How To Outsource Software Product Development?

Outsourcing software development is big business these days because it provides huge ROI when done right. According to a report, companies are expected to spend a combined outsourced development, and many will see it as money well spent. The cold hard truth about software development outsourcing is that some projects fail. The root cause of these failures can be a weak outsourcing strategy, choosing the wrong outsourcing partner, or failing to communicate requirements.

Outsource software product development

Develop clarity around what you’re building

It’s imperative to have clarity around what you’re trying to build. Once you’re clear about what you want, you’ll have an easier time communicating requirements to your development partners.

Write a scope statement for your project

Before choosing a software development outsourcing partner, you’ll want to dig a little deeper, fleshing out questions like objectives, deliverables, scope, content, and budgets.

Decision time

It is time to decide between in-house development and outsourcing. Making an informed decision will require you to weigh a number of factors. And while price isn’t the only factor to consider, competitive pricing is one significant benefit to outsourcing your software development offshore especially if you find a competent team that understands your vision.

Choose an outsourcing model

Relationship-based outsourcing comes in three forms: staff augmentation, managed teams, and project-based outsourcing. Choose the best model to fit your requirements, budget, and long-term plans.

Staff augmentation

This model involves outsourcing staff from an outside organization on a temporary basis, usually to complete a project. This is mainly done to bridge the talent gap at your organization.

Shortlisting companies

Once you know what country you are going to outsource software development to, you can narrow down your search. Software development agencies start with an in-depth internet search.

Software development review websites

Websites such as Clutch, GoodFirms, G2 Crowd, Agency Spotter, and Crowd Reviews provide a curated list of companies for software development. You can search for the best software development agencies and filter them based on location, reviews, hourly rate, talent pool, and more.

Evaluate providers

Once you’ve shortlisted your providers to a select few, it’s time to interview them and evaluate each one on a deeper level.

Request a free consultation

Once you have shortlisted 4-5 software development agencies, you can move ahead with contacting their sales team. Talk to their experts, request free consultations, ask for their work portfolio and case studies, and discuss their software development process, methodologies used, programming language preferences, technology implementation, etc.

These conversations ideally involve discussions around:

• Software requirements.
• MVP development criteria.
• Cost and development-time estimates.
• Development strategy and roadmap.

Draft and sign the paperwork

Once you have chosen a software development outsourcing partner that matches your requirements, the next step in the process is to draft agreements, such as

NDA

An NDA is an agreement between two parties that acts as a promise that none of the parties will share confidential and critical data or information with a third party.

Choose a communication tech stack

With everything finalized, the last step in the software development process is to choose communication channels for keeping a track of the development progress.

Conclusion

Whether you’re planning to start a SaaS business or build software in-house, outsourcing your software development to the right partner isn’t just cost-effective it can produce exceptional products.