If you wish to outsource your custom software development project, you should deliberately explore the market before selecting an offshore contributor. Today there are lots of outsourcing companies in different regions, so you always have several variants to choose from. Some of them may propose quite low prices, but cutting the cost is not the only thing that is needed. Good quality and reasonable time are also necessary. When evaluating the qualities of an offshore team of developers, an employer must take into account all the aspects of their performance, note their weak and strong sides and finally decide whether this team meets the special requirements for his project. Of course, different projects have different key requirements and it would be hard to develop some kind of a universal guide covering all the possible criteria. Still, it is helpful to investigate how the work of such an offshore team is technically organized – that is, how do they manage the software development process.
Software Development Process Organization
- Teamwork Big project needs a number of people to fulfill it, that’s why you may need to hire a team. Besides, people usually perform much better when uniting their efforts – ideas and solutions are optimized through discussions, problems and stopping issues are brainstormed and so on. Of course, a good organization is needed for achieving such a synergic effect. Various styles of team management exist, still at the moment it is most popular to use Agile methods in programming process organization. Less centralization and richer knowledge sharing – these principles are favored by more and more developers all over the world. Decentralized and more informal atmosphere proves to be helpful for working out a more creative approach to tasks and problems. Still, some hierarchy is always present as it facilitates the roles distribution inside a team.
- Working Remote Remote working is actually a great option for a custom software professional. Modern telecommunication technologies allow doing the all the job online and interacting with other people via email or video calls. Advantages of hiring contributors working online are well-known: no need to arrange working places and proper conditions, no expenses for transportation etc. However, some negative factors are always present. Of course, all the useful information can be easily shared in real-time via the Internet. During the software development process, certain tasks still may require face-to-face interaction. Besides, the supervising is not so easy to perform online. This is one of the most important things, which make difference between hiring freelancers and using the services of outsourcer teams.
- Outsourcing Software outsourcing companies which participate in big custom software development projects are usually keen about the teambuilding. Hiring a ready, well-built developer team is surely better than seeking freelancers for all the tasks in your project. In such a case you gain in quality as you don’t have to bring all the freelance contributors together and make them cooperate (which is not quite simple for people residing in different locations or even in different time zones). Besides, you will minimize risks because the working schedule of a remote team will be guaranteed by the outsourcing company. The main reason for outsourcing your project is to reduce its cost while keeping its quality. So the best choice is a software outsourcing company really concerned about highly effective teamwork. It thus essential to target the outsourcing firms which support serious research and development work for their inner optimization.
Methods of Enhancing Team Efficiency
- Raising performance effectiveness What is most needed for achieving better quality inside a reasonable time period? Obviously, less errors and less unnecessary efforts. Such things as thorough planning and creative approach to complex tasks are very helpful for raising the efficiency of a team performance. In order to raise the efficiency of the overall software development process, outsourcing company should pay much attention to team building methods. Supporting strong ties between the members of the working group will help to make more use of their skills. This includes rich information sharing inside the team, as well as between the team and the customer side.
- Raising interaction effectiveness One of the best ways to make information exchange more efficient is to remove all the discouraging issues by making the office atmosphere friendlier and less formal. Today it is regarded as a proven fact that employees, who are able to plan their daily schedules themselves and don’t have too much supervising, interact with each other freer. This is especially effective when brainstorming difficult tasks. Successful IT outsourcing services companies tend to encourage developers to exchange their experience with their colleagues during team meetings, to attend professional conferences etc.
Finding a Proper Offshore (Nearshore) Team
When seeking a value-added offshore (or nearshore) contributor for a custom software development project, project managers are always closely examining outsourcer companies’ experience. It is also good to investigate their methods of teambuilding and management if possible. A good software outsourcing company should not only suggest a developer team to its potential customer, but also let him participate in its creation, in discussing the positions and in settling the working schedule for the team. Such policy ensures that customer’s needs would be satisfied in a best way. Binary Studio, a leading software outsourcing company in Ukraine, has a notable experience with custom software development projects. We are using most advanced techniques of team building and project management and are also supporting a high level of professional interaction inside our staff. Our methods include:
- Customer Management
Regular teamwork in our company includes intensive interaction with the customer side. All our project managers have fluent English which allows them to interact freely with clients from any country.
- Human Resource Management
Binary Studio uses many techniques of team members training and motivation. Our teams hold monthly meetings where developers share their experience and various work-related issues are discussed.
- Inventory Management
In order to improve the project management process and knowledge sharing Binary Studio uses its own online inventory for working time tracking and tasks checking.
- Content Management
It is crucial to share knowledge not only inside a team but also with the rest of the world. You can read about all our recent team meetings, actions and inner changes in our blog – all your questions and comments are welcome!
- Modernization
Binary Studio is oriented to using most advanced technologies for custom software development. We have serious experience in migrating from legacy software to up-to-date solutions without any losses for the performance quality So if you are looking for an efficient nearshore contributor, feel free to contact us! Michael T., technical analyst Binary Studio
