Plan for Success with Nearshore Software Development

Companies looking to outsource software development do so to accelerate the development process. However, maximizing the advantages of outsourcing software development requires a degree of planning before development can begin.

To outsource effectively, companies need to treat the business relationship like a partnership. The development team needs to be involved in the planning process to have a detailed idea of what kind of software they are building and who they are creating it for. To help you better plan your outsourcing venture, we’ve organized three categories to consider that will lead to success:

Specific Software Requirements

Creating Objectives

Before bringing on a software development team, start by defining your goals and expectations for the software. This helps to establish priorities, setting a reference for smarter decisions throughout the development process. Valuable questions worth exploring are:

  • What is my company’s budget and am I willing to be flexible?
  • How deep in skill and experience does the development team need to be to create the software I want?
  • How available do I need the team to be to quickly implement direction changes?
  • How much time do I need to have a product owner be available for the team during the ramp up and when the project is running?

It is important that all objectives and expectations are clear and feasible. Most companies use their objectives to shape the contracts and agreements made with the software development team. Once you’ve formulated your expectations, you can then find a vendor that best fits your needs.

Business Environment

Industries under strict regulation should establish specific requirements to ensure that the vendor understands the environment that the software must perform in. For example, the Healthcare Industry must adhere to The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), which has increasingly strict policies on how to handle information security and accuracy.[1] Software must be able to process information and data using secure access to PHI through unique user authentication, have record of consistent safety updates, and operate an additional system to audit information access.[2]

Technical Information

Compatibility with Existing Systems

The profitability of developing a software, that is to be sold as a product, depends on the software’s ability to perform when integrated with existing computing systems. In order to be successful, development teams need to have a good understanding of the databases, hardware, expected levels of functionality and other software that the product must integrate with, as well as your business model, to select the right technical solution and ensure profitability. Communicating this information early allows teams to develop the software with these expectations in mind for fluid interfaces and interaction among multiple computing systems.

Planned Updates and Expansion

Approaching software development with a long term view in mind adds more value to the design and architecture of your software, because rarely is a computing system static. Modern software needs to operate within ever-evolving systems, and these systems may introduce performance complications in the future, such as increased workloads or security demands. To add longevity to the software, development teams should build proactively for updates and performance expansions.

Communication Guidelines

Creating a Management Team

Reliable communication between the software development team and the client is central to creating effective software. It is recommended that clients have a member of their staff dedicated to meeting with the development team to help coordinate tasks and oversee progress. Establishing a management team centralizes communication, ensuring that all information flowing between the client and the development team is consistent.

System Documentation

Efficient software development teams document their progress to ensure all functionality requirements are met. This documentation is valuable knowledge for the management team, because it allows them to gain a better understanding of how the software works and it provides context to help the development teams set priorities.

Plan to Win with Tiempo Development

Tiempo Development created the Tiempo Quality System structure to provide clients with tools to monitor development progress. This gives you the advantage of better control over the software development, ensuring that the software is built precisely how you need it. For more information on how Tiempo Development equips clients with effective tools for efficient development, read our whitepaper about the Tiempo Quality System (TQS).

[1] Jason W. “HIPAA Compliance: What Every Developer Should Know”. Information Week.

[2] Ibid.

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