5 Outsourced Software Development Blunders

5 Outsourced Software Development Blunders

Outsourced software development is now more a norm than a novelty. No non IT Business can hope to have in-house all their software development resources. Given the criticality of fully functioning IT systems for any business today, it has become imperative to manage this outsourced service well. The act of outsourcing can on one hand drive extreme time and cost benefits if managed well and can also cause serious grief and losses if not.

Aress Software has been involved in working with various small and medium enterprise businesses across the world for well over 14 years now. This has given us a unique view of what can go wrong with outsourced software development contracts. Listed hereunder are the top 5 such blunders:

1. Lowest Price based decisions: There are plenty of outsourcing vendors out there who are willing to offer their services at unrealistically low prices. Sometimes these prices are low because the vendor wants to get started but mostly they are low because the vendor hasn’t fully understood the quantum and criticality of the work to be done. Unfortunately such vendors cannot be relied upon to deliver the product that is in accordance to your specifications and expectations. Lowest prices based decisions are often not very well researched calls and can become a very bitter experience for the outsourcer.

2. Time based decision: Businesses prefer outsourcing partners that deliver the solution quickly. Good software development and design usually takes a fair amount of time. A software that has been developed hastily will have persistent bugs and won’t function very well in the long run even if it does hold up in the short.

3. The business is not capable of clearly defining their needs: It is a very common occurrence that businesses do not have a clear idea of the IT product or service they are looking to buy if the problem statement is not well defined, the solution has no chance of succeeding. In such cases it is important to enter into iterative contracts (like time and material as opposed to fixed price) which allow the buyer to refine his requirement as the product develops.

4. Not having a realistic budget: Designing and developing a robust software solution takes a significant amount of time and effort on the part of developers and testers. Sometimes, buyers tend to have unrealistic expectations from the outsourcing vendor in terms of price. An unevolved vendor may give in to such pressures to secure the business but will then fail miserably to deliver.

5. Not doing a proper background check on the Outsourcing partner: It is absolutely necessary to do a background check on the outsourcing partner before you enter into a contract with them. This will not only help you to verify the credibility of the vendor but also send him a message that you are very particular about your work and partners and that he needs to deliver on all fronts.

Staying clear of the above offshore software outsourcing blunders will go a long way in saving you from many potential software outsourcing problems.

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