How to Choose the Right Offshore Development Company?

In our last blog, we discussed the basics and benefits of hiring an offshore development company. At the end of that blog, it was mentioned that businesses need to do homework before they start finding the right offshore development companies for software development projects based on their needs. Let us have a brief discussion on those points here as well.

Self-work Needed Before Finding the Right ODC

Define Business Goals

It is absolutely pointless to look for a software development company without a clear set of well-defined business objectives.

The best thing to start is to identify the existing problems within your business ecosystem. Then only you can come up with an idea of resolving those problems with a solution you wish to develop. This practice will help to pass on the information clearly while consulting a team of mobile developers or web developers you would hire.

It is important to determine the primary and secondary objectives of your software development project. It is also helpful to finalize the milestones in phases and set deadlines for each one of them. This will make the dedicated offshore development team be aware of the timeline for each milestone to raise any concerns or suggestions if they may have for the development process.

Evaluation of Skillset & Technology Expertise

The business goals identification would be followed by efficient evaluation of the technical expertise, experience, and skillset required in the dedicated development team which you will be looking to hire. It is always a step ahead to have an overall idea of the overall process of the software development process. For example, only web or mobile app developers along with designers are not completing a software development team.

To design, develop, test, manage, and launch a full-fledged software product, it is always preferred to hire the full team which comprises UI/UX designers, the Programmers, the Project Manager, QA (Quality Analyst), BA (Business Analyst).

Budget Planning for Development Process

This is as important as any other reason before investing in a software development project. It becomes even more crucial for startups to plan and define the fixed working capital to develop a mobile app or a web app. With the fact that 46% of startups fail due to problems associated with the cash flow, strategic budget planning is inevitable.

Define the budget initially and then identify the areas where you can save by cutting the costs. Also, if you are looking for investors down the line, assign a budget to develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), and present that in order to get finances before the next phase of development starts. Even for small and medium businesses or enterprises, defining a budget beforehand is always handy to save a huge chunk of money.

The fourth point in your homework was to identify and choose the right offshore development partner company. There are many ways you can do it. These are explained separately below.

How To Choose the Right Offshore Development Company?

Offshore outsourcing has evolved with time and technology requirements to stand competent in the market. Innovations are happening and this has resulted in tech giants like Dell outsourcing significant projects to the remote team to fulfill their daily tasks or projects. However, let us start with things to consider that will help you to find and choose the right offshore software development partner with an effective engagement model based on your needs.

1) Explore & Evaluate Proven Track Record

Clutch and GoodFirms are examples of reliable platforms where you can search for offshore software development companies. Lookup for the ratings, rankings of their website, domain expertise, etc. A Linkedin business page is another thing you can have in your checklist where you can see internal insights like company profile and people who work. Clutch is considered to be the best source for reading the client testimonials and feedback.

For example, search the category of top-listed web development companies on GoodFirms, their ratings, and even their work or portfolios. This is a good step to start.

2) Evaluation of Competency, Experience, & Expertise

Never ever forget your goal behind engaging with an ODC. You do not have the in-house technical expertise to develop a software application, web/mobile app or an IoT solution, or AI & ML application. Hence, the first thing after you choose to contact an ODC is to confirm whether they are experts or not.

There are a hell lot of companies in the market that provide a wide spectrum of services these days including marketing and branding. However, you need to confirm your way if their core services fall in the category of software development. Ask to show them their previous work of a similar kind, references, case studies, or a demo. Never choose a company with CHEAP work history, as they will simply be not good enough overnight.

3) Get Known to ODC’s Methodology & Workflow

Every software development project is unique and this is one simple reason why it must be treated specially, right? This is the reason why businesses must know the methodology of project execution to be aware of what lies ahead. A clear understanding of this will bring an idea in balancing the time, cost, and scope of the overall software development project.

Businesses must closely collaborate initially whenever they hire a dedicated development team in determining and finalizing the right methodology.

4) A Team with No Question is A No Good Team

This is about the knowledge sharing session at the start of the engagement, where you lay down the business objectives, purpose, and requirements in front of a dev team. If the team has no concerns, questions, or arguments and tells you to fulfill every requirement, it is a step-back warning. It means that the team has not understood the requirements in full given their expertise.

All the web or mobile app development companies have specific skillsets but none are having mastery in every technology. A few tweaks here and there are inevitable to provide a desired digital solution. Hope this thing helps in your evaluation of the initial engagement before doing business with an ODC.

5) Complete Control & Transparency is a Must

First thing is to get complete access to the latest code because there are many cases when the code is not released by the development teams due to unwanted conflicts. For the sake of it, request to make you the admin of your project on project management tools like JIRA, Basecamp, Trello, Slack, etc. These tools are productive and eliminate the need of following up through emails. These tools will ensure transparency on a day-to-day basis where you can access and monitor the tasks and analyze the progress of your software development project.

6) Ensure Software Product Scalability

Businesses grow with time and so do the software applications too. It is not preferable if the software application or any digital solution you may have chosen to build, cannot be scaled in a long run. Well, the point here is that the RIGHT offshore development partner must suggest you this idea of a custom software development that can fulfill your current needs along with a scope to scale up the platform in the future.

Summing It Up with A Quick Tip…

Never fall for the cheap quotes always with the thought that you can save money initially if you go join hands with an ODC with the cheapest quote. You may pay up a significant amount of money if the quality is compromised. We do not want that thing to happen when the project is compromised at the end and a re-work is inevitable. You also know somewhere that software development cost depends on the complexity of the solutions, technology used, and a lot of factors. It is an expensive affair destined to pay a handsome ROI in the longer run.

Read More: Factors Impacting Cost of Software Development

Why IndiaNIC is the Right ODC for Global Businesses?

If you are looking for that perfect ODC to partner with for your software application development project, your search ends here.

IndiaNIC has been successfully delivering software development services on a global scale since 1997. Our dedicated offshore development center in India will help you to accomplish your business goals. We have a workforce of over 500 professionals and workstations​ equipped with cutting-edge tools making us a leading Offshore Development Company. A rich portfolio comprising 7000+ projects, 90% projects from these are developed and delivered for foreign clients over all these years.