Seven questions you should ask before hiring an outsourcing mobile app development company

Confidentiality and Intellectual Property Protection

You need to be aware of 2 things: Non-Disclosure Agreement NDA and a Scope of Work that includes Intellectual Property Protection (IP).

Ask about signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) before any confidential information is disclosed. If the Outsourcing Software company is hesitant of the NDA, or if they haven’t done it before, be aware. If there is something that doesn’t seem right or something that makes you doubt you better look for another option. The same goes for your IP; the standard is that anything done is “work for hire” meaning that all the software code and IP generated belong to you. If you decided to proceed, please put both agreements in place, better safe than sorry and your outsourcing software company should be accustomed to that.

What methodology is the outsourcing software company using for your project?

Does your company follow agile practices? If not which methodology do they follow? Ask them to briefly explain their methods. They may use Agile, Scrum, Kanban or other. Ask them why is that method better for your project as well as some examples that may show their knowledge of their project management methodology, mobile app development and more.

Technical experience

Ask the software company about their past experiences with the technology you would like them to use for your project. If you are not sure about which technology should be used, don’t worry just ask the outsourcing software company for a proposal backed with real-life examples, in that way you will be able to assess the proposal.

How much would it cost, and why is it so expensive?

I am kidding with the expensive part, but ask about pricing options and make them explain why is one better than the other. I am not talking about the cost of development hours, what you need to look for is the most cost-effective alternative for your particular project. Software outsourcing companies usually work in two ways:

• Project basis: fixed price on fixed project scope.
• Dedicated software development team.

How will the outsourcing software company deal with the unexpected?

Ask about the processes they will put in place to realize that your project has been delayed and what is the backup plan? For example, methodologies like Agile, are based on daily communication so you can realize when a project has been delayed almost in real-time so remedies can be put in place the same day. The outsourcing company must have a backup plan in place to handle these situations because they will happen.

Quality Assurance process

Maybe the most crucial stage of a Mobile App Development is to secure that the final product is capable of delivering as planned. 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. The QA process should be included within your scope of work otherwise, how would you be sure about what you are buying?

The key to this process is not only price, quality, and timing but also if you feel comfortable working with your outsourcing software company.