When done right, outsourcing software development is an effective way to cut costs, expand capacity, and take advantage of outside expertise for any business. On the other hand, when businesses get it wrong, outsourcing can cost them time and money, damage customer relationships, and sometimes even ruin a brand.
Most challenges that arise in software development outsourcing are due to the “human factor” and, especially, due to poor communication, lack of clarity and/or guidance. At Access Solutions, we are very aware of this and that is why we focus so much on management and communication between our clients and their remote team. Poor commitment or lack thereof, inadequate pre-planning, or inattention can derail even the best efforts.
Knowing where the challenges are, and knowing what to do to avoid them, can prepare you well for when you decide to outsource your software development project. So, let’s look at some of the most common mistakes to avoid when outsourcing:
Selecting an outsourcing partner without conducting thorough research is a common mistake that many businesses make. Many businesses base their decisions solely on cost savings. But other factors must also be taken into consideration including the vendor’s expertise, feedback from previous clients, and unique approach to working with clients.
A healthy relationship with an outsourced partner must begin with communicating clear objectives. Your outsourcing partner can’t deliver great quality results if you do not offer them detailed instructions and expectations. Make your goals and objectives SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timebound.
Having seamless communication with an outsourced partner is incredibly important. Poor communication can lead to missed deadlines, failing to meet requirements, and missing project goals. Therefore, you have to pay attention to how your partner communicates. Make sure your vision is aligned and always check the communication systems and procedures they have in place before any work starts. From the start, communicate your expectations, and let them know that they can communicate freely with you.
Very often, companies imagine that completing a project successfully is just a matter of finding an outsourcing agency to partner with, then entrusting that agency fully to fulfill the project while they tend to other tasks and responsibilities.
Even though you choose to outsource the entire project, you should never abdicate from it. When businesses hand over projects completely, they can lose track of the end goal and miss deadlines, while outsource teams can misunderstand your business goals. Outsourcing is simply a form of delegation and continuous involvement is absolutely necessary.
Your project is unlikely to succeed unless you have full support from above. Right from the start, a project manager should be assigned to your project and be the main point of contact between your company management and the outsourcing team.
Changing priorities often can kill productivity and has a major negative impact on the fate of any project. Priorities should be identified before the project starts and communicated clearly to everyone involved. Clients need to make sure all of their internal stakeholders are aligned before handing any work off to an outsourcer.
If, for any reason, priorities have to change during the course of the project, all details must be communicated to teams well in advance.
Incomplete knowledge transfer can cause major problems with outsourcing. Therefore, any new outsourcing partnership needs to create a procedure for knowledge transfer. You, as the client, and the outsourcing partner must work together to define the product and identify the technical requirements of the project. A broad knowledge base must be established early on. Here is how this can be done:
Trust must come from both sides, the client and the agency. In practice, real trust needs to be built over time. Every conversation or comment will either build trust or undermine it. A trustworthy partner is open and honest; they will tell you immediately if they realize they’re not on track with a milestone or task rather than wait until the end of a development cycle.
To avoid bugs at the end of the project, testing is crucial. This can help you to gain peace of mind that your final project functions the way it should. A tester should ideally be involved in the development from the very beginning.
In Access Solutions’ experience, it happened that clients wanted to onboard 5 to 10 developers at once. We believe in building momentum slowly, starting slow and carefully by onboarding no more than two developers per week. This allows both parties to learn more about the processes, get to know key players on both sides, and adapt to everyone’s work style before scaling up. We call this “crawl, walk, run.”
While you can outsource a service or project, you can never fully hand over the risks involved. One of the best ways to avoid the risks of an outsourced partnership not working, a project failing or a contract coming to an end is to invest in proper documentation and cross-training.
Before the contract commences, make sure to document business requirements so everyone knows exactly what is expected right from the start. This also helps anyone that works on the project, both now and in the future, to understand what they are working towards. During the course of the project, it is also important to document application design and key customizations, as well as key processes, areas of responsibility, and access credentials. This can help you to know how and where to make important changes to products in the future when the partnership has come to an end.
Make sure to have one centralized repository (WIKI) for such documentation, so it can be easily found by anyone who needs access.
Outsourcing is based on people. It is not so much a process or a method, but rather a relationship. So, with the right partner, you can reap the benefits of increased capacity, user support and, ultimately, better revenue.
To find the right partner, you need to have knowledge about the challenges and common mistakes to avoid when outsourcing. We hope you have found our guide useful for gaining knowledge about outsourcing, and that outsourcing your software development projects will be a positive experience.