We're looking into having some custom software developed. We don't have the team in-house for it so we're looking at outsourcing development. Have you ever done it before? Did you have any negative experiences? We want to make sure we aren't stepping into a minefield by pursuing this. At a minimum let us know where the mines are!
Have you ever outsourced software development for your business?
byu/EvanHVA inbusiness
Posted by EvanHVA
3 Comments
The ones who do it successfully usually have a principle engineer type of in house employee that plans, oversees and manages work sent to the 3rd party. Essentially you need someone who can properly spec out the work to be done and review the deliverables to make sure it’s done right.
I’ve worked on a lot of outsourced builds and the biggest issue I’ve seen is misalignment. Sometimes teams go cheap and end up with code that has to be rebuilt or a partner that disappears halfway through. The way to avoid that is by being clear on communication, requirements, ownership of the code, and what happens after launch. Outsourcing can work really well, but only if you treat it like choosing a core partner instead of just a vendor.
1 more suggestion always have atleast 1 or 2 progress sync meetings every week so that you are upto date with what the dev or the dev team is building.
Yes you must need one solutions architect separately and then hire team. Break project into phases.