Aug 9th, 2024
The Strategic Importance of Outsourcing Software Development
Outsourcing software development can be a great way to increase productivity if you have limited ability to scale. Human capital is an expensive resource, and hiring is a time-consuming process that diverts human capital away from engineering.
There are many reasons to consider outsourcing software development services, but there are also drawbacks and pitfalls to watch out for. In this article, we’ll look at why you may want to outsource, when it makes sense to do so, and when to hold off.
What aspects of software development should be outsourced?
Outsourcing software development doesn’t just mean hiring a third party to build your app. All stages of the development lifecycle can be outsourced
- Development: You can hire an outsourcing partner to code new features.
- Maintenance and Support: An outsourcing partner can either provide ongoing support or set up automated processes to do so.
- QA Testing: You might consider outsourcing just the quality assurance portion of your lifecycle to functional testing services or manual testing services.
- Legacy App Modernization/Data Migration: Outsourcing partners can assist with app migration to the cloud, cloud security solutions, and cloud app development.
- Mobile App Development: By outsourcing software development you can build mobile apps using iOS, Android or other cross-platforms.
How do you know you are ready to outsource your software project?
It’s beneficial to do an assessment of your business and current structure before looking into outsourcing software development. An assessment will help you determine what your goals are, how those goals will be measured, what your budget constraints are, and your projected timeline.
An assessment should include an overview of the following:
- Goal alignment between all stakeholders
- Budget and cost analysis
- Establishing success metrics
- Evaluation of available resources and capacity in-house
- Addressing security and privacy concerns
- Risk assessment and mitigation
- Vendor assessment
Benefits and Drawbacks of Outsourcing Software Development
While there are any benefits to outsourcing, there are also downsides. Whether or not the benefits outweigh the risks will come down to your business’s specific goals and requirements.
Benefits
Access to the Global Talent Pool
Your hiring pool may be limited by your geographic region. Outsourcing partners typically find engineers from all over the world. You may need to be open to taking on remote employees, but this is a fair tradeoff to get top talent from a larger pool.
Free Up Your People to Focus on Core Concerns
Your engineers and designers will no longer be putting out fires or spending time on trivial or menial tasks. Outsourcing things like QA, bug fixes, and maintenance allows your employees to work on designing and building new features, scaling, and improving the product.
Decrease Time to Market
Low-cost outsourced labor increases your efficiency and productivity.
Scalability
Scaling your outsourced workforce is easy: your outsourcing partner can handle this for you. You won’t need to spend time attracting and interviewing talent, you can simply leave this to your partner.
Drawbacks
Privacy/Security Concerns
Outsourcing requires you to open up parts of your company and codebase to outside people. It’s imperative that you protect your customer’s data and your own data. Make sure security measures are up to par before bringing on any outside help.
Alignment With Company Values
The people you hire through software product development services will never be as passionate about the product as your internal employees. However, they should still align with your company culture. Spend some time with your outsourcing partner outlining your mission statement and core values.
Cost
Although outsourcing is typically less costly than hiring new people, there can be hidden costs, such as communication lag, unmotivated outside employees, and misunderstandings that lead to breakdowns.
What to look for in a Software Development Partner?
You should also take into consideration the experience of your software development partner and look at customer reviews to evaluate their performance.
You should also take into consideration the experience of your software outsourcing partner and look at customer reviews to evaluate their performance.
Top Software Outsourcing Companies in USA
Choosing the right software outsourcing partner is a critical decision which can impact the success of your software project. Here are some of our recommended software outsourcing companies in USA:
- ScienceSoft: ScienceSoft, a US-based company, offers IT consulting and software development services. It collaborates with clients globally, including those in the United States, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Europe, and Australia.
- Telliant Systems: Telliant Systems offers a comprehensive suite of software product development services, including outsourcing software development, to clients across the USA. Their offerings encompass custom software development, covering product strategy and software design, application development, QA testing, performance analysis, software tuning, and ongoing application maintenance.
- SCAND: SCAND is an IT outsourcing and custom software development company that provides a comprehensive suite of services, tailored for businesses looking to delegate their software development needs.
- ITransition: This company specializes in delivering software engineering services such as software implementation, custom development, and technology consulting across multiple industries, including retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and insurance.
- BairesDev: Baires Dev is a fast-growing technology solutions company based in Latin America. They offer end-to-end distribution services for businesses of all sizes, ranging from startups to some of the world’s largest corporations.
