In the high-stakes startup world, where competition runs hot, resourcefulness is a must-have, not a luxury. Amidst challenges and a variety of business rivals, one smart option that startup companies might consider is outsourcing their product development, plugging into the global reservoir of talents that offer more agility and cost-effectiveness.
Let’s uncover more details about the outsourcing software product development strategy to find out if it fits your organizational landscape.
Snapshot
Outsourced product development is a splendid chance for startups. It’s a ticket to the world of highly skilled remote developers, a means to cut back on expenses, and an accelerator for outsourced product development processes. Still, this road often comes with hidden pitfalls like cost issues, communication hurdles, or data security threats that need to be meticulously navigated. It means that the choice of an outsourced partner is supposed to be highly strategic, taking into account their know-how, track record, and references.
Figuring out what outsourced product development is
The startups whose aim is to streamline operations and laser-focus on their core business can derive benefit from outsourcing product development. Partnering with external providers enables them to connect with recognized experts who’re creating software products or hardware that resonates with the startup’s unique vision. This not only saves them a bundle, but also crunches down the time from ideation to execution, eliminating the necessity for an in-house development team.
In the outsourced product development arena, startups can hold the reins of control without compromising cost-effectiveness and speed, but actually gain expertise. It empowers them to brilliantly manage the entire production gamut, delivering ideas with more dexterity compared to the traditional in-house approach. The latter often demands significant time effort and infrastructure investment before witnessing any tangible progress, which is likely to delay project implementation.
Types of outsourcing
When talking about engineering, software product development outsourcing is perceived as a magic wand for startups hopeless at optimizing their production chain. The idea to outsource product development covers everything, from tech support and application creation to customer IT support.
By adopting this approach as a core of their strategic blueprint, startups can harness the skills of seasoned professionals to outsource product development, without being burdened with the strict permanency of employment contracts. Furthermore, they’re accessing cutting-edge technologies, otherwise beyond their grasp.
When startups should outsource product development
Launching a top-tier product within a limited budget is an intricate task that leaves startups confused. The antidote to this issue could become outsourcing product development. By plugging into the global circuit of expertise, businesses can propel their product launches with lightning speed, embodying true agility.
However, outsourcing software product development does impose certain risks, including data security concerns and quality control. To circumvent these potential pitfalls and extract the maximum value from contracted services, it’s pivotal to define project objectives upfront, simplify collaboration scenarios during the execution phase, and gradually come closer to the achievement of desired outcomes throughout the entire journey.
Advantages of outsourcing product development
Outsourcing product development grants startups a multitude of benefits, e.g., access to proven expertise, self-paced expansion, and project economics. Below are the details of these gains and explanations on how they can fuel your startup’s ascent to success.
1. Accessing global talent
Outsourcing product development is an entry ticket to the world’s diverse talent pool. Startups can handpick ace developers without being limited to geography, while enriching their products with the required skills of these professionals.
The dedicated team can generate innovative tech solutions that might be out of reach for in-house developers. Outsourcing thus equips startups with the latest techniques and advanced tools, putting them top of the heap in the market race.
2. Leveraging scalability and flexibility
In the world of startups, scalability and flexibility are like king and queen.
Outsourcing product development lets startup companies adjust their team size in accordance with project requirements, enabling them to pivot swiftly as market demands vary and fluctuate. They can take one of the engagement model alternatives, like time & materials or fixed-price contracts, tailoring solutions to their unique needs and business goals. This development approach implies maximum adaptability, helping businesses stay calm and resourceful amidst non-predictable tides.
3. Sharing a sound approach to time and cost savings
Outsourcing product development is willing to assist startups in their desire to achieve utmost time and cost savings. Partnering with a seasoned outsourcing provider can fuel software development processes, dodging the need for recruiting and training in-house developers.
So what’s the outcome? Products enter the market in the blink of an eye, giving startups an edge in the speed-to-market contest, not to mention the fact that outsourcing can cut down in-house team-related expenses, such as salaries, social packages, and office equipment, freeing up resources to be targeted at the crucial business activities.
Risks and limitations of product development outsourcing
Before diving deep into product development outsourcing initiatives, it’s highly recommended to estimate costs and predict potential communication hurdles. When you have a clear-cut scheme of responsibilities and roles involved, this helps to keep things sailing smoothly with your chosen provider.
The cornerstone of this venture’s success lies in the vendor reliability, ensuring that the journey goes as planned, without mishap. And to make the outsourcing voyage as smooth as possible, several risk mitigation techniques can come to the rescue.
1. Data security and privacy
Delegating software product development responsibilities to a third party opens the door to potential data security and confidentiality risks. To resist such breaches, you should align with a trustworthy outsourcing ally having a proven track record of safeguarding customer information. Drafting a Non-Disclosure Agreement is another layer of armor that can shield any sensitive data exchanged during outsourced product development.
These precautionary steps help companies mitigate security risks associated with outsourcing, thereby fortifying their projects.
2. Communication and business liaisons
Cultivating a healthy relationship with your outsourcing partner is the steady foundation of a fruitful alliance. However, hurdles such as mentality and cultural rifts, time zone difference, or language barriers can cause a handful of troubles. To deal with the matter, forging clear communication conduits early in the partnership is pivotal.
Harnessing the power of digital tools like project management software or collaborative platforms such as Slack can foster close-knit collaboration between in-house development teams and outsourced partners. Keeping communication open through periodic meetings and introducing clear progress reports will ensure everyone is on the same page, making the partnership a well-oiled machine.
3. Quality control
This is the heart and soul of any product development process, and outsourcing is no exception. Diminished monitoring of the production process can occasionally release subpar software/services. There is a secret weapon, though — designing unambiguous quality assurance milestones and conducting routine progress checks in sync with your external provider is a must. Thorough tests at each stage can ensure you’re getting a final product of the right quality through spotting and rectifying any errors that crop up.
How to decide in favor of the right outsourced development partner
What’s the first step required before launching a prosperous product development project? Finding an outsourcing partner is half the battle. If you make the right choice, the project is doomed to success. So, there’s little room for error, and you should be ready to invest significant time to thoroughly check out all the projects and track record of a potential provider who you’re considering to join and navigate your venture to success.
Among the things to consider are the history of product development wins and understanding of your startup’s needs and desires. A proactive approach should let them see the project through and generate valuable recommendations along the project way.
- Outsourced product development companies’ competences and project portfolio. While getting familiar with an outsourcing partner, you should never ignore the step of assessing their experience and background. What can they tell you about their latest ventures? What about their tech know-how? Do they have expertise that might be valuable for your project? If you’re planning to emphasize the innovative nature of your project, like machine learning features embedded, ask for sharing their relevant experience with ML tools and algorithms. In case the answers to all the above-mentioned questions assure you that this is a perfect match, there’ll be no hidden issues with translating your vision into reality, as your partner’s expertise can become your guiding star.
- List of testimonials. Don’t take it on trust alone — accumulating references about outsourced product development companies is crucial in making the right decision. It’s high time to reach out to the shared contacts, evaluate their experiences, and look through professional ratings on vendor-neutral portals. This due diligence part highlights whether your goals and quality principles are aligned in the long run.
- Clear contractual arrangements. The cornerstone of a successful outsourcing relationship lies in transparent agreements. The contract should explicitly define the scope of work, desired deliverables, deadlines, mutual agreements, and payment processes. NDA keeps your intellectual property and sensitive data safe from unauthorized disclosures and non-legitimate use. Negotiating each and every detail on the starting line will mitigate possible misunderstandings around the range of questions.
How to make product development outsourcing go like clockwork?
Oxagile’s team is willing to share their best practices with you.
Outsourced product development tactics
To bear the rewards of outsourced product development, implementing effective strategies that secure a successful partnership is another important stage in your business relationship.
To make sure your outsourced product development journey goes as planned and without incident, we invite you to rough out some pivotal strategies.
- Neat and well-defined project goals. An outsourced product development tour may hardly happen without well-defined objectives and goals. It all works pretty simple: you establish a few reachable milestones, which gives your vendor a clear picture of your expectations. Overarching business objectives are also entering the entire project paradigm in the meantime. By aligning the general and the particular, you let your final product tick all the boxes.
- Fruitful collaboration moves. Successful product development will barely exist without properly elaborated communication and collaboration methods. Make progress reports your routine and opt for platforms like Slack for seamless communication between the outsourcing partner and internal teams. Acting as a single organism and clearly sensing their areas of responsibility, the dedicated team including project managers, business analysts, and developers will ensure the outsourcing experience goes without a hitch.
- Monitoring progress and adjusting plans. Imagine you don’t have any idea where you’re moving and if there’s progress at all. It seems like a never-ending shadow-boxing, right? To reach the final, continuous progress monitoring and plan adjustments are essential for any product development project. Best practices here might include regular check-ins at each stage of the process and timely project updates as well as project management software born for efficient progress oversight. What we mean here is bug tracking systems and analytics tech — to keep your project on track along with empowering you with data-driven decisions instead of intuitive (read: chaotic) judgements.
Ending up the story
Outsourcing product development acts as a guide for startups to open the door into the global expertise land, scale their business footprint, and achieve significant time and cost savings. However, you can’t just make up your mind about this strategy – and instantly reap all rewards. Mind the number of actions required from your side, including careful selection of an outsourcing partner to go hand in hand with, clear contract design, and practical collaboration techniques to follow along the way. Be it committing resources solely for your venture, agreeing on predefined financial payouts, or utilizing other engagement models, outsourcing product development can unveil hidden potential within your startup.
Summary
Startups can harness significant benefits from outsourcing product development, and they are global talent acquisition, scalability, flexibility, time and cost efficiencies, among others. But to reach this case, pay particular attention to the choice of a proficient outsourcing partner who’ll save you from potential risks instead of causing them.
And here are again some must-take steps enumerated — studying a would-be partner’s expertise and project portfolio, verifying client feedback, and establishing explicit contacts, all united with a single goal of ensuring a meteoric rise to success and cost-effectiveness every step of the product development way.
