Starsoft
Literally, outsourcing means assigning tasks and duties to external personnel or team. In software development, outsourcing refers to delegating tasks to an external development team. It simply means you are handing over the control of a project’s development to a third party that doesn’t work for your company.
With the rise of new practices, innovations, and methodologies in the ever-evolving technology world, outsourcing a software development team gives you access to an array of talents and expertise globally.
A 2017 study by Statista has shown an increasing demand for outsourcing in software development. This indicates that software companies diligently employ external services to work with them.
As a software company, outsourcing gives you the advantage of working with an experienced team of developers. It also gives you insights into their knowledge and experience.
Models of outsourcing software development
There are various established models of outsourcing software development. Software companies can choose the outsourcing model that best fits the project.
These models take the budget, duration, and complexity of your project into consideration, and their design caters to your project’s needs.
Software outsourcing models are, however, classified based on three (3) criteria:
- Collaboration of development teams
- Pricing/Costs of software development
- Location of the developing team.
Collaboration of the development teams
This criterion defines the collaboration of your in-house and your outsourced team of developers. The outsourcing models in this category include:
- Staff augmentation model
This model is the simplest form of the models under this category. This model establishes a collaborative relationship between your in-house team and your outsourced team of developers in the process of software development.
This allows both teams to work together to produce the desired results. They mostly communicate physically without barriers.
- Project-based model
This model works solely with the outsourced development team. It hands over control of the project’s development to the outsourced team. That means the team completes all the software development processes themselves without interference or contributions from the in-house team. However, they still give reports and feedback to your company about the ongoing project.
- Dedicated team model
The dedicated team model allows you to outsource to a team of software developers with expertise on your project instead of individually outsourcing them.
This team is already made of professional and experienced tech developers and other members involved in software development, and they provide specific services that suit the requirements of your project.
Pricing/Cost of software development
- Fixed price model:
For this model, the price/payment of the development team is fixed. It is like contract work, where at the beginning of the work, the amount you get paid will be discussed and agreed upon before commencement.
So, regardless of how much effort or how much time is put into the project, the development team would be paid a fixed price at the end.
This model is used for a long-term project.
- Time and Material
For this model, you pay the outsourced team by the number of hours worked or the efforts they put into the project. They don’t get a fixed payment but get paid according to the services offered and the time spent on the project.
This model is used for a short-term project.
Location of the developing team
The criteria for this model are based on the country of residence of the developing team. They include:
- Onshore software outsourcing
This model applies to the outsourcing development team located in the same country as the hiring software company. This model bridges the gap in communication and language barriers. However, it limits access to a variety of talents to choose from.
- Offshore software outsourcing
This model is used when you want to outsource with a development team from other countries.
There is no physical communication between the development team and the hiring company, which could be disadvantageous.
However, it reduces the cost of catering for the development team if they were in the same country as the hiring company.
- Nearshore software outsourcing
This model applies to development teams located near or neighboring countries as the hiring tech company.
So, how is outsourcing a software development team beneficial? What are the perks that come with an outsourced development team? Well, let’s find out.
Benefits of software development outsourcing
The benefits include:
- Access to top-notch developers
- Cost-effectiveness
- Flexibility
- Goal accomplishment
- Little involvement from the company’s end
Access to top-notch developers
Outsourcing allows the company access to various software developers and chooses from them. These developers are unlimited in number, with adequate experience and professionalism, and thus, enable you to pick the best fit for your company’s project.
Hiring top-notch developers to work for your company means that the designing, implementation, deploying, and marketing of the software is done by the developers (and your in-house team if they are working together).
Cost-effectiveness
You have the privilege to choose software developers that meet your company’s budget and still deliver excellently in the end. Instead of spending so much on catering for an in-house team, outsourced software development teams are cost-effective and don’t require as much as an in-house team to be maintained.
Flexibility
Outsourcing gives a chance of flexibility in handling a project. The expertise and experience of the outsourced development team ease up the tasks to be performed and pressure on the other members of the company, including the in-house team.
Flexibility paves the way for the time and effort of other employees in the company to be used for other productive purposes. It allows experts to handle the software development process.
Goal accomplishments
With an outsourced team, there is a higher probability of achieving the goals and desired results that you expect from the project. The outsourced team is an expert in the field, and their vast knowledge and experience would put together a fantastic result for the project.
Little involvement from the company’s end
The company can completely hand over the baton(control) to the outsourced team, so they don’t have to worry about all the work, time, and effort that would be put into developing the software.
They only need to meet with the outsourced team consistently to be able to keep up with updates about the ongoing project.
However, with all the above benefits, outsourcing development teams still has its challenges. The next part of this article will discuss that aspect.
Disadvantages/ Challenges of outsourcing development team
The challenges of hiring an outsourced development team include:
- Security risks
- Delay in work delivery
- Lack of transparency
- Substandard quality
- Language and cultural barrier
Security risks
As a software company, outsourcing your development team exposes your company to a security risk. All information regarding software development should be confidential and bringing an outsourced team means that they are privy to this information well, which could be dangerous and detrimental to your company if they get into the wrong hands.
Delay in delivery
Outsourced teams may not keep up with the delivery time that they promised. Although outsourcing saves the company time and money, they still might disappoint in aspects like delivering your software late, which may slow down the other activities that should come after the product delivery.
Lack of transparency
Not all companies are lucky to meet and hire a transparent team with their work. Your outsourced team might be keeping things from you, vital signs you ought to know of. This results from a lack of transparency in their dealings with your company.
Substandard quality
Your company might be a victim of an outsourced team that isn’t as competent as you want them to be. This affects the quality of the product delivered in the end. What you desired and requested might not be what you end up getting in the future.
Language and cultural barrier
If you are outsourcing globally, either from different countries or regions or zones or continents, you might have a problem with language and cultural barriers amongst the team members. This could impede effective communication and can reflect negatively on the outcome of the product.
Tips for outsourcing a software development team
- Choose the right outsourcing team:
Before gathering an outsourced team, make sure you hire them based on the history of their work, experience and expertise, and also references. Take their recruitment process very seriously because they could make or break your project.
- Define your goals/ expectations
Be clear on what you want for your software. Know your specifics. It helps a lot during the evaluation process of the project. You can contribute fluently to the development process by pointing out mistakes/errors or omissions and making appropriate adjustments.
- Efficiency in communication
Communication is the key to the successful completion of a project. Effective and consistent communication between the hiring company and the outsourced team paves for the smooth running of the project. Effective communication ensures that instructions are followed and implemented and corrections are adjusted. Effective communication points out errors and is an avenue to share opinions to produce a great result.
- Suitable outsourcing model
From the outsourcing models mentioned above, make sure that you choose the one that best suits your project. Understand the models and decide which is the best to apply in the development process. The outsourcing model also contributes to the successful completion of the project