How to find long term Technology Partner for App Development?

SLACK, the most loved and convenient communication tool, was designed by MetaLab. So why Stewart and his team let Metalab design the app from the ground up and make it stand out in the crowd. Why Slack decided for outsourcing app development to Metalab, what was the brownie point Metlab had, what was the evaluation process of the outsourcing company.

Here, we help answer your curiosity and understand the following - 

• Probable problems while working with Technology Partner and the solution
• Benefits of  outsourcing app development compared to in-house project development?
• What are the different Technology Partner?
• When should you consider outsourcing app development?

• What are the key considerations when planning to hire an app development company?

Probable problems while working with Technology Partner and the solution

•  Vision not Aligned - If you are looking for an outsourcing app development , make sure that your vision and the partner's vision is aligned.
  For aligning the vision of the Technology Partner team with yours asks for full control over the team assigned for the project. Have regular calls with them and make them aware of how you are approaching your mission & vision.

Ensuring your success should be the primary agenda of technology partners.

• Weak Skill Sets - There might be the case that some team members have weak skill sets or have communication problems. To make sure this problem doesn't arise, ask them to provide a resume before making a hiring decision. And even if you got into the issue, have a clause of replacement in such cases in your contract.
• Lacks Business Perspective - The account manager or project manager from an outsourced team lacks a business perspective and may give wrong advice. So, before hiring the team, try to analyze if they are more interested in selling the services or understanding requirements and providing technical solutions to your requirements.
• Lacks Responsive Communication - Communication is the key while working with a remote outsourced team, outsourcing app development. If the team does not raise questions about your requirements or not responding to your queries within 12 hrs, then there is a high probability that the product might get deviated from original product specifications. So before making a hiring decision, ask them questions like what communication channel they use? Whether you can communicate with team members directly? How frequently will you have a call? Our team usually provides replies between 0-6 hrs. We have an acknowledgment policy where we don't even know the answer to your query. We'll acknowledge that we have read your question and will soon get back to you after the investigation.

Outsourcing Options and Structure

1. Freelance developers -  Understanding that cost plays a critical role for any startups, hiring a freelance developer costs less than an app development company. But in this case, a lot of your time gets consumed in managing and coordinating with different teams, that leaves very little time to focus on other business needs.

2. App development company - When outsourcing app development you get full-stack development services for your project. To define this future, they care for complete project planning, cost estimation, UI/UX design, wireframing, software development, testing, and the most optimal plan.

When to consider outsourcing app development?

• You have a fantastic idea that needs validation.
• The company needs scalability.
• Domain expertise and Technology Expertise is the need of the houris need of the hour.

• Better ROI.

What should you prepare internally when planning for outsourcing app development for product development?

• What is the objective of having Technology Partner: Be clear about the reason and the benefits by outsourcing ios development like it is to reduce cost, be market leader, or enhance revenues. 
• Study well the capability of your in-house team and do they have the necessary skill-set.
• Prioritize what you want to outsource and your specific need.
• What is your budget?
• How much time will it take away from your and your team’s current workload?
• Who is the project in-charge when planning for an outsourcing company?

How to find a reliable Outsourcing Partner?

Looking for a resourceful, experienced custom app development company that can shape your idea into reality is quite challenging. I would say to consider the following before parking in your idea and money with an app development company.

1. Portfolio -

• Go through the client's testimonials on the company's website and the company portfolio page and check for how much detail is available. A mobile app development company maintaining a healthy relationship with its clients, and being delivering successful projects does not shy away from talking about it. You can also refer to reviews by third party resources like Google, Good firms, and Clutch when looking for an outsourcing development company and outsourcing company in the USA.
• Check on the company's ranking on professional communities like Github, Gitlab, BitBucket, SourceForge. Higher the ranking indicates the mobile app development company openness to explore and work on new concepts, ideas, and quality of code. 

2. Industry experience and expertise

•  Evaluate how much the app development company is familiar with a similar kind of task, market, and product, which reflects the domain expertise. 
•  Find out case studies of similar projects the app development partner has worked upon or created a customized solution.
•  Is the outsourcing company ready to cope with any technological challenges, and have they tackled any such situation earlier?
• Check the kind of clients the company has.
• How many startup projects have they launched successfully, or they only specialize in working with global brands?
• How have they worked with limited budgets and provided exceptional results?

3. Cost-saving - When outsourcing, it is crucial to consider if your operational cost is getting reduced or not, so you don’t end up spending more rather than saving. This is critical for outsourcing app development costs.

4. Resources and technologies - Whether you are an expert in the subject or not, ensure you ask about the tools and technologies the company uses, and how it benefits your outsourcing needs. Check the resources and infrastructure that can handle the challenges of the project. Find out if they are using the latest technologies, tools & frameworks, or outdated ones?

5. Ability to meet deadlines - Prepare your Q&A in advance and adhere to that while deciding over the deadline. Let's say the outsourcing company does not have the right quality check measures; it may lead to delayed timelines.

6. Transparency - As the resources involved in the outsourced project are remote with no access at the client’s facility, transparency is crucial that reflects openness, trust, and cooperation from the agency side. 

• Accurate reports over the progress by the app development company.
• For full-stack development services, the development team uses tools for controlling project quality, such as tools for unit tests, static code analysis, product metrics, crashlytics, and firebase. While the development team can use them correctly, ask them for access so that you can also use them for clear KPI’s.
• Ask for access to tools mobile app development companies use for transparency like JIRA or Trello being used to manage project velocity, SLACK, Confluence.
• Ask for regular builds weekly or once in two weeks.
• Be clear about the project manager, the first go-to person for any queries related to the project.

7. Service Legal agreement - To avoid any kind of confusion or ambiguity, ensure every single detail gets mentioned in the SLA (Service Legal Agreement). Try hiring a lawyer to take care of all the legal requirements.

8. Confidentiality Clause - Pay attention to the outsourcing development company NDA and confidentiality policies for clarity that the project idea is in safe hands since a lot of sensitive data gets shared.

9. Cost structure 

• Beware of the fixed price model- understand when we are talking about the development of a high-quality application, a fixed price is not possible, no matter how attractive the offer is. 
• Look for a custom mobile app development company that spends time in understanding how the app needs to work and then create a detailed cost estimation.
• Based on a discussion with the app development company, prioritizing the features are most important for the end-user.
• Don't try fixing on timeline and budget as this may cost on the quality of the product.
• Investigate the vendor turnover rate, which guarantees that the team that has started the project is delivering it successfully. 
• For full-stack development services choose an app development partner that has a well-defined communication process, like weekly meetings.
• Partner with someone who makes detailed inquiries about your company, processes, goals, competitors, and product market share.

Benefits of Hiring Technology Partner compared to in-house web and mobile app development?

1. Cost factor

In-House - To do a project in-house attracts much financial investment in finding the right people and keeping them on payroll, the right infrastructure for full stack development services, technology-led investments, training the team for mobile app development, which is not a wise decision.

Technology Partner - When you plan to hire an app development company, you can refer to a Managed service provider (MSP), which provides you a specialized team of app developers. With hiring technology partners, the cost gets reduced as the web and mobile app development company already has an experienced team and the right infrastructure. You get direct access to a  larger pool of talented people who provides specialized services. For successful product development and launch, an entire team of developers, business analysts, UI/UX designers, QA engineers, and experts for product documentation, are assigned on the job.

2. Focus on essential business functions

In-house - When you do a project in-house, you are allocating all our time and energy on multiple things, leaving no space for things that need immediate attention.

Technology Partner - When working with Technology Partner, there is a team of experts working on the project, which requires minimal participation from your part, leaving much time for you to plan and execute other vital things.

3. Transparent workflow

In-house - Working in-house, you may not be able to pay full attention to one task, which may be a hurdle in the flow of communication about the project progress or challenges.

Technology Partner - The job of a web and mobile app development company is to inform you about the work progress and maintain transparency. As for them, it's not about one project but a customer relationship and building word of mouth for the app development company.

4. Better security

In-House - Due to the highly competitive market, skilled developers getting a premium may switch jobs leaving your project jeopardized.

Technology Partner - Agreements and penalties bound an app development company, ensuring delivery of the project on time. It provides you the peace of mind and security of money parked at the right place.

After understanding the benefits of hiring a technology partner, let's understand what options are available for outsourcing and which structure is suitable when planning app development for startup.

Conclusion

Outsourcing app development to a reliable web and mobile app development company allows startups to get hold of the market share, compete with other players, maximize ROI, and leave footprints. It is vital to look for an app development company that balances cost and quality, maintains complete security, confidentiality, and provides you with end to end solutions.

It is always challenging to find the right technology partner and if you are looking for a technology partner, CodeToArt can provide you the dedicated team of native mobile app developers and web app developers with excellent skills. We already have good experience working with US-based businesses and startups.