In this ever growing web development world, whether to outsource or not outsource is an interminable question. Even most of the organizations with fresh ideas and development teams are often confused and are not sure what to do. Apart from the benefits of having an in-house web developer with whom you can work on a daily basis, some difficulties may arise in the form of ongoing commitment and improvement. Also there is an option to hire a web development company or a freelancer. The cost effective choice of working with freelancer might incur some challenges like confusion and not meeting the deadlines. If you’re thinking about outsourcing a web development project for the first time, you may not know its benefits and so would not know how to act and what to expect.
For a successful outsourcing of web development you must know some key points about web development outsourcing. Before digging into it, let us see benefits of outsourcing.
If you want to avoid chasing a freelancer for updates about your project, you can save time and money by hiring an experienced agency. Though the expenses may look bigger at first, over the long haul, they will pay off because the risk is reduced to minimum. You will get your product within the agreed timespan, you will always be able to rely on the agency team and no need to pay twice for mistakes.
Project outsourcing lets you do what you want to and rely on the agency to be their own. Meaning that you don’t need to worry about which technology has been updated and you will leave all this to the team you hire.
Outsourcing web development helps you to scale your project faster. Outsourcing companies have experience scaling and can include experts to the development team whenever required.
In case of outsourcing, project manager is responsible for project planning, client communication and internal problem solving. So you don’t need to worry about these problems and so reduce risk and stress. Regardless, an outsourcing development team has time limits and is obliged to follow the agreement.
If you outsource software development, you can concentrate on profit generation. You can focus on marketing, sales, business processes, testing business hypotheses and so on. After outsourcing, you just need to approve the team’s work and comment it.
With outsourcing you can get access to new technologies that you are willing to use. It also accelerates organizational and developmental processes because outsourcing development teams work according to development methodology. So your project will be developed fast, efficiently and with less changes.
You can also know the benefits of outsourcing software development at- Why should you outsource the software development?
The cost of outsourcing a web development depends on the following factors-
Hourly rate of developers is a biggest factor that influences a project’s cost and sometimes it varies according to the location.
A web development team should consist of the following necessary roles:
1. Finalize Business Goals Before Web Development Outsourcing-
Before hiring an outsourcing company, set your goals and define project requirements. Write the description of your project with answers of some important points like goal of project, project needs etc. Ambiguous expectations will lead to wasted time and money.
2. Define Project Requirements-
Think thoroughly about your business goals and technical requirements for your project. Know what kind of technology stack you would like to use for a project. Revealing project functionality will help your outsourcing team to understand your requirements and estimate the software development timing and budget. Also, it help you to remove unnecessary features before start of development.
3. Budget And Time Calculation-
Each country or geographic region has different pricing for web development services. The budget that you have estimated will help you to choose the country to outsource the project. You should clearly discuss the budget of project with the outsourcing company and the time when you expect the project to be delivered.
4. Communication-
Communication is a key to successful project. Determine how you will communicate with the project developers. If you are outsourcing a project in a different country or your outsourced team speak different language or in a different time zone, then first of all you should determine the language you will speak to your team. You can communicate via email and organize meetings with various communication platforms like Skype, Slack, GoToMeeting etc. If you are having different time zones, determine the time that suits you all for better communication.
5. List Out Good Web Development Outsourcing Providers-
According to research and recommendations, make a list of web development companies that have good reputation and meet your expectations for the project. You can ask your business network for advice.
6. Know Details Of Potential Software Providers-
While approaching the company, you should ask about the experience of providing web development outsourcing services. Don’t hesitate to ask the company’s representative about their past projects similar to yours and check their portfolio. Also ensure the company’s experience with the technologies required for your project. Make a clear discussion with team members about their skills and experience. Ask company representatives about the methodologies they use for web projects and the support they provide. Always remember that communication is important while outsourcing web development. Ask how the company arranges communication between clients and project managers.
7. Make A Contract-
The contract should include the clear information about payment details, the timing of their provision, clear conditions for provision of web development outsourcing services for individual parts of work and the entire project. Also you must discuss terms and payment methods. It should be better to sign an NDA to avoid any leakage of private data.