Companies are constantly under pressure to keep up with the most recent tech trends and customer demands for upgrades and bug fixes. They can’t afford to try to meet those demands if they don’t have sufficient resources in-house.
That is why many companies decide to hire a software development company.
Primarily because you will get a dedicated software development team specialized in your work area for your projects.
Outsourcing can be daunting. So, let’s go over some of the most important aspects of hiring a development company for future tech projects.
Should You Hire a Software Development Company?
If outsourcing or insourcing a tech project was as simple as answering this question, many more companies would hire outside their company in the blink of an eye.
However, it is more complex than that. Before you even start looking, you need to understand the nature of your project. That is vital to picking the right partner out of all software development companies for hire that exist today.
Your choice shouldn’t be influenced by well-designed presentation decks and promising sales pitches. It should be driven by tangible facts closely related to your project and how your company operates.
Here are some important questions to answer internally before you even start looking for potential software development companies to hire:
- Will the end product be execution-focused, user-focused, or customer-focused? This will determine the complexity and, therefore, the price and risk for your project. Customer-focused apps tend to be more complex, while execution-focused apps are typically easier to build as they have a smaller user base.
- What is your budget, and what are the desired features for the final product? Unfortunately, there will always be a tradeoff between money and product features.You should consider app development costs, outsourcing web development cost, and developers’ salaries. But deciding what is non-negotiable and what is nice to have will help you make those tradeoffs a little bit easier.
- What lever of control and supervision do you want or need to have? IT Outsourcing can be done in four ways, depending on how much your team wants to be involved – onshore, nearshore, offshore, and hybrid. All four types of team extensions have advantages and disadvantages. For example, onshore outsourcing (outsourcing to a company in your country) is typically more expensive, but there are rarely any communication problems. On the other hand, offshore development center offer the most cost-effective solution, but this model requires more supervision. Hiring software developers with offshore development centers best suits a hybrid outsourcing approach where your company is actively involved in the day-to-day progress of the project rather than doing bi-weekly checks. In recent years, hiring nearshore software development teams have become quite popular because they often operate in the same or neighboring time zone as you, and there are minimal cultural differences.
Top Locations to Find Software Development Company
The next step is choosing a country you want to find a company, there are development companies around the world and you can check top outsourcing locations to see what companies to hire in Germany, Belgium, Estonian IT companies, custom software development in the USA, UK and Canada, companies in Eastern Europe, for web development in UK, custom software development in UK,
What to Look for in a Software Development Company
When you are ready to look at potential software development companies to work with, there are many things to look at.
It goes without saying that you need to take a company with good customer references and some track record to show for. However, don’t confuse longevity with excellence. There are a lot of newer software development firms on the market started by dedicated engineers who are more forward-thinking and innovative than their competitors who have been in business for longer.
Apart from that, there are a few non-negotiable factors that we believe you should look for in the software company you hire.
Team should have relevant experience
Software development services aren’t just about writing code. It’s also about understanding what is the best fit for your industry and situation. They should know the most appropriate coding language and the best database management solutions for your project, how to execute good UX design and QA, or even when your project could see improvement with AI software development company.
These aspects will vary greatly depending on whether you are a fintech company building a consumer app or AI or a medical company making a solution for government-run facilities.
If you can’t find the exact match, look for a dedicated development team with broad experience in different industries. This shows that they are adaptable and most likely have a sizable portfolio of transferable knowledge and skills.
In fact, software development companies with more universal experience can be a better choice in some instances. They tend to have more versatile development teams, which can be an asset if you are not 100% sure what features and tech your software project needs. A more versatile team can play the roles of advisors and executioners.
You should be able to trust a software company
One thing that is true about most software projects is unpredictability. You can mitigate it to a degree with proper planning, but there is no way to eradicate it. That is why trust is an important factor in your relationship with the software development firm you hire.
You need to trust that the development company you’ve hired understands your business requirements, and can communicate well with all stakeholders when issues arise (because they will).
There are some questions to ask the software development companies you are talking to in order to gauge your compatibility:
- What are their company values? Also, when looking through their portfolio and hearing about their way of working, try to understand if they actually work by their values.
- How have they handled unexpected things in the past? What did they do when a vital team member went on parental leave? How did they communicate with the customer when it became clear that a product concept wasn’t working?
- How did they handle conversations about going over budgets, or changing financial priorities?
These questions are more universal. However, since software development is a complex field, your company might need to ask additional questions to reduce risks. For example, if you are in an industry where security is important, you might want to include what security measures they take, and how they’ve handled confidential projects in the past.
What to discuss with your Software Development Company When You Choose
Once you’ve made your choice, congratulations! Now, you and your software development company will start figuring out the details of the project. This is the time to set expectations for the work ahead.
Here are some important aspects to think about in this initial stage.
It’s not only about money (but it’s important)
As we’ve already mentioned, software projects can be unpredictable, which results in many software projects running over budget by as much as 50%. An average cost of a software project between $10,000 and $100,000 can mean an additional cost of $5,000 to $50,000.
Naturally, the price should be a topic on the table. You should agree if the project will be charged based on software engineer hourly rates or a fixed price. With a fixed price, it’s important to decide on the scope of what the fixed price covers and what it doesn’t. Regardless of what you choose, outsourcing software development is going to be more affordable than if you hire software engineers in-house.
Don’t chase the cheapest price. First of all, any good software development company will price their services based on the value they create for you, the level of uncertainty they have to work with, and the talent they offer. In other words, the price includes much more than one software engineer writing code.
Remember, the cheapest initial offer is rarely the cheapest option in the long run. Poorly written code, insufficient testing, lack of understanding of the industry – all of that and more results in so-called technological debt that will result in additional costs.
Frequent communication and close collaboration is necessary
Open lines of communication are vital for the success of your software project. Both sides must convey their thoughts and ideas properly and regularly. And for that, it’s important to facilitate a space where everybody feels safe to speak up. That applied to you and the software development firm you are working with.
While outsourcing the tech part of your business to a software development company might feel like losing control over the final product, at InData Labs the pros by far outweigh the cons.
It could be beneficial to dedicate some time initially to set the grounds for a good team relationship. This will create social and professional bonds, increasing chances for exchanging creative solutions and ideas.
Make sure your companies are using the same tools and methodologies
This point is a partial extension of our earlier discussion about company values. We concluded that companies with similar values have a higher chance of successful cooperation. The same can be said about tools and methodologies.
Currently, most software development companies use a form of SCRUM or agile development process. However, there are some that still don’t. If agile is your company’s process, it will take precious time away from your project to get the software development company you work with on board for daily standups, sprints, etc.
The rules are a bit less strict when it comes to tools. Regarding project management tools such as Asana, Trello, or Jira, it helps if your partner firm uses it, but it’s rarely a significant obstacle if they don’t. These tools are very intuitive and can be learned daily quickly.
If your partner firm, on the other hand, has very different processes for their backend of frontend work than that you need, it’s wise to agree on some common tools both sides can use.
Conclusion
Finding the perfect match for a partner firm for a software development project can be tough. But if your company thoroughly understands the complexity and scope of your project and asks the right questions when talking to potential partner firms, you have a bigger chance of succeeding.
Remember that trust and good communication will greatly strengthen any professional relationship. Looking to hire a company to outsource your project? Let’s discuss! Feel free to book a call.
