Software companies in Sri Lanka are often highly sought after by companies of all sizes, owing to the high quality of their deliverables – all within budgets that are specific to each client. With numerous factors such as project scope, team headcount and overall experience levels of team members influencing software development budgets, businesses need to ensure they are well aware of how much they need to spend, before any project work is kicked off.
In this article, we shed light on the many factors that influence software development costs, as well as what businesses can do to control the very same. Read on to know more!
Looking to build cost-efficient yet high-quality software? At EFutures, we can help! Our teams pay prime emphasis on being resourceful and mindful towards what our clients aim to achieve, as well as their budgets. This ensures that we do not compromise on quality, as we deliver optimised performance without breaking the bank. Talk to us today to know how we can help you stay aligned with your budget – as well as your objectives.
The more complex your project, the more it is bound to cost, without a doubt. However, long and intricate project requirements can still be broken down into smaller, bite-sized goals in order to commit to deliverables within a set budget. Of course, this may mean that many functionalities may have to be omitted. However, this isn’t necessarily a disadvantage as this can encourage teams to only focus on what’s essential, and release an MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
What’s particularly beneficial about an MVP is that it encourages teams to only focus on features that are truly needed; any ‘bells and whistles’ borne out of assumptions are omitted, thereby saving team members’ time and effort – along with clients’ budgets.
Longer timeframes/deadlines and high software development costs aren’t always mutually exclusive. In other words, shorter deadlines and the expectation of faster than usual turnarounds can cost businesses more, as teams need to deliver significantly more within a confined period of time.
If you are able to provide extra time to your software outsourcing partner, you may be able to negotiate lower costs, or completely dismiss any surcharges that may arise due to sudden requests. Cyber breaches are an exception, though; as remediation needs to be done immediately, it will incur costs that may or may not be within your control.
The more team members your IT outsourcing company needs to arrange for your software project, the more it is bound to cost you. If you are a startup, on a tight budget or are just looking to test a new software outsourcing partner out, then it’s advisable to start with a smaller team, and expand only if required. This, coupled with an MVP, shall be a practical and resourceful way to only pay for what is essential, thereby helping any business stay within budget.
The more experience your offshore software development team members have, the more they will undoubtedly cost you. To offset some of the costs associated with highly experienced software development teams, you can consider hiring junior developers, designers and testers. However, if long-standing experience is mandatory, consult your software outsourcing partner to know whether you can utilise the time of experienced team members who are shared among multiple projects, as dedicated team members will cost significantly more.
The technology stacks and infrastructure that software outsourcing companies use to build, store, run and maintain applications will also determine the overall cost of your project. For example, using on-site infrastructure is bound to cost you more than hosted resources, while extra services such as cyber threat monitoring and real-time compliance audits will incur extra costs.
While starting off with a fully hosted infrastructure in the public cloud may be budget-friendly for businesses, on-site infrastructure may be required in the interest of stronger security. For this, investing in an infrastructure management or IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) platform is worthwhile, as it can help IT teams monitor and optimise resource usage, to reduce (if not completely eliminate) any wastage or hidden costs.
Before determining exact budgets for your software project, it is necessary to conduct a thorough assessment of what your business and its applications really need. This is always a good rule-of-thumb prior to beginning any software project, as there may be many issues that your teams are unaware of, until a formal discussion is had.
To conduct a thorough assessment, gather relevant members from your teams, and pose questions surrounding the following topics, to gauge what needs to be addressed:
Upon concluding this assessment, both teams on the business and software sides will be mutually aware of what is lacking, and what needs fixing. Discussing budgets from this point onwards is fitting, as managers can now decide which exact costs they need to take on, and determine the total budget that needs to be reserved for the entire project.
Irrespective of how thoroughly your teams may have assessed and planned for your software project, it is always advisable to keep contingencies in mind. Unforeseen circumstances surrounding cyber breaches are a prime example of why contingencies are necessary. Even in the absence of emergencies, sudden requirements to add certain functionalities in order to serve evolving customer preferences or demand may also require flexibility within your budget.
Starting small, preferably with an MVP is by far one of the best ways to stay within budget. This way, any wastage is reduced by eliminating the development of functionalities that aren’t necessary – while ensuring only the most essential of features are incorporated to reduce turnaround times, effort, as well as subsequent costs.
Following implementation, gathering data from user interactions and reviews can then pave the way to determine which iterations need to be made, and how. This way, only capabilities that are liked by users make it into your software/applications – thereby making it something that users enjoy using, and can rely on.
While software outsourcing companies are often chosen to help companies reduce software development costs, business managers and leaders are still keen to know which precise factors contribute to the same. Two sets of assessments are necessary for this purpose; a preliminary needs assessment, which is then followed by determining which tasks need to be addressed, based on how much a company can afford to shell out.
While unforeseen circumstances can happen which could veer project budgets off track, planning beforehand and keeping contingencies in mind can still help businesses maintain a fair level of control, so objectives are appropriately and punctually met.
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