How to choose an outsourcing partner in 2023?

Businesses across the globe have been benefiting from technology outsourcing. At the same time, it has been a challenge for people who haven’t done this before. But understanding outsourcing is vital for finding the right partner. Basically, outsourcing allows you to unload some of your development work to a third party that excels in that particular area of development practice. 

At first, outsourcing web development mainly was limited to light coding tasks and minor design alterations. However, as the sector has expanded, so has the range of tasks that can be contracted out. Nowadays, almost all steps involved in creating a website to manage the whole infrastructure can be outsourced. Everything from website design and development to ongoing support and maintenance is included in this. There are several benefits to outsourcing managed service providers. It can help businesses save money and time while releasing internal resources to work on other aspects of the company. We have covered all the main elements to look out for in a good outsourcing company in this blog. Let’s dive in.

When to consider IT outsourcing services?

Before getting into the process of opting for an Outsourcing Partner, make sure you know exactly what you need from them. There can be several reasons for IT outsourcing:

• building a new business application.
• enhancing an existing application.
• adding some expertise to your business team.

If you require a software development partner to design a new digital solution, specify whether it will be a desktop, mobile, or web application. The next step is to decide what services, such as front-end, back-end development, QA, DevOps, and others, you want your IT company to offer. Or you’d prefer to choose full-cycle app development and give your application development partner control of the entire project.

Additionally, you can improve the current software solution or product that you already own. For instance, if your mobile app is obsolete, your mobile development partner may be able to add modern features or functionalities to your digital solution. It could be rebuilding your mobile app into a cross-platform solution, updating the app’s design, or adding AI chatbots, Blockchain, IoT, and other valuable enhancements.

Finally, you might think about adding some specialized knowledge from your IT outsourcing partner to boost the performance of your internal IT team. The outsourced team you employ can assist your in-house team in developing a specific capability for your app or managing some chores when your team members are away from the office or concentrating on other important activities for your business.

How to choose the perfect outsourcing partner?

The success of your software and business depends on careful analysis and your choice of software development outsourcing firm. Selecting a trustworthy offshore vendor is essential to completing the work in accordance with your standards and ethics.

We have divided the selection criteria into three segments; Basics, Must have, and Good to-have. If a vendor checks off even 70% of these criteria, you are good to go.

Basics:

Experience in the relevant technology area and domain knowledge:

• The outsourcer that you pick should have relevant experience. Why? Professionals should be able to help you and advise you. It isn’t enough to make decisions based on “gut feelings”, they need to have strong knowledge of a specific topic. Aside from a general business background, they must also understand your target system’s environment, which is crucial in software development.

Company culture:

• A collaboration between two companies works like a relationship. You both need to share the same values and understand each other easily. Partnerships in which these aspects are fulfilled are more likely to result in success.

Method of communication:

• It would help to establish how your communication will look before, during, and after the project. How much insight will you have into current activities? How much control will you have? You need to establish expectations and develop frameworks. Select the communication channel, and make it part of your strategy to document everything pertinent to the project.

Onboarding process for clients:

• What is the next thing to pay attention to? You should research the client onboarding process at a particular company. Before the kickoff, discuss with the vendor what their procedures are and what concrete steps they take. It would be perfect if they have it carefully planned and tailored to your individual needs so that every step is clear and understandable for both parties.

Must Haves:

An Established Track Record:

• Look for a provider with an established reputation specific to the organization’s niche. Request for proposals, Check the case studies, and check the reviews. Check basically anything and everything that tells you the authority of an organization.

Broad Technical Skills:

• There is no one-size-fits-all solution for product development, so it is useful to look for a partner with published technical expertise in multiple areas. This includes platforms, mobile, web, databases, DevOps, video, machine learning / AI, Cloud, CRM, and analytics.

Agile Processes:

• Look for a partner leveraging Scrum-based agile development methodology to be sure that the partner is continuously incorporating feedback in order to avoid costly reworks. This iterative process allows for measurement, testing, and scaling to ensure the results align with the business objectives.

Tech Stack Expertise:

• Enterprises dealing with software projects may have a specific list of technologies that they are familiar with and would like to use to reach the desired solution. If they already have an in-house team working on the same software and then plan to outsource any specific panel, their team or developers may have some good suggestions related to the already integrated tech stack. List all of them in the document and let others share their opinions about the same.

A Project-First Approach: 

• Designing the right product begins with one-to-one attention to understanding the organization’s needs and documenting the scope of their project. The ideal partner will establish preferred communication channels and create a product roadmap for how often the company would like to be updated.

Good to Have:

Accreditation and certifications:

• The offshore partner should be certified and accredited with the set industry standards. Validating the certification and accreditation of the custom software development outsourcing partner is imperative during the vetting procedure. That helps ensure security, confidentiality, and quality standards.

Focus on Scalability:

• It’s said that no software project is ever really finished — and in most cases, this is true. For this reason, the best outsourcing vendors ensure they make a maintenance plan per your requirements. They ascertain that there’s always a strategy to guarantee the flexibility and scalability of your software once the development completes.

What are Outsourcing Engagement Models?

Outsourcing engagement models refer to the various ways in which a company can work with an external vendor to provide services. These are the different types of IT outsourcing that companies may use when outsourcing, including:

• Project-based outsourcing: This model involves outsourcing a specific project or task to a vendor, who is responsible for completing the work and delivering the finished product.

• Time and materials outsourcing: This model involves outsourcing work to a vendor on a time and materials basis, where the vendor is paid for the time spent working on the project and the materials used in the course of the work.

• Dedicated team outsourcing: This model involves outsourcing work to a vendor and having a team of employees from the vendor work exclusively on the project.

• Managed services outsourcing: This model involves outsourcing the management of a particular process or function to a vendor.

• Offshore outsourcing: This model involves outsourcing work to a vendor in a different country, often to take advantage of lower labor costs

How to Make Your Outsourced Project a Success?

Organizations should look for a partner who wants to do more than just build the product; the ideal partner will want to work alongside the organization to elevate their brand in the marketplace in the long term. However, like any relationship, the success of the outsourced project is a two-way street. Help the project succeed with these tips:

• Define your goals clearly and communicate them transparently to the partner
• Conduct feasibility studies and market research
• Check in regularly for progress updates and feedback
• Choose a provider focused on iterative development (Agile and DevOps)
• Choose a provider who is able to meet the compliance requirements without delay, providing confidence their processes are already secure

Make sure you are involved as much as you want and less as you want at the same time. Building this kind of trust in your partner’s ability is key to making the project a success.

Read more about the ways to opt for the top IT outsourcing companies here.

Wrapping up:

More than just a decision, outsourcing software development is a complete business transformation. If done right, the results can be great; however, everything you spend may go bonkers if you didn’t select the right partner. Hence, considering all outsourcing models, risks, costs, and project requirements become significant.

But, selecting a reliable extended team can be worthwhile as it offers flexibility and growth. Deqode’s IT services offer a variety of solutions for leading industries and is deemed as one of the finest Outsourcing companies in a variety of domains. 

Visit deqode.com to learn more about our services and culture.