Offshore Outsourcing and Software Quality: What You Need to Know

Offshore software outsourcing is a great way for a software development company to increase its productivity. Remote development teams can focus on particular tasks that would be tedious for on-site teams to work on.

Startups, for instance, often have a shortage of talent in certain aspects of development. Hence, they often hire remote employees for their job. This way, they do not just cuts down their expenses. But they also get done with their job at a lesser price. Even by hiring remote developers, they can get their hands on a technology they are not aware of. For example, there may be a language or method of development that is entirely missing from a small startup team. Everyone may know Ruby or C++ but not Python. But there is no one who can handle Python programming.

This is a good reason to look for Python development talent in order to implement this language into your workflow. By offloading Python development to an outsourced team this can be done easily and scaled to your company needs. Also, the good part about this is that there is no need for you to hire an intern for the job.

Different software languages and frameworks are more suitable for different tasks. Ruby on Rails and Javascript are good for interactive web apps. C++ is good for standalone software. Having as much varied development talent onboard will surely benefit a company in the long term. Even, this would help you to work on different projects at the same time. As well as the good part is that, with the availability of technologies you can easily decide which technology would be the best for a project. For example, if you are going to make a prototype of software for some client, you might consider using python and not directly jump into Java.

Thus, when you offshore software development, consider hiring different groups of developers specializing in a variety of development languages. Also, make sure they share the same language so they can coordinate and collaborate on the projects seamlessly. If they cannot communicate with each other, they would mess up around. As a result, your development process will slow down. And you may not be able to complete your job within the deadline. So if your first language is English, then hire people whose first language is English too. So you can avoid language issues.

Effective Processes and Management in Place

Carrying out a thorough QA testing as a product or service is being developed will help ensure development is smooth in the long term. It will help prevent bugs and other development shortcomings ahead of time and not just once problems arise.

Having effective management and a good project lead in place can help coordinate the teams, set up meetings and make sure deadlines are complied with. A project manager can also look at where development is lagging and shift teams around so the most effective teams are in place working on tasks they can accomplish.

Not all offshore development companies are the same. Some may be more effective or better specialized for what you need than others. Do research ahead of time and make sure you have processes in place on what needs to be done to advance the development of your product.

Working With the Right Talent Pool

You should also consider the size of the team you’ll need for your project in hand since hiring too many developers can actually be counterproductive.

Having thorough processes and assigning the right person for the right job can help you achieve an effective workflow.

Make Sure to Have the Right Agreements in Place Ahead of Time

When hiring developers overseas make sure to have the right agreements in place that benefit both you and the offshore developers. Thorough agreements will certainly help deliver better and more productive results for your business.

An agreement where a project is discussed ahead of time and at different phases of its development may work better than one where developers are just kept on an ongoing project without defined goals.

Wiley Online Library has a study available that is relevant because it focuses on such agreements.

Conclusion

Efficient and productive software development is not an easy task. It takes the right mindset, good management and effective coordination among teams. Working with offshore teams can be challenging, especially considering time zone compatibility and language barriers. However, working with a high-quality partner and having the right management skills, this can be alleviated.

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