Choosing the Right Software Development Company

 

Choosing the right software company to develop your custom software can be very challenging. We expect that you have a great idea in mind, you want a software solution implemented, and have the question “How to choose the right software development company?” in mind.  You have the idea, you have the money, what you’re lacking is a ‘vessel’ to get you where you want. This ‘vessel’ is the right software company that will implement your idea and helps emerge an outlook for your business.

The selection of the right company is like coming to a crossroads. All options look exactly the same, with an advantage or two, and you don’t know which way to go. Your confusion is justified there’s too much at stake for you. A wrong decision at this stage could be very costly.

We have years of experience in the industry and have faced a lot of successes and failures. That is why we have compiled a list of factors we think you should consider before you hire a software development company for your project.

Experience and Market Credibility of a Software Development Company

Companies with more experience have faced multiple highs and lows to get to where they are. Experience is a key factor to getting software developed quickly and efficiently. It helps companies avoid mistakes that can and will happen in new projects otherwise. To gain this experience, a software development company works on many types of software projects which results in great expertise. They thoroughly advise their customer realistically on following current trends and implement cutting-edge technologies, development methodologies, and standards.

Market Credibility

Most companies showcase their past projects on their websites. You can check out the projects and see whether you can relate to their ideas or not, but that should not be it for your research. You’re making an investment and you need to ask the company for recommendations. Good companies provide adequate recommendations you need. Hiring an experienced company will lower the learning curve and, consequently, lower the risk of failure.

On the other hand, you can look for online recommendations on platforms like Google+, Facebook, Clutch, WebDesign Companies, etc. These platforms verify user reviews as well as company profiles. Look up the company’s LinkedIn profile and research about their presence in the industry.

For every review, you will get a new perspective of the company’s image in the industry. If more people are saying one thing, you’ll know what decision you have to make.

Communication is Key

First and foremost, look at how the company establishes the communication channel. Generally, observe how much they push on constant communication. It is always better for business if you and the company you work with, state your expectations of each other from day one.

Some specifics in the communication area when it comes to software development depends on the development methodology they use. Based on years of experience in the software industry, we favor firms using the Agile/ Scrum approach. If you don’t already know what that means we’ll explain:

• Scrum/Agile methods use techniques like sprints, daily standups and similar approaches within the team to ensure complete communication.
• The team manager assigns Scrum Masters to regularly contact the customers and keep them in the loop.
• This is a must exercise for such companies and nowadays we recommend you hire such a company.

Finally, now we will move to the tools that will be used for communication and management. We are sure by now you are aware of tools being used like Trello, Jira, Assana, etc. and you might even be using them. But what’s more necessary is that you ensure that your potential off-shore/near-shore company is using them.  Systematically setup communication channels help you communicate with the team on a daily basis.

A Software Development Company That Knows When to Say ‘No’

Usually companies are domain experts in two or more technological stacks. Companies start out with some technologies and develop expertise in them. Slowly they grow their domain expertise and dabble in other technologies as well.

Look for a development company that can say ‘No’ when needed because it will ensure you have realistic expectations and consequently, have the best solution developed by experts. While the developer should understand your requirements, they should also be prioritizing the development challenges they will be facing and whether they’re capable or not.

So, in conclusion, don’t hire companies who have every technology out there listed on their website. Each company targets only a few domains to work in, if a company develops the best solutions for IoT and has already worked on many projects you should definitely hire that company over a company that has no experience. If you want to hire someone for IoT, look for IoT domain experts.

The Price Quote

When you open your project for bidding multiple companies will quote a price. First and foremost, filter out the cheapest option. If you choose to pay less now, you’ll eventually end up paying more afterwards.

If you choose these companies you might face some of the few problems we too have faced back when we started.

Technological Debt

In easy terms this just means you chose the easy solution right now, but you might have to re-do it later. The additional cost of re-work because of the initial cost could be 2x or 3x more.

Miscommunication

A compromise on cost usually comes from off-shore companies with a few employees that have no proper work structure. Mismanaged employees lead to communication problems. The lack of involvement, poor English and reluctancy to commit to deadlines alone will set you off track.

Licensing and Privacy Concerns

You got to your idea through hard work and dedication. Your idea may bring about change and make you a name in your business niche. Hiring a cheap alternative may take that advantage from you. You will be paying for the development of the software but the software company will still want you to have it licensed by them, thus you won’t be the source code owner.

That being said, you definitely don’t have to hire the most expensive option: Be cost-efficient, look for affordable options yet with an experienced and credible company.

A Few Tricks

We’ve been in the industry for quite some time. We believe that the customer should be empowered and be treated like a ‘Partner’. That is why we’ll let you in on some of our tips to find the right software development company for you.

• Ask for a trial-based development for the first week or two. Nothing is better than working with the company, so you know how they operate.
• Look out for how eager they are to showing you demos after each sprint. The trial makes this effective, you’ll get to see the speed of development and the quality too.

Conclusion

Over the years we’ve learned that software development isn’t just about the code, it’s about business as well. That is what we’ve precisely tried to help you understand here. Following these steps, we think you’ll be able to pick the right software company. We hope our tips prove to be helpful. That’s not all if you wish to inquire about anything please feel free to leave a comment and we’ll help out any way we can!