Software development outsourcing is often misunderstood as simply a way
Software development outsourcing is often misunderstood as simply a way to save on development costs. The vendors actually worth their salt are not necessarily cheap. But they will contribute to your project and company in different ways that will ultimately prove most cost-effective. Let’s see why quality outsourcing provides the most value for your money.
In this world (of software development), there are $10/hour developers, and then there are $150/hour developers as well as tons of options in-between.
You may be tempted to try to get the hourly rate as low as possible. If you do, changes are that your entire approach to development may need some rethinking.
By choosing the best possible developers, you may save more money by avoiding many hidden costs and risks, improving your own processes and simply getting a better product.
Here are five non-obvious ways in which investing in quality software development actually saves you more money.
Spending more in the short-term, saving in the long-term
Sure, you might pick a cheap software house that will also agree to deliver your software within a very tight deadline. And they may actually meet the deadline!
But the problem is that if the code delivered is of poor quality, it will eventually cost you more in terms of its maintenance and the ability to scale up and extend its features. Chances are that you will eventually be forced to scrap the whole app and get a new team. You will end up paying twice, but the biggest loss that you will experience will be the loss of precious time.
Getting the project off the ground faster
Speaking of time, there are savings to be made in getting the project properly started as soon as possible. Experienced devs have ready-made boilerplates, frameworks and best practices that make it possible to shorten development at the very beginning without losing the quality. Naturally, that also translates into shorter time-to-market.
Ensure solid planning from the start
Perhaps the most important in terms of making sure that no penny will be wasted is proper planning. One based on a solid foundation of frameworks such as the Agile methodology. With that, you will avoid risks of choosing the wrong technologies, architecture, release schedule or features. Many projects fail precisely because of lack of planning in software development outsourcing.
A part of solid planning are also agreements that ensure that both sides of the cooperation are protected.
Scaling up and down faster
With a big and experienced software house comes the ability to scale up and down faster. That way, you will get the project to the market faster, or cut back on spending – depending what it is that you need at a given moment. To provide such capabilities, your vendor should have access to many experienced devs with a flexible skillset.
Benefiting from more expertise
Perhaps one of the least obvious gains of working with a quality outsourcing vendor is the chance to benefit from the expertise of all its staff, including the people not directly involved in your project. The best vendors have a lot of experienced people who contribute to their best practices of working with the client. Getting to work with them may positively influence the efficiency and culture of your own organization.
