6 Software Development Outsourcing Pitfalls To Avoid

Software Development Outsourcing is a common occurrence nowadays to decrease the workload on your team and also for the augmentation of your squad by partnering them with a more qualified team from outside. When it comes to outsourcing, India is a preferred destination for software companies around the world because of cost-effectiveness and advanced approaches towards building a product.

There are kinds of outsourcing which come to the fore. They are mainly Overseas Outsourcing and Project Outsourcing. India is a perfect example of overseas Outsourcing and Project Outsourcing is one such kind which is followed by most of the non-technical companies.

While outsourcing can be the perfect solution to avoid a development blockade or to cut cost, it is hard to find a suitable developer or a community who shall fit our needs. Some of the pitfalls fit in here quite perfectly which should be avoided to maintain the perfect client-customer relationship.
Thus, here are some of the pitfalls, which you as a customer or an agency seeking out for outsourcing, should avoid.

• The Right Agency: Settling for the right bidderThere are many out there who are equally capable of doing your job, but you have to assess your requirements accurately to achieve what you want to. There will be many who will bid for the project of they have a large workforce or someone who has proven track record in that particular type of project.You have to differentiate between these two and choose the one for yourself wisely. A large workforce will not ensure the quality of the project if it doesn’t have any prior work experience and an agency with a proven track record doesn’t mean it can do the kind of project that you are demanding. They have to ensure that the values of the company are kept intact while conducting such projects.
  While going for an agency ensure that there are no hidden costs in the contract and all the things that are provided are accounted for properly. Going for the lowest bidder can put in you in a fix because they might be a relatively new agency in the field. Therefore, go for the one which suits your needs in the best way possible.
• Communication between the two ends: Establishing the ConnectYou outsource a project of your company which shall define your company’s worth and its modus operandi to your customer, but somehow you fail to connect with them on an individual level, and you get the project wrong. Just dumping the task on your preferred agency is not the right kind of work to do when it comes to outsourcing. You have to be on the same tangent and convey the message accurately to your agency as to what you want. Work on the barriers that are forcing form happening this and fill in the gaps. You should be in regular contact with the party and hold meetings at appropriate intervals to track the process. Overseas outsourcing should be done only if the company is a renowned one and its staffs have a proven track record. Otherwise, you will fall in the traps of un-professionalism and lose both time and money. Maintain the conversation flow so that it will not seem like you are only talking to them only when there is a fault. Keep up the stream as arguments are a common thing in a professional relationship, and they are bound to happen but never compromise on the talk because it will hamper the task.
• Deadlines: Stabilizing the datesDelayed projects can push your other work to a delayed spectrum and which will also hamper your other actions. Pushed deadlines can be a bid pain in the back and should be appropriately resolved with the agency that you have hired to do your work. Both parties should be on the same page when it comes to deliverable. Delayed work will increase the cost of the project, push other work and on some level may hamper the professional relationship that exists. Therefore, both the parties should meet to sort this out. You as an outsourcer should fix an advance deadline so that an extended project delivery can be compensated well. You should convey your delivery dates and tell them how it affects your operations and also that the times shouldn’t be as such that it affects the quality of the projects from the offset. These should be kept in mind properly before going for it.

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• Trusting an agency: Whether to outsource or not?This requirement should be assessed entirely from your point of view, and the needs should be adequately explained before going for it.Hold a performance check and examine the technology and the infrastructure that you have. Entrusting a part of your operations to a partner agency is a big step for the company, and before going for this, this should be looked into properly. Sometimes, you rush in to outsource quickly to free yourself of the load but do conduct proper research before going in on one. Evaluate each of those areas and plan out properly before going forward with it.
  It shouldn’t be a wasteful venture which produces no results. Outsiders can have a psychological effect on the people working in your organisations. Therefore, discuss these things in advance to prevent any internal turmoil that may follow. It will be a disaster if such things happen; therefore, first focus on the things that can be ensured by your organisation and only if the need arises, then go for such agencies.
• Side-lining company ethicsCompany ethics should be given the top-most priority when it comes to hiring an agency for an outsourcing project. Many a time this is compromised to satisfy the needs of the agency that you have gone for, but it doesn’t do justice to the virtues of the organisation which is very important in the long-run. Outsourcing can be a headache is the work done by they do not reflect the purpose of your company’s values. The work of the agency should be in line with the benefits of the company that resonates in the market. For, e.g., you have a high value for your employees which puts you in a perfect position when it comes to employee relations but when a specific agency comes which doesn’t value this and continue on the run to replace older staffs with new ones, then this agency indeed doesn’t deem fit to your company’s values.
  Your company’s value system should be the core of any outsourced work. Know them accurately and communicate it to the agency in a proper manner. In the above example, inquire about their employee retention rate and be specific because it will hamper your reputation which will be wrong in the long run. Ask about the officials who will be working with your company and assess their prior experience. Ask questions wherever required and moreover give assurance to your employees about the guarantee of their continuity despite a new agency coming in.
• Considering the Bigger PictureSometimes there are many apprehensions in our mind when it comes to trusting others with our job, and the same things kick in when outsourcing a particular project. We always think of some problem which might occur due to this, but we fail to imagine the bigger picture and the various strategic advances that might be achieved due to this.We as a company should imagine the bigger picture that can be achieved with the help of outsourcing.Understand how the outsourced project will fit into the scheme of things. It’s true that if the project is not appropriately outsourced, then it will have dire repercussions and can hurt the company’s portfolio. Keep yourselves affirmative and consider that one amazing project can propel various channels for the next ones.
  The outsourced team can also bring in a new dimension to the way a company operates and will bring in new ideas to execute the same. The camaraderie that will be shared between the outsourced team and your team can lead to a newly established relationship which will ensure further success.Brief the organisation with the advantages of outsourcing and explain how it properly aligns with the goals of the organisation. Present them the feasibility of the project because apprehensions can lead to you losing out on some crucial bonuses which shall only propel the company’s growth. Show them a larger picture and ensure the belief in them to see it and hire the perfect team which can execute it which will remove all the apprehensions that are going on in your mind.

Putting the Pieces Together

Outsourcing can be a very successful venture if appropriately pursued and considering the above points and dealing with it most appropriately. Just join the correct dots, and you will be looking at a bigger picture which is profitable. It will be a fast and cost-effective measure when you work on the various pitfalls and avoid it and go with your requirements.

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