees to regular meetings to communicate further business goals. In addition, also make sure whether the outsourcing company covers some working hours in the time zone you’re working. Lastly, ensure they’re good with spoken English so business and technical communication is done effectively.

Team of Dedicated Software Developers

Knowing who will be taking care of your software project is crucial. For example, the chosen software outsourcing company has a full-time employee with a dedicated software development team or gives to any external contractors.

For instance, if an outsourcing company provides software projects to external contractors, it may negatively impact the outcome. But, on the other hand, it may prove beneficial to you if they’ve got a dedicated software development team specializing in technology such as ASP.NET or JAVA.

Reviews

Finding out what other clients of the software outsourcing company you choose to partner with says about them will give you a good idea of how well they’re performing or if there are any potential red flags you should look out for. Likewise, go through websites such as GitHub or GitLab and Clutch.co, which will give you an idea about an IT software development company on a global level.

In addition, ask directly about reference contact with the software outsourcing company when you’re in the process of finalizing and give some time and ask them how was the experience with them and what’s their opinion.

Get NDA Signed

Software development projects have many confidential information and data, which need to be stored securely. So, before you agree with any of the outsourcing firms, ensure that you’ve signed an NDS (Non-Disclosure Agreement) with them. Furthermore, NDA signing also helps safeguard your essential data from any theft or fraud.

Similarly, you can also take help from any legal department you know for getting NDA ready for you or ask an outsourcing company to send you an NDA. And once you review the NDA, go through final edits (if required), and sign it.

Realistic Deadline

Everyone knows how essential it’s to have a deadline for any project or work we start. However, it’s equally important that we set a realistic deadline, which can be achieved and not an unrealistic one that leads to future disputes or negatively impacts the project. Likewise, there’s always a chance that too short a time can lead to some issues later.

Therefore, be sure that you know the limitations and challenges that are usually faced during software development and set an achievable, feasible deadline that does not impact the quality of the project by any means.

Stay Prepared for Handling Unfavourable Situations

It doesn’t matter how smoothly your software project development is going on or how good your software outsourcing company is. There’s a chance of coming across something unexpected things. For instance, change in the project, laying off team members, or something else you might not like to hear during the software development process. Henceforth, staying prepared for such unfavorable situations from early on is better.

Actively Participate With Your Offshore Software Development Company

Outsourcing software development company will do their job, but it’s equally important that you don’t show any carelessness and stay actively involved in the entire software development process. For instance, stay consistently involved in discussions and meetings to make your presence felt. Similarly, it’ll help to give the result you’re looking for.

Wrapping Up

There are many software outsourcing companies to choose from. Furthermore, we’ve mentioned 15 points to help you make better decisions about offshore companies. In addition, Positiwise is one of the reputed and leading outsourcing companies that handle software development projects in different technologies like using ASP.NET. Henceforth, if you’re looking for an outsourcing company or have any queries regarding Positiwise, you’re free to contact us.