Even if your company has seen significant growth over time, it may still have skill gaps in some areas. So if you don’t have the required software development talent, there is nothing to be worried about. There are so many companies out there that are in the same position. The shortage of software developers that possess the right skills is a challenge that is easy to overcome. You can fill these gaps by hiring offshore software development services. You just need to be flexible with your recruitment. Also, your perspective towards alternative solutions needs to change. You can enjoy a whole host of benefits by hiring the right software outsourcing service for your projects. Before we discuss the questions that you need to ask your software outsourcing partner, let us first understand what offshore software development really is.
What Is Offshore Software Development?
Offshore software development is nothing but the process of hiring a foreign company to help you with provide software development assistance based on your requirements. These companies can provide you with skillful talent in more than one area of your project. It could be coding, IT, engineering, project design, or all of these. offshore software development services offer you an inexpensive way of dealing with your company’s talent shortage or overburdening of internal resources in this area.
You should know the ways you can use offshoring to make the most of what it offers. You can collaborate with these companies on a project-to-project basis. Their remote team will help you with parts of the project that your internal team doesn’t have the time or skill for. Another way is to outsource the entire development project to these teams. You will have dedicated project managers and developers working on your project from start to finish. The size of the team you choose to work with will depend on the size of your project. Or you can hire an offshore team for application programming maintenance once you have created and implemented your product.
As you can see, working with a software outsourcing service gives you several options to choose from depending on your needs. However, there are important questions that you need to ask them to ensure that everything goes as per plan.
What Is Your Technological Expertise?
This is one of the most important questions that you should ask your offshore company before agreeing to work with them. Their team’s technological certifications and experience are very important for the success of your project. If you are planning to build a software solution using a particular technology, then you should make sure that your outsourcing partner has expertise in it. You need to ask them about their team’s training and experience upfront.
You can also ask them about their previous projects based on the same technology. Knowledge and familiarity with a programming language are often not enough to build a great product. They need to have people who have spent hours learning the language and worked extensively with it. This is what separates expertise from familiarity. To be sure, you can ask them to share the testimonials of previous clients. You can even talk to those clients to understand whether or not your company has the right expertise.
How Often Do You Communicate?
Communication is important because it is always important for you to be in the loop of what’s happening with your project. Open and regular communication can also open doors to transparency through the product development process. You are less worried when you know every detail about your project. If they don’t have defined protocols for communication, you will have trouble getting issues resolved on time. The ultimate downside of infrequent and improper communication is a product that doesn’t match your expectations.
So you should be very clear about how who, and when of your project communication. Discuss the communication tools that will be used as well as the timing and format of updates that you wish to receive from their side. You should know your first point of contact or POC who you can talk to regarding everything related to your project.
Do You Provide Recommendations Regarding What Works And What Doesn’t?
One of the biggest reasons companies work with offshore development firms is the experience they have. It is likely that they would have explored new things and experimented on a few occasions as well. So they will know what would work for your project and what wouldn’t. They will be able to suggest to you what works in different situations, the right way of doing things, and the best approach to follow for your project. So, if your company disagrees on a few things but comes up with better solutions backed with reasons, nothing like it.
Conclusion
Asking the right questions can help you understand a lot more about your offshore development company than is usually possible. With this information, you can make a decision that is in the interest of your business.