For most tech startups and small businesses, the secret ingredient for the success of their business lies in selecting the right outsourcing partner. Outsourcing custom software development to the right partner can significantly reduce costs and decrease the workload on your employees.
Despite a great number of advantages, there are still some significant blunders that businesses often make while outsourcing, which can result in failures, additional costs, and time loss.
Therefore, it is highly important to be aware of possible traps and be ready to avoid them.
So, here’s a list of the top 5 mistakes that you must avoid when choosing a software development outsourcing company:
Mistake #1: Lack of research
Selecting a software development outsourcing without conducting a thorough research is a common blunder that most small businesses make. Most startups base their outsourcing decisions solely on cost-efficiency. Although the cost factor plays an important role in the decision-making process, it’s not the only one. Other things that must be taken into consideration include – the vendor’s portfolio and expertise, feedback and reviews, the way your vendor functions on the market There are a couple of areas you should research to make sure that you partner for your project.
Research enough in order to have a good idea of all of the work your potential IT partner has done. You may even ask for individual resumés from the team and everything you would like to know:
- Are you familiar with the industry and user base?
- Are there new trends adopted in your portfolio?
- How will you communicate with the team?
- Who is the PM/other responsible people to get in touch with?
- Who/what team will be working on the project
- Will the developers be working only on your project or several projects?
Principally, a lot of this research should be done before the primary interview. The rest will come from real-time communication with your IT outsourcing company. Ultimately, after a thorough analysis, it becomes much easier to identify whether that team can realize your project.
Make time for research and preparation — it’s worth it. The time spent on researching and preparation should be in correlation with the investment size and expected cooperation length you would like to have.
If you are to make a simple mockup then you shouldn’t spend 3–4 months on selecting a vendor. But if you need to scale your technical team from 40 to 70 or you have a 3-year roadmap, then you should take your time and do proper research.
Mistake #2: Keeping ambiguity in requirements and miscommunication
Many times, small business owners outsource their software development projects without a complete understanding of what needs to be done. Obviously, if you have just a vague idea about your project, it becomes quite difficult to set clear requirements for the outsourcing partner, as well as to evaluate whether the process is headed in the right direction.
A few questions that can help you clarify the requirements of your project:
- What is the goal of the project?
- Do you have a defined work flow in place?
- Is your product going to be available across platforms?
- Do you have the required content?
Besides, before initiating a collaboration you must discuss the milestones and the approval system as well. Your outsourcing partner must understand exactly what you want in order to find the most effective ways to implement your idea.
Mistake #3: Outsourcing to companies that are not in sync with modern trends
Outsourcing to outdated companies that are not in sync with the modern trends can cause major troubles. Although it may seem that your chosen web development company can code better than anyone else, they may be using workflows and interfaces specific to their local area. This can cause a significant break with how end-users will experience your software.
No region is worse than others, but it is necessary to check that the outsourcing partner meets your expectations on issues beyond technicalities - such as legal risks, working ethics, cultural differences, broadband capacity.
Mistake #4: Lack of basic technical know-how on your end
Although outsourcing companies have technical expertise, it doesn’t mean that you presuppose that you will place the order and get the exact desired result at the end of the project. Regular checks are essential. Therefore, lack of technical knowledge from your end may pose some major risks for the project.
So, if you are not in a position to manage the project on a daily basis on your own, you need to have an internal person or a project manager take care of you for that or opt for a partner who take a consultative approach towards your project.
Opting for such a partner, releases you from the pressure of bring on your toes with technological upgradations and implementations and also gives you benefit of leveraging latest technology for your projects.
Mistake #5: Underestimating Quality Assurance (QA) or Testing
Testing your project while it is underway is vital to gaining a guarantee that your final project is strong and functions just the way it should. In fact, a tester should be involved in the development from the very beginning, otherwise, you are likely to encounter tons of bugs in the end. So, ensure that your software is tested appropriately.
Whatever you’re building, testing should be an integral part of software development from the very beginning.
Quality Assurance should ideally be done by the same company that collaborates with you for your development projects.
Once you start avoiding these mistakes, you will find contractors you can trust and build relationships with. But when you are getting started, you must avoid making these 5 fatal mistakes.
Overcome these mistakes and take a BIG step in the right direction.
