In today’s world companies have to adapt to changes that occurs in a turbulent business environment everyday. Globalization, automatization and expansion of the Internet have opened up many new possibilities for modern enterprises. Due to new technologies companies have an opportunity to gain customers all around the world without enormous costs and wasting a lot of their precious time.
One of the best ways to attract new clients, contractors or business partners is to create some tools that can improve their communication, be helpful during daily activities or expedite their business process. To transform the idea into complete tool, it is useful to take advantage of the services offered by software development company.
Finding a good software development company is a challenge that many businesses face with. In last few years software houses have grown like mushrooms after the rain. There are thousands of software development companies, but it may be a real struggle to find this one and only, which will help you to develop your ideas and provide best quality software to your company.
Below you will find seven main issues to consider when you choose a software development company.
Consider what technology will work best for your project and check if the software house uses it
First of all, you have to define your project’s needs to choose a company which technical knowledge follows your expectations. Pay attention to technologies the company works with and find out if they can be tailored to the needs of your project.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for software development. You should choose a software house that keep up with the latest technological advancements, because only continuous improvement of processes and developers’ skills guarantee professional development of your project.
You probably want to have a focused software development partner. The company should be expert in the technology in which it works. If you see a software development company’s which website looks like an advertisement of different technologies, like RoR, PHP, Node.js, .Net and many others, don’t choose those software house. That’s almost impossible to be an expert in 10 different languages, so look for someone who specializes in up to 3 languages.
Choose the company’s location
You may think „Why do they mentioned location? Nowadays working with someone who is even on the other side of the world is nothing unusual.” It’s true, but you should remember that different countries have different standards of education. It means that knowledge and skills of developers may vary from country to country.
Polish software development companies are chosen really often to realize ambitious software projects. According to HackerRank (https://blog.hackerrank.com/which-country-would-win-in-the-programming-olympics/), Poland is one of the top three countries with the best software developers in the world. Polish technical universities produce thousands of highly-qualified, skilled graduates every year. Moreover, every city has its developer community with plenty of meetups, workshops and courses, so a person who becomes a developer can constantly improve their qualifications and extend their technical knowledge.
What’s more, you should consider knowledge of English of your potential software development partner. Cooperating with someone who doesn’t speak in the same language as you do may be frustrating, so choose a software development company whose developers and other employees have a good level of English — it will make your partnership easier and much more effective.
Remember about the importance of communication
It will be faster and more cost-effective to integrate your external development team from day one if they can clearly articulate what they expect from you and what you expect of them.
You also should avoid software companies that never say „no”. It’s important to cooperate with a straightforward partner who is able to say „no” if needed. It may protect you from unnecessary, excessive expenditures and a waste of time. Saying „no” by a software development company might also be helpful in considering different tools that would be the best for your project — they are experts, so you should their opinion into account.
Clear communication helps with project planning, estimating budgets, determining priorities, clarifying questions, and making sure that things work according to the plan. Make sure you get a good feeling about the quality and amount of communication with the software development company you’re planning to work with. The success of software development heavily dependable on what and how it gets communicated.
If any change is needed in a project, it is discussed (not only by software development team — you also should be included) and the best path is chosen together. It maximizes benefits to the project and let you be a part of this process. Don’t go for the cheapest option.
Cheap services ≠ high quality services
Owning the source code might be a problem. If you decide for the cheapest software house that you have found, there is a possibility that you will get only a bundled code or the company will offer you to license the product. You pay for the development, so it doesn’t seem fair not to own the code, do it?
Cheap services might come across with the lack of experience in managing outsourcing projects. The developers might not have appropriate skills to deal with challenges that can appear during the project realization. It might cause poorly written code, lack of tests, lack of documentation. Low price of the services may also be connected with poor English level and lack of transparency in the development process.
Remember, cheap software services only appear to be a chance to cut costs. In long term you will pay much more in the near future. The solution for this problem is picking the most cost-effective software development company, that has an experience in delivering similar projects.
Take a look at business experience of a software house
A company’s portfolio speak louder than any words — you should focus on case studies rather than what company says about itself. It is usually available on LinkedIn or on software house’s website.
Keep in mind that if you couldn’t find a relevant project on the company’s website, it doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have the relevant experience you need to transform your project into completed app.
Get to know if the company’s methodology is Scrum or other Agile approaches. It’s important to choose a software development company that has the best development process — it should be based on adaptive planning, early delivery, project updates, and communication tools. This means you are carried along on what’s happening at any stage of project development. Every organisation implies agile methods in their own way, so clarify everything beforehand.
Size does matter
It’s important to choose a software development company for which you will be a noticeable customer and which will provide you with comprehensive service. You should find someone who will become your partner, not just a contractor.
Choosing a huge software development company may cause the feeling of being ignored if you are not a really big company. But it’s not a rule — if you are a part of one.
In addition, the company which has varied portfolio built of apps made for companies from different industries will definitely have a wealth of experience. They probably will understand your business concept faster and more fully than others. What’s more, they can propose better solutions based on their previous experience.
Devideal isn’t a large company, but our developers have very extensive knowledge and unique skills which allow them to make innovative apps. We treat all of our customers as VIPs — we want to provide them the best quality, so we do our best to meet the objectives outlined in project.
Waiting time
You should be aware that good software development companies have many projects on the waiting list. Basing on inaccurate estimation and timeline can ruin your project, so you should give them some time to create an accurate estimate. In Devideal we need about X hours/days to make a complex estimation of your project.
In addition, software house should analyze every aspect and every assumption of the specification provided by the client to estimate the duration of the project. Be aware that unless it is a huge organization with thousands of employees that’s almost sure that your project is not going to be done in one month.
Waiting time is a tricky issue — it may seem that the sooner, the better. But not exactly. If a software development company is good at what it does, it has many orders, so the waiting time may be longer. It is also connected with the experience and skills of developers from this software house — if they’re sought-after, they are probably experts in development!
As you can see choosing a software development company isn’t that hard. You just have to remember about tailoring a business partner to your needs and pay attention to the quality of offered services. No one wants to pay money and waste time for something that doesn’t meet the expectations. The recipe for success is very easy — quality over quantity. In Devideal we go one step further — our mission is „quality more than anything”. We take care of every detail of software we create to satisfy our business partners and provide the most innovative solutions.
Written by: Karolina Matusiak
