What are the biggest myths when choosing an external software development partner?
As more and more businesses go digital to stay ahead of the game and maintain a competitive advantage, the pressure to find the right people to develop and deliver these solutions is increasing at an unprecedented scale. That is why many companies choose to work with a partner rather than going through the enormous effort of developing everything in-house. But there are quite a few organizations that are somewhat reluctant to start this type of collaboration due to several challenges they believe they might have. In this article we tackle the biggest myths when choosing an external software development partner.
Quality issues
Quality depends very little on whether you choose to develop the software yourself or outsource it to a third party. And for the most part price has very little to do with it as well. Sometimes the overall price might be lower than if you decide to do everything yourself, but that has more to do with the geographical location of your supplier. Other times it might cost slightly more, in financial terms, but you get other benefits that compensate it. It boils down to the expertise of the people you work with.
Bottom line, if you want to make sure you get a quality piece of software at the end you need to do your due diligence and have a proper selection process in place. We’ve written some tips on how to choose the right provider in this article.
Communication challenges
It’s normal to think that issues may appear due to differences in culture or language barriers, but nowadays this is more the exception rather than the norm. English is pretty much a given when it comes to tech companies and any software development supplier that wants to work internationally has development teams that speak English at a proficient level.
You can go one step further, if you want to be sure, and ask to meet the entire team that will be working on your project.
As for the cultural aspects, exposure to western culture and work norms has leveled the playing field. Not to mention that, as Agile has become the norm for the software development industry, there is little room for misunderstanding, since there is a common project management base on which you can build.
Lack of control
You may think that, if you decide to develop your project in-house, you will have more control, move faster and be more flexible. But all these things come down to having good procedures in place, rather than any sort of actual proximity to the software development team. A supplier that knows his business and has worked in the industry knows how to keep you up to date and involved in the entire process. You can also request additional info as you desire.
And if you are still on the fence, make sure you check potential partners on reputable industry feedback websites such as Clutch or GoodFirms.
Costs
We’ve talked a bit about this topic in the first bullet. Will outsourcing a software development project cost you more or less than if you do it in-house? And the answer is that it depends. If the price is lower this is usually due to the geographical location of your software development partner and his team. As a result, the salaries and cost of living will usually be significantly lower than in your country.
Other times the price might be the same or a bit higher. But you also need to balance this against having to recruit a team, buy equipment, provide office space, the administrative tasks that come with it, retain the talent once you get it and more. So, in the end you come out better.
Not suited to start-ups or small businesses
You might think that you need to be a large company with a hefty budget to take full advantage but actually, start-ups and small businesses can benefit as well. Especially if your core business is not the software itself or you work with technologies whose specialists are in high demand.
By going outside the company, you can find something in tune with your budget that can grow as your project grows. And you don’t need to spend your time recruiting or focusing on the technical aspects. But on refining and developing your product.
Turn your ideas into software
If you want to talk about your software ideas and projects write to us and book a free consulting session with our team. We have developed, upgraded and maintained custom software solutions for start-ups and large organizations, and we can do the same for you.