Although software and IT outsourcing in general are wildly popular due to the myriad advantages they offer to businesses big and small, there are numerous intricacies involved when it comes to hiring the right software/IT outsourcing partner. From budgetary constraints to niche business models, variables are plenty, thereby making organisations speculate deep before making the big decision.
Add to this the time, effort as well as funds it takes to hire dedicated developers that match your business needs; even though the heavy lifting will be carried out by your software/IT outsourcing partner, it will still require direction on your part for guidance. In a digital landscape that is rife with competition, meeting expectations of scalability and availability are also key factors to consider.
So how is the average organisation able to face the software outsourcing challenge head on, and hire a team that can closely collaborate with your business to build quality software for years to come?
As a technology outsourcing services provider in Sri Lanka, we at EFutures have built this quick guide to offer tips on what to look for when considering team members for your software development project; read on to know more!
Observing the finer details and ‘reading between the lines’ is a quality that can seldom be taught (or at best, only be taught to an extent). Your software development team members hired via your IT outsourcing company need to be adept at truly understanding what is expected of them – and also filling in any gaps out of proactiveness.
This goes both ways, too; your software development team should be willing and able to go beyond just doing the bare minimum, and offer advice on how existing workflows, infrastructure and budgets can be improved to obtain the best outcomes resourcefully.
As with any long-term and ongoing project, hiccups are bound to occur – and your software development team needs to be able to communicate the same as early as possible. Failing to do so could cause losses in revenue, reputation and even security, thereby making fast and effective communication vital in today’s digitised business space. IT companies that are focused on delivering excellence won’t shy away from delivering bad news – while maintaining a system of communication that has been configured to ensure both parties and all team members receive relevant notifications as needed.
Owing to the long-term nature of even the shortest software development project, consistency is a quality that you as a business leader or owner need to constantly keep an eye out for. Once again, top IT companies know how to maintain consistency even in the wake of uncertainty, utilising minimal resources where possible to maximise deliverables as best as they can.
Although tech-centric companies in general are bound to keenly follow the latest in technology, the ones that are open to discussing possible adoption are what shall differentiate the best IT outsourcing companies from the average. AI, for example, has become more accessible than ever before, enabling even the smallest and niche use cases to adopt AI for tasks such as workflow automation or conversational intelligence.
Having a software outsourcing partner that can identify such use cases within your own project, and subsequently suggest ways of adopting the very same, is a sign that you have a partner who is keen to keep your custom software or mobile app up-to-date with the latest technologies – to help you connect better with your customers, employees and other stakeholders.
ROI or Return On Investment is one of the first metrics to measure the overall success of any software development project, as business leaders are always keen to know the cost involved for any project or individual task. Although ROI is a metric that takes time to measure, having reporting systems in place that calculate ROI from the get-go can give business leaders a weekly (if not daily) glimpse of hours or monetary cost involved per task, resource or project.
Albeit high staff turnovers being common occurrences in the IT industry, it is still advisable to measure turnover rates to gauge overall viability and compatibility of your project at the hands of your software outsourcing provider. Identifying high attrition rates for a specific job title, for example, can help business owners and outsourcing partners alike narrow down on possible contributing reasons, so measures can be taken to mitigate (if not completely prevent) the same happening in the future.
Uptime is another key metric when it comes to measuring software outsourcing effectiveness, as business leaders want to ensure their custom software or mobile app is plagued with as few outages and glitches as possible. While unforeseen circumstances can reduce software and app uptime, planned upgrades such as patching can also affect uptime.
Therefore, building uptime-related metrics into a reporting dashboard can enable business leaders as well as project managers track uptime rates over a prolonged course of time. Additionally, identifying trends where downtime rates are higher (such as a specific time of year or following an uptick in website traffic, for example) can help teams prepare with relevant solutions in advance, to ensure outages are minimised as much as possible.
Neglecting the security posture of your software, apps and websites is a no-no, as cyber compromise grows rampant by the day and customers are more fearful than ever when it comes to the safety of their confidential data. How adept your software/IT outsourcing partner is for configuring, monitoring and detecting any compromised activity well before hackers are able to do any damage is a sign of great observability and competence.
As a result, it is important to not only have the right security dashboards in place to detect suspicious activity, but also have round-the-clock threat detection systems well established in order to detect, triage and respond to incidents as soon as they occur – and before they infiltrate business systems.
Software and IT outsourcing may be the norm when it comes to building world-class enterprise digital applications today, but a deeply saturated market and increased competition has made businesses (especially first-time businesses) overwhelmed when it comes to choosing the right software outsourcing partner.
Whether it’s building a brand new mobile app or expanding an existing proprietary system, businesses can shortlist and eventually select the right software outsourcing provider by:
Stay updated with our tech articles – your go-to source for the latest insights, trends, and innovations in technology.