Your IT outsourcing vendor can bring you enormous benefits. However, finding the right partner is not easy at all, especially when IT outsourcing providers are mushrooming around the world. In this article, GCT Solution will suggest 6 critical questions to ask your potential IT outsourcing vendor before deciding to sign any IT outsourcing contract.
This is the most important question you should ask your IT outsourcing vendor. Especially, in case you outsource an offshore IT outsourcing provider, communication methods must be defined clearly even in the initial days. Thorough communication enhances workflow, documentation and modifications for projects.
Your potential IT outsourcing vendor should have an established process for communicating with clients, as well as should be able to communicate clearly and patiently across platforms. Transparent communication is essential to turn your ideas into reality. Which platforms will they use? Will they respond to you immediately in working hours?
A great IT outsourcing vendor will not convince you just by words. They have a number of successful case studies to support their viewpoints. Their quality of software product, timeline and resources for a project, etc, should be clearly present to you.
Ideally, your potential IT outsourcing provider will show a brief of their case studies on their website, or in their portfolio, so that you can easily access it. In case these documents cannot be published because of NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), their sales representatives should show you case studies in the meeting, or e-meeting.
It is better that they have some experience in your domain. However, you should not consider this the only, or major factor to make a decision. It should be a bonus point only.
Software products, such as mobile apps and web apps, often take longer time to build, and often become more complicated than planned. Small, incremental but frequent modifications lead to a plenty of additional work.
These additional costs can be well controlled by updating schedules and specifications regularly. Before you require an extra feature, you must ask the development team about their scope of work, conduct their viewpoint and require the PM (project manager) to rearrange tasks.
The more developers the IT outsourcing vendor has, the more resources they can provide your project.
In major cases, a software development project often lasts longer than their original timeline. With a smaller company, your new projects may not start on time.
With a big IT outsourcing provider, you can easily gather middle or senior developers into your project. With many years of experience, they can have skillful technical stacks, deep insights and professional attitudes.
The development methodology shows the navigation through the complex process of software development. Agile and Waterfall are the two most popular methodologies in building software products.
Waterfall vs. Agile comparison
Waterfall
Agile
Timeline
Fixed
The start and finish of the project are already planned from the beginning.
Flexible
The schedule can be changed during development progress.
Client involvement
Very little
Once the goal is agreed on, you, as a client, are not involved in the process, apart from handing over deliverables, because the project requirements are outlined from the start.
Very active
You, as a client, need to be involved in project management. Your main role is to constantly give feedback to the software development team.
Flexibility
Not really flexible
Each phase must be completed before moving on to the next one. The project process from start to finish is planned ahead of time.
Flexible