5 Things You Should Do Before Outsourcing Software Development

Outsourcing may seriously cut your expenses leading to a big boost in your profits. However, if you don’t do it right, it could cut through deep into your pockets and leave you in a loss – a doubled-edged sword, indeed.

What are the things you must keep in mind when you outsource? What should you do before you consider outsourcing software development? Ecodelogic explains more about how a software development plan works.

Breakdown the project into smaller parts: One of the best ways of solving any problem is to break it down into smaller pieces which can then be easily dealt with. Heard of divide and conquer?

By breaking it down into smaller, manageable pieces, you will also identify what is possible and not, as to the point we are about to make next.

Identify what can be outsourced: A break-down of individual parts of a major project is a perfect way to gauge what can be outsourced and what should be developed in-house. There will be certain characteristics or reasons why the software that just cannot be outsourced.

For instance there might be aspects of software development which relate directly to Research and Development that you wouldn’t want to let out. Doing step 1 above makes it easy for you to identify what parts of software development can be farmed out. Also, in such cases, it is best to check out a guide to outsourcing software projects, as it will provide solutions to the existing problems and ideas for the emerging ones.

Make a clear list of requirements, expectations, milestones and deliverables: Before and while you are outsourcing software development, it is very important to choose your vendor carefully.

A more important thing to do on your part is to set your expectations correctly. Do not underestimate this point. Many project failures are due to wrong and misaligned expectations. Make a clear list of requirements, set your milestones with required deliverables within reasonable deadlines after a discussion with your vendor(s).

Seek your vendors: Cutting costs doesn’t come without work. If you have to outsource your software development projects, you really need to spend time and effort – not to mention an repeated trial-and-error cycle – until you find the right vendors.

While the efforts are monumental, the process of seeking out your vendors is worth the trouble. There is talent everywhere and you may make a plan as to where to start looking for vendors and even have criteria to select the best of the lot.

Follow up and stay on top: When it comes to outsourcing software projects, it isn’t just about delegate-and-forget. You got to stay on top of your project, follow-up with your vendors on the progress of work, interact with and share ideas with your vendors, ask to check on the quality of work at random, etc.

How have your outsourcing experiences been?

What have you gained (or lost) due to outsourcing software projects?

What are your thoughts on outsourcing software development to vendors?