October 6, 2014
If you’re a CEO, you want your software company to be profitable and produce quality products. In a globalized market, outsourcing software development is essential to realizing those goals.
There are four happy situations in which outsourcing is an excellent and valuable strategy to enhance the success rate of your product; and there is one one situation where outsourcing can be used to avoid a disaster.
Here are the 5 situations where you should think about the benefits of outsourcing your software operations.
1. Transforming Your Software into a Service
Given the rapid rise in open source software, there are a lot of opportunities for transforming software into a service. This involves making a web version of your application that’s hosted on a website where customers can access this service through a subscription model or on a per-use model. Salesforce.com is a leading example of this type of model, and a successful company to emulate.
Outsourcing software development for this project means that programmers can modify your application to fit the Internet, create new features for your web application, and work on the project on a 24-hour development cycle if so desired.
2. Outsourcing Data Entry Operations
Data entry operations require repetitive tasks that outsourced developers excel at. Outsourcing these tasks allows your internal team to focus their resources on other projects and keep them focused on more complicated tasks. Data entry operations also tend to be much cheaper when relying on outsourced developers than domestic operations, helping you improve profitability.
3. Implementing the Latest Technical Craze
Many outsourced programmers and service providers have seen numerous technological phases come and go, working on each one and then learning the next. They have the training and experience to include new technological applications and innovations quickly and cost effectively into existing software, or building it entirely from scratch. Most outsourced software development shops maintain an R&D function that builds prototypes using the latest technologies and integrates with their internal training function.
4. Creating Embedded Software Systems
Embedded software systems can have various applications, all the way from programming in toys and gadgets to more complicated systems like missiles and process control. Much of what is already used in these systems is made by outsourced developers due to the cost advantage and experience many of these developers provide. If you want to stay on top of competition, you should definitely consider outsourcing software development for embedded systems.
5. Developing Version 1.0 of Your Software Product
Developing your product from the ground up is a difficult task, which is where outsourcing software development can mean the difference between success and failure. Outsourced developers can help you quickly produce your first product by allowing your operation to either work in perfect time zone alignment or work in up to 24-hour cycles, allowing your internal team to focus more on specific tasks while your outsourced developer handles the rest.
Ultimately, there are many situations where outsourcing makes sense for a CEO. Outsourcing software development helps increase profitability, leads to faster time-to-market, and allows programmers and service providers with deep technical knowledge and greater flexibility to help your company.