Common Pitfalls In Software Outsourcing You Must Avoid
The practice of outsourcing a software development team is steadily gaining popularity as more and more businesses realize the importance and benefits of maintaining a software team. If you are one of them and are planning to collaborate with a company for software outsourcing, there are a few noticeable things that you should know to crack the right deal.
Have a look at these eight pitfalls in software outsourcing that result in unsuccessful partnership and ultimately failed software development projects.
Lack of market research
The very first thing you must do before hiring an external team is investigating the market to know how the outsourcing market works. By performing market research, you can understand the variety of options available for your type of project. Also, before you set on your search for a software service, you must be clear about your needs and expectations from your team.
Lack of communication
If you collaborate with a team that works from their own homes or office, then communication is the key. While today it’s easier to manage remote teams, you need to craft a proper system to make the communication quick, convenient, and effective. For effective communication, you must be clear of your needs and convey the same to your team just when you sign the contract. Your outsourcing team needs to understand exactly what you want to come up with the best ideas for the development of your firm.
Loopholes in the contract
Often, a loosely framed contract can result in loopholes that your outsourcing company can utilize in the future for their own benefit. A properly drafted agreement also acts as a roadmap for the team to understand your needs better and work for the development of your company. Therefore, it is always advisable to hire a lawyer to make a flawless agreement for you. Also, make sure to sign a nondisclosure agreement so that you can protect your idea before revealing the details of the project with your team.
Hiring a provider with cultural and time zone differences
Every state and country has different cultures and business laws. You can come across teams that have an entirely different form of relationship with their bosses compared to what you are familiar with. Some cultures benefit their employees with a lot of holidays that can make it difficult for you to arrange a time for meetings. Also, if you collaborate with a team that works in a time zone 12 hours ahead of you, it can get complicated and confusing to arrange quick meetings.
Engaging in short-term partnerships
Generally, when you enter into a temporary collaboration with a firm, you do not bother to put in resources to train the team as you would have done with your in-house employees. We can not stress enough on the importance of training your employees to make them more familiar with your business and its purpose. Considering things with a larger perspective and investing enough time, money, and resources in your extended team can help to bring out more quality outputs.
Not focusing on the quality
If you think that doubling the team size can help to double the output, or put in another way, if you prior quantity over quality, you are living by a myth. While more people in the team may work for other industries, this does not work for software development projects. If you happen to hire a large team of software developers, this will only result in delayed projects and outputs. Hence, it’s always advisable to focus on the quality of skills of the team members that you hire rather than their number.