In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, most tech startups, in fact, enterprises have drifted away from developing new software products in-house. But is it right to stop growth in the face of a disaster such as this?
Make no mistake, the novel coronavirus is as big as a problem as it gets. But the world will eventually come out of it. At that time, would you want your startup to take its time to freshen up and understand the needs of the market? Or would you want to start preparing a great software product so you’re ready when the market needs it most?
I’m pretty sure your choice would be the latter, but most businesses have their hands tied. They’re unable to operate due to lockdowns, disruption in supply chains, unavailability of staff, and out of myriad problems created by COVID-19. Yet, there are few businesses that are fortunately working as smooth as ever, especially in the software outsourcing sector.
So if a business (maybe yours) is unable to work on an in-house software project due to COVID-19, is it a wise choice to outsource it to an offshore software development company? Why outsourcing is important? What are the benefits of outsourcing a software development project?
Say, if you’re a tech startup in desperate need to capitalize on an opportunity and establish a market presence, then:
1- This isn’t the best time to run your business.
2- Once we’re done with COVID-19, the state of the market at the time will present unprecedented opportunities that startups could capitalize on.
But at the same time, your startup could be competing with 100s of established enterprises looking to capitalize on the same opportunities.
Is there something you could to have an edge over potential competitors in such a scenario? Product Development Outsourcing could be the masterstroke for a competitive advantage in the long-run. Here’s why.
As you may know, there are multiple options available in the market to build functional software products. However, when it comes to startups, there’s a conventional line of thought which says that the benefits of outsourcing are for enterprises only.
But you can certainly outsource product development as a startup and this is important to your business as well, especially in this pandemic situation.
Benefits of Outsourcing
There are multiple benefits of outsourcing IT and software development services. let’s start with cost.
Cost-cutting
Managing a budget is a big challenge for startups. However, outsourcing helps a lot to do it right.
In fact, according to a research, 87% of US companies outsource product development to save cost.
Outsourcing provides a global talent pool at a low cost. You hire a backend developer (in-house) at 98000 USD/year and it comes down to 22000 USD/year when you outsource.
The risk is lesser
In the case of new products whose market is yet to be tested, outsourcing plays an important role in mitigating the risks of trying out something new.
Since the outsourced teams work on flexible models the risks are definitely lower.
It’s Faster
Outsourcing the development helps in faster development with the Agile model and helps in tremendously reducing the time to market.
9% people globally outsource only to fasten their process.
Technical Expertise
You may be new to the market. That’s not an issue until you have technical expertise with you. If you already have that, then it’s good, however, if you don’t- then it is better to outsource.
15% people globally outsource to access expertise
Free up time and more focus
For startups, investing time into high priority things is very important. One of the greatest benefits of outsourcing is that you free up your time for other important things. This helps a lot. This image will show you some other reasons why is outsourcing important:
You can also check this list from entrepreneur.com about successful startups that leveraged the benefits of outsourcing successfully.
key steps for your startup to effectively outsource product development
Choose the Right Vendor
Choosing the right vendor for outsourcing application development is a must. An outsourcing company with expertise in the required development skills will surely be helpful. Picking up freelancers is definitely not advisable, as they cannot be relied upon, for taking up product ownership.
One of the important points to consider while selecting a vendor for outsourcing development is the flexibility of hiring models.
This helps the startup choose a hiring plan that will optimize the costs of outsourcing in accordance with the development requirements.
It is also important to evaluate the portfolio of the hiring vendor to understand the level of specialization in different business verticals.
Defining The Scope Of The Project
The second most important step in outsourcing your product development is to define the scope of the project. First, you need to convert the business idea into a business plan and then put down what all you need from a successful product. Defining the technology with which you wish to develop your product is another crucial decision. This also helps in defining the skill levels of the teams you wish to hire.
Once the scope of the project is defined and the vendor for product development has been chosen, the service level agreement with the vendor can be created.
This helps in ensuring that the outsourced teams are working according to the plan of action.
The outsourced teams must be clearly communicated about the expectations and the milestones. This helps in developing mutually beneficial relationships with the outsourcing partner.
Communication
Keeping in touch with the outsourcing partner on a regular basis and reviewing project work in progress on a constant basis is important. This is helpful in improving project productivity levels. Motivating remote teams with incentives and appreciation is helpful in getting better business results.
Overall, a continuous communication helps you to finish tasks smoothly.
Wrapping Up
Looking to outsource your startup project? Here are some key benefits of outsourcing you software development needs to ValueCoders:
- Flexible hiring models
- Advanced technical project consultation
- Agile methodology and timely project delivery
ValueCoders provides expert agile teams for all kinds of startup site and application development. We have teams across all our departments, all 350 of them working remotely to assist all your software development outsourcing requirements. We know these times are rough, but our entire team is working through it. And we are doing it for small businesses, startups, and enterprises like yours; so everyone could come out safely this pandemic, together!
