Questions you should be asking to help you choose the right Outsourcing Software Company

Should you choose an Outsourcing Software Company for web application development or mobile app development?

There are many factors you must consider before hiring.

Here is a list of questions you must ask your prospected outsourcing software company.

Based on their answers decided which company best matches your needs:

1. Where will the development team be located? Depending on your geographical location, you can choose between an offshore or nearshore option.
   • Nearshore is a company that shares your time zone, or at least most of it. for example, if you live in the U.S nearshore hiring would be any country in the Americas.
   • Offshore is a company with a considerable time difference, for example for a U.S company offshore would hiring in Europe or Asia.
2. Can we sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)? Before sharing any confidential information, ask your provider to sign an NDA to protect your sensitive information from being shared with any third party.
3. Does your company follow agile practices? if not which methodology do you follow? Agile has become a methodology standard, either Scrum or Kanban. In my opinion, I suggest you make sure the company has Agile practices, but if they don’t, you must check what project management methodology they use and ask for a proven track record.
4. What is your technological expertise? Ask the software development company about their past experiences with the technology you expect for your project to be developed with. If you are not sure about which technology should be used for your project, ask the software company which should be used and why they are suggesting it.
5. How does your Pricing Structure work? Software outsourcing companies usually work in two ways: a Project basis (fixed price & a fixed project scope ), or with a Dedicated software development team.
6. Can we sign a contract or Statement of Work (SOW)? Sign a contract or SOW with your outsourcing company and be sure that it includes:
   • Intellectual Property (IP) Protection: It is a standard that any work that is done for you is a “work for hire”, which means that all the software code and IP generated in the process belong to your company.
7. When the project is delayed for any reason, how are you planning to get it back on track? First, we have to come back to the methodology, you need a process that will allow you to realize that your project has been delayed. With Agile daily communication, you can realize your project is delayed right away. The company must have a backup plan in place to handle this situation because it will happen.
8. How is your QA testing process?  Most companies have an internal QA testing team to test their development, in the case they don’t, you need to do it yourself or hire another company.

In the end, like any other business or personal relationship, your decision will be mostly based on trust.

Can this company deliver what they promised?

Are they able to manage this workload?

This questionnaire will help you gather as much information as possible to build your level of trust with any outsourcing software company, to make an informed decision.

If you want to experience how is to work with an Agile software development team that you can trust, contact us and try our service for free.