To provide a perspective of a software development project, how about we share with you the example of a human body as an analogy?
Of course, the most integral part of software development is its code just like the human brain. But can a human body function with just a brain?
You need the skeleton to carry and support your entire body, a heart to keep the blood pumping, lungs to inhale fresh oxygen, and much more.
Similarly, besides writing code in software development, you need to know about its demand in the market, gather all the necessary requirements and resources, get consultations, manage the project, and much more.
Ahead, we will quickly discuss these stages, and how outsourcing might look like in each stage. In a software development project, these stages are as essential as development and deployment, and they can’t be afforded to be overlooked.
1. Research And Analysis
It is considered the very first phase of a software development project, in which you try to hash out the details of your software.
This may involve hiring business analysts who can gather the project requirements by:
- Conducting surveys and getting feedback from potential users.
- Analyzing market trends to recognize user needs and demands.
- Setting business goals by identifying a gap in the market that your product can fulfill.
- Gathering requirements from the stakeholders in the company.
An outside hire can be a great asset when gathering requirements from the stakeholders within the company. This is because, in the workplace, negotiations can take harshly longer in an attempt to keep everyone happy. Since the outside hire goes away, once the project is over, there are no chances of bad blood.
2. Project Management
Development processes, along with testing and QA, can become overly extended resulting in missed deadlines.
With external project managers, ideally specializing in software development niche, you can expect to see strategies in place that ensure timely deliveries while adhering to project goals.
These specialist coaches from outsourcing firms will facilitate software development in ways such as:
- Setting up agile strategies where the team finishes tasks in short cycles, called sprints.
- Implementing Kanban strategy to visualize works in progress and identify bottlenecks, then eliminate these bottlenecks.
- Managing team, resources, and budget plans while also bridging communication gaps among numerous other tasks.
3. Consultations And Recommendations
Expert consultants from external organizations have the versatility as well as up-to-date information about what’s trending in the software development industry.
They can help you carve out a roadmap to develop your software by guiding best practices, strategic decisions, and technology selection. This includes adopting innovative technologies such as AI or cloud computing, and where to acquire them.
That’s not all, they can also recommend you the right type of audience no matter where they are in the world, considering different regions and cultures.
It would involve thorough knowledge of local laws and regulations, as well as colloquialisms in the native literature, which can be offered by only a niche expert.
Final Thoughts
Outsourcing in software development varies at each stage, requiring highly specific knowledge for every phase in the SDLC. This kind of versatility is rarely present in an in-house team – unless you happen to have a workforce of at least several thousand employees!
Well, not to worry, especially when you can have access to a wide variety of specialized expertise from a pool of talent on a global scale – thanks to this beautiful thing that’s called software development outsourcing.
The article was written in cooperation with the experts of SoftKraft – Python Development Company