In today's business landscape, software is an essential tool in everything from human resource management to financial planning. With businesses generating more data than ever, these software tools enable you to make sense of the noise and ultimately make more impactful decisions.
But accessing the kind of software that can do that while giving you a competitive edge isn't easy. In most cases, you'll need to create something custom that your competitors won't have access to themselves. That requires finding the right talent and experience.
Understanding Software Outsourcing
Contrary to what many assume, there is a wide variety of software outsourcing models and locations. These cater to everything from small businesses to massive multinationals. They may focus on providing software development at a low cost as well as enabling access to experience and skills. In other cases, they may focus on offering access to exceptional quality and skills at a higher cost.
To find the right type of software outsourcing for you, start by understanding nearshoring, offshoring, and onshoring. Nearshoring refers to hiring a software development partner in a foreign country that is relatively close to yours, either physically or culturally. This can mean slightly higher costs. Onshoring is the process of hiring a development company within your company. Lastly, offshoring is hiring a partner in a country that is farther away and can bring an excellent balance of cost and quality.
What are the key factors for software outsourcing?
While the sheer variety of software outsourcing providers offers many benefits, these are the most common factors. If you're considering software outsourcing, they will likely be your main consideration.
Access to expertise
Modern software development requires a long list of in-demand skills. These may be anything from the ability to develop advanced AI algorithms or simply experience building a particular type of software in your niche.
However, gaining access to those skills may be unaffordable or outright impossible in your location. Sometimes, the person with the skills you need is just not available. Software outsourcing enables you to find the exact skills and experience you need by giving you access to a truly global marketplace. This can be particularly useful when you only need a particular skill on occasion and don't want to hire someone full-time to provide it.
Flexibility
Speaking of the ability to access skills when and how you need them, software outsourcing provides unrivaled flexibility. With it, you can hire entire teams for short projects, bring in expertise only when needed, or even have external engineers work alongside internal assets to aid in software development.
Between the hundreds of software outsourcing companies out there, you can find a vast array of options designed to offer you the flexibility you need. As a result, it's easier to optimize how you develop and support your software, saving money, utilizing resources more efficiently, and ultimately maximizing your return on investment.
Accelerated development processes
Greater access to key expertise alongside flexibility together helps enable accelerated software development. More experienced teams working more optimally are simply able to deliver the value you need faster. For example, instead of relying on a 4-person internal team taking nine months to build what you need, you might hire a more experienced 15-person team to do it in 3 months.
Importantly, this accelerated development process doesn't mean sacrificing quality. Modern software development processes like Agile help ensure flexible, fast, and efficient development practices without resorting to corner-cutting.
Why do businesses choose outsourcing?
In short, businesses often need a software development solution that offers the benefits listed above: access to expertise, flexibility, and accelerated processes. Today's businesses need specific software-driven capabilities if they're going to survive. That might mean excellent UI for customer interactions or big data analysis for better decision making behind-the-scenes.
However, when businesses don't have the scale or the need to develop the capabilities to build those tools in-house, outsourcing is the clear alternative. By using only the resources and capabilities they need to deliver valuable software tools, businesses avoid waste and enhance their competitiveness.
Is custom software a good idea for a start-up?
For startups today, it's difficult to obtain a strong competitive edge using the same standard off-the-shelf tools available to everyone else. This is why custom software is often at the heart of the business plans behind such startups. Custom software enables smaller and more nimble companies to take full advantage of their strengths.
However, startups always face their own unique set of challenges when it comes to developing such custom software tools. On the one hand, they need to move fast to gain traction and a competitive edge. On the other hand, they need to be careful with how they use limited resources. This is another reason they can turn to outsourcing providers to unlock the speed and capabilities they need.
About the Author
Tech writer and aficionado with a passion for writing about the latest developments in software and business. With years of experience covering a wide range of topics, from cutting-edge gadgets and software to industry trends and innovations, Dilyan brings a deep understanding to his work at Dreamix. Whether he's breaking down complex concepts for a general audience or diving into the latest tech trends, he strives to deliver accurate content and thought-provoking insights.
