Steps to Ensure a Successful Software Development Outsourcing

Software development outsourcing

Increased productivity, improved product quality, and cost savings are just a few of the advantages of outsourcing software development.

But putting your trust in a different company to deliver the results you are looking for is a big decision in any capacity, especially when success of your business as a whole can depend on it.

Careful preparation, and developing a sound outsourcing strategy is the first step in hiring an outsourcing partner to meet your demands.

So, how do you construct one?

Here are the steps to ensure a successful software development outsourcing process:

1. Define Your Goals

Before you can begin a software development project, you need to have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish.

Setting clear goals will help you to focus on the project objectives and ensure they are achieved.

Start by outlining the desired outcomes of the project, including specific business value, success criteria, and any desired features.

It is also important to consider the software development team members that will be essential for the project, the workload associated with each sprint, and any feedback you may have received from both technical and non-technical team members.

Having an accurate understanding of the project aims and objectives will help ensure that the end product is successful.

2. Bring Experienced Engineering Leader

Finding the right engineering leader is one of the most important steps in ensuring a successful software project outcomes. This experienced leader should bring both technical expertise and soft skills to the table.

The leader should also be able to guide agile processes, protect the team from coordination and quality assurance issues, and collaborate with other stakeholders. Assess the leader’s technical capabilities, communication skills, and past experience in your domain.

The right engineering leader should be an experienced professional that can help manage the team and guide the project to completion. Make sure to do your due diligence when selecting this key role.

3. Prepare Scope of Work Documentation

The scope of work document outlines the project’s terms and conditions, tasks and deliverables, and expected timeline for delivery.

SOWs will ensure that the project scope is well thought-through and agreed upon before work begins. Depending on your team’s circumstances, you may find an SOW useful for:

  • Internal use. Written as part of an internal documentation or project scoping process, an SOW can help to ensure that all project stakeholders agree on the work to be completed, allow the team to better estimate the timeline for work to be completed, as well as help to identify potential risks and dependencies before project kick off.
  • Request for proposal (RFP). If you are hiring an external software development vendor or software development company, you’ll want to draw up an RFP that should include an SOW document that outlines project scope and other details that will help the vendor provide a cost and schedule estimate.
  • Contract appendix. Further along in the process of hiring a software development vendor, you’ll draw up a contract that should include project scope details in the appendix. This could be a formal SOW document or sections of your SOW that are relevant for your vendor relationship.

4. Choose the Right Partner

Selecting the right outsourcing partner is an important step for a successful software outsourcing. There are plenty of resources where you can find software development companies:

  • Use Google to search for software development companies. Both paid and organic results can be helpful. From individual company websites you can get information on their software development services, industries they work with, their previous clients and their work processes.
  • Browse software development review and rankings websites. One of the most popular of them is Clutch. You can view the search results by location, minimum project size, average hourly rate, industry focus, and more.

Take the time to compare and evaluate your options. If none of them is a fit, don’t be afraid to toss out the list and start over. It’s going to take time, but the work you put into vetting software development companies up front will pay off in eliminating stress and resulting in a quality end product.

Conclustion

Based on our 15 years of experience in outsourced software development, this article summarizes everything you need to know about outsourcing software development

By following these steps, you can ensure that your software development outsourcing project is a success. With the right preparation, you can rest assured that you’ll get the results you’re looking for.

Lawyers Lookup - LawyersLookup.ca