For SaaS startups, outsourcing is a great way to speed up the development of their software service. However, some might worry whether the external team can do the work at hand. So, how do you ensure that it would be the case? Let’s look closer at what it takes to build and expertly manage an outsourced development team for your startup company.
Some Things To Know Before You Start
While outsourcing is indeed a great solution, it is not a silver bullet. The results you get from it are only as good as the preparations you put into it. Hence, there are a few things that you need to consider before even starting to find an outsourced software developer.
The Challenges Of Outsourcing Your Software Development
The first thing that you need to understand is the various challenges that you will face when outsourcing your software development. These specific challenges will be the ones that will define your outsourcing and management strategy.
First Challenge: Less Codebase Knowledge
This one might seem odd since you are getting an outsourced team precisely for their knowledge about coding your software. But they might still not be familiar with the nuances you put on your software code.
Image from Sparkbox.
Here, you must have all the proper documentation for the project. But that is just part of the issue. Your internal team also needs to provide any hands-on knowledge they have. This can affect the speed at which you do the onboarding process.
Second Challenge: Complicated Review Process
As your outsourced team starts to work on your software, they will need to reconcile the changes they have done with those made by your internal team. That can result in a complex review process which can slow down the integration of these changes.
The nature of SaaS projects adds to the challenges here. For one, you need to build fast to meet your deployment timeline. You have to balance it with a thorough review to ensure everything checks out.
Third Challenge: IP Security
One of the inevitable consequences of outsourcing software development is that you let a third party see your trade secrets. While good providers ensure that these secrets are protected, they are still vulnerable to outside factors which affect your security.
Image from CS Online.
A strategy businesses employ here is to break up the project into sections so that outside providers can only access certain parts. But this creates a problem of dealing with multiple versions of the project. This situation can slow down your build pipeline.
Building The Right Outsourced Development Team For Your Startup Company
One great thing about outsourcing is that it is easier to get a team of developers for deployment. Providers often have pre-built teams that can take on the task right away. But you might not always want to go this route. Instead, you might want to go with a custom-built one.
Virtua Solutions can help you here, as we offer fully customizable teams. But you should still guide them on how to form that team for you. The goal is to match the team to your specific software development needs.
Specifying Your Business Requirements
The first thing that you want to do here is give the provider a comprehensive rundown of your requirements. Here, you will need to specify which software development model you wish to employ for the work. For instance, Agile development models are well suited for SaaS projects, as these allow for faster deployment of products.
Image from Tech Cello.
Aside from the general needs, highlight specific ones. These are the ones particular to your software project, such as the target audience the product will cater to. That helps the provider select the best-suited developers from their rosters.
Assessing The Maturity Of Their Development Capabilities
Another thing to consider when building a software development team is the level of maturity they have. What this means is whether the provider is ready to tackle a project of the same magnitude as yours. Look at their portfolio to have a good idea of the development projects they handled. If you have time, you can visit the actual projects of their clients to see if they do fit the bill.
Image from Good Sign.
But you should also consider their future growth. Think about how your product will develop in the foreseeable future. Ask the provider how they plan to keep up with such developments. Note that this might involve revamping the team they assign to you as needed. Anticipate such changes to better plan out your onboarding sessions.
How Your Startup Company Should Run Your Outsourced Teams
Once you have the software development team on board, it is vital that you make your expectations clear right away. Talk about what results you want to achieve and the timeline for the project. You can also discuss with them how you want these results communicated.
Another important thing when setting expectations is that you need to provide quantifiable metrics for these. Choose ones that best represent these results. That will help your outsourced team better understand what they have to deliver. You would also want to be clear about the allowable deviations from these results.
Create A Culture Of Collaborative Work
As mentioned earlier, there is often the challenge of reconciling the work of the outsourced development team with that of your internal one. The key to resolving this is creating a culture of collaboration between the two.
One effective way of doing that is by allowing informal knowledge-sharing sessions between the teams. As the name implies, these are engagements not structured around formal meetings. With that setup, both teams can freely share their insights on the work at hand. That also helps build camaraderie between your teams.
Another strategy that you can explore is peer programming. Here, you pair up an internal and external developer on a specific task. You then let them review and critique each other’s work. The goal here is to help both sides identify their issues and find solutions with their partner’s help.
Get More Out Of An Outsourced Software Development Team For Your Startup Company
Of course, this is just scratching the surface. As your startup company works with the outsourced team, you will likely discover a lot about their working practices. Effectively integrating these practices into your workflow can make the development process more effective. So, start exploring what the outsourced development team is capable of and discover what more they can do for you.