How To Find A Reliable Software Development Partner?

How to find the right software development partner?

Talking about software development partners we basically mean outsourcing agencies being hired by tech startups and companies with the purpose of improving the co-dependence between cost spending and work effectiveness. 

The product development partner can be different as it depends on the kind of software you want to be creating. Ensuring that your software development partner fully understands your project is probably the main point to start a successful cooperation. 

That is why it is essential to follow certain rules while looking for an IT outsourcing partner that will suit the needs of your company. Intelvision has chosen the approach of being a professional and trustworthy partner in this regard. 

So, how to find the right Software Development Partner?

Surprisingly, researching for a dependable company should not be the first step you are taking. 

Before choosing a software development partner, you need to spend some time thinking about the main ideas of the project, its features and writing them down, same as creating sketches of what is exactly needed. 

The more information you gather and provide your development partner with – the higher chance for successful results in future you have. For example, when cooperating with Intelvision, you can always be sure that you get high quality projects. 

It is preferable to look for and contact your potential software developers already having all the necessary information prepared.

It is not easy to find a trustable software outsourcing partner and challenges may appear in this way. That is why there are some regards that can typically be heard from people who either had no experience with outsourcing or had a bad one. 

Most of them are:

• Commitment of time
• Quality of the results
• Communication obstacles
• Delays in the launching of the project
• Consistency

However, all these points are avoidable if you manage to find a suitable software development partner, like Intelvision, who will not just be good in what they do but also will be following the process and ensuring the successful outcome of the projects.

Why Look for a Software Development Partner?

Multiple startups and enterprises have already been looking for the best software development partnership. There are several important reasons for this:

• the importance to find and hire really tech experienced and professional software development teams at the time when the employment market is flooded with different candidates;
• the dynamics of business landscape changes are high, so companies need a trustworthy development partner to be able to create and launch their projects in the most accurate period for it; 
• software outsourcing is in demand due to the cost reduction and the increasing headhunt for technology professionals.

To be said – understanding the reasons why your enterprise needs and сhooses a software development partnership will help you to find out what to look for. What are the reasons to work with Intelvision? First of all, the level of expertise. Secondly, the reliability. Finally, the commitment.

Steps for Choosing a Software Development Partner

Step 1. Determine the goal of your software project

Before starting your research, take a step back and make an overview of your project.

Starting a project you already know your target audience, the main purpose of your software, the main tasks of this software and some technical aspects of how the software needs to work – all this information will help you with considering involving certain software development partners. Feel free to be creative in the visualisation of your project: presentations, sketches, competitors’ examples will help you to show visually the result you are willing to get. The Intelvision team is eager to accomplish all your requirements and meet your needs. 

You will see the value of preparing the important information once you send it to your potential IT outsourcing partners as this is going to be a proper introduction to your project. 

For high-quality project management, you should also consider how the software development partnership will influence your business and how you should organize the process of the cooperation. 

When cooperating, the Intelvision team always takes into consideration the peculiarities of the sphere of the project, technical aspects and timing, altogether producing the advanced and qualitative solutions. 

Ensure that you have the budget that is appropriate for hiring top-quality specialists. This is the case where your software partner is able to assist with any kind of ambiguity. 

While considering the budgeting – prioritize quality over quantity, that is the way to get satisfying results once the software is launched. 

There is always a desire to choose the lowest cost option. However, you need to be cautious with this. In this case, there exists the chance of getting a software development partner who does the work quickly but not effectively.

Quantifying the exact benchmarks that you are willing to meet in your project – 

will be a good help for you. Define the exact parameters that will be markers of the fact the project is improving the way you want it to. Remember to keep the realistic point of view across the whole way. 

You should also be realistic with the timeframes of your project. However, it is important to set a certain period of time. Once you understand how many hours, days or weeks you need to accomplish your project goals – you are able to begin dividing your project into specific parts. 

Decide on what part of the working process you are ready to delegate to your outsource partner.Important point: check references – it is an existing and real feedback of what has been done before your project. It is possible to get references on your potential partners by asking them for their current and previous clients contacts – so you can ask for their reviews directly. If you create a certain list of the important questions you will get detailed answers and a better understanding of how you should arrange your work. Intelvision, for example, seeks for long-term partnerships and is always on good terms with all clients.

Start a research

Once you are ready with the preparations and you define the scope of your project  – it is time to start researching. 

In the digital world, the best option for the research is obviously to look at the global network. But not an organized search in Google may not be effective as this way you will get only the top results missing a number of potential alternatives. However, searching for a development team via Google will show you the sources with some tips which will assist you in looking for a development partner agency. 

Moreover, using search engines has a great preference which is the ability to check reviews – see what people write about the partners you are considering to cooperate with. 

Nevertheless, there are even better services for a focused search for software development partners. Examples of such platforms are Clutch and GoodFirms – data-driven sources with relevant ratings and reputable reviews of the leading outsource agencies in the IT sphere. Using this option you are getting the exact search-results based on your requirements. That is why you should consider collaborating with Intelvision, as we put our clients first and focus on respect and profound knowledge. 

Each company creates their own profiles themselves, however, the platforms have the responsibility of making sure that all the reviews are competent and objective. There is no chance that a software development company can publish false information as Clutch and GoodFirms verify all the data that will be visible for the users who are looking for partners. 

This means you can trust the services on this point.

Check our expertise

Having done the research, you have made sure that the Intelvision team is the best partner to work with. The best way to estimate our trustability is to check on our expertise and projects.

It works in all cases. Once you have collected a list of the potential partners – it is time to check their experience. 

Start with their websites. A recommended way to estimate your potential software development partners is to check the portfolios. Multiple outsourcing partnership agencies create separate sections on their websites – there you can look at the projects the companies already created. A big number of high tech level examples of partners’ projects is already a good proof of our expertise. 

However, you should also keep in mind that a lot of projects are being developed for internal use. That means the agencies are not publishing such cases on their websites. But you already can make some conclusions by looking at the public ones.  

Check for the testimonials. Same as the reviews testimonials can give you a better understanding of how the software development company builds its working process and provides the web development services. Some companies have pages on their websites dedicated to their partners’ testimonials. There you can check the feedback and click on the link that will get you to the partners’ sites – feel free to check what has been created while the previous cooperation of your potential development partner. 

Remember that if you are looking for a long-term partnership the company you work with has to suit your customers’ needs. It is essential that they have solid experience to develop software according to your target audience specificities. That is why your outsourcing partners need to have proper business expertise – so they understand exactly what they are doing and for what purposes, have a big experience in that and are fully ready to bring off the best service in the industry.

Explore software development process

For being able to control the software development process – you need to have the understanding how it is going in the agencies you are considering cooperating with. Start with a few main points: who is the contact person, who is in charge, how do they arrange the meetings etc. Usually, outsourcing companies in IT have specific articles that contain detailed information about the software development process on their side. 

That is something that you should not question yourself when choosing Intelvision as your partner. We have an established process of development, which is preceded by an introduction, clarification of all the trifles, selection and acquaintanceship of the team. 

Think about your methodology and look for the partners who suit it. An Agile methodology, for example, allows you to know that every stage of the project will be made in time and also to keep the top level of your future software. This way is possible thanks to constant communication between software providers and customers.  

Step 2. Define a pricing model

Probably you already know this, but let’s highlight it. There are three most popular pricing models in the development of software. 

Time and material are the first ones. With this model, only the hours that were spent are being paid. If you can’t estimate the size and additional features of your future software yet – you can focus on the Time and material model. 

The second model that is no less popular is Fixed price. This option is good when you already know what exactly is needed, which requirements have to be adhered and what are the deadlines. Everything will be created according to the agreed budget.  

Dedicated Team is the third model and a great choice for long-term partnerships. With this option, you are hiring a software development team of professionals with solid industry experience who will be working only on your project. This allows you to have total control over the working process and you are in charge of workload, flexibility and all other features. That is how the collaboration with Intelvision looks like. 

Step 3. Evaluate communication level

Intelvision is firmly convinced that communication remains an essential point for successful cooperation. It does not matter what high is the tech level of the potential outsourcing partner if the communication is not built well. You should not have any struggles in the communication process with your product software development partner. Of course, your partner should speak English as an international language. 

Remember: poor communication drives your project to failure. 

Meetings with the project manager and the team members, calls during the working process, documentation – all this should be discussed before the cooperation starts.

Besides this, the company’s culture can tell you a lot about the company itself. Find the information about their goals, expectations and corporate ethics. It is important that your outsourcing partner is on the same page with you and has the same values as you. However, they should also be open to describing to you their own view of the cases. 

The easiest way to understand the agencies’ cultures is to visit their offices. 

Trust your first impression – you can get it by starting the communication with a meeting via Skype or Zoom.

Interview the Potential Partner

Starting the communication with the potential software development partner, your interlocutors are the sales team, which will give you a great pitch. However, you also need to understand what people will be working on your project. That is why you should talk to the development team members themselves and, avoiding any sales practices, see if they are really capable of delivering the service that is initially promised.

The Intelvision team completely supports an open dialogue with a partner and believes that only the developers have a full and objective understanding of their work. 

When you already have a short list of the potential outsourcing partners – make sure you set up the meetings to interview the developers who will work on your project if you decide to start the cooperation.

Summary

It is not an easy task to find a reliable software development partner. There are a number of steps involved in looking for and hiring an outsourcing partnership company. You have received a piece of detailed information on why Intelvision is exactly that kind of a software development partner you are looking for.  

Start with estimating what you want to get as the result and follow the steps we have highlighted above and you will be able to find the partner that will suit all your requirements and who you will create a successful and long-term cooperation with.