June 6, 2024
If you want to maximize time efficiency, you have to provide the right inputs into a software outsourcing project. Two things are crucial in this regard - properly documented business requirements, and a competent and engaged product owner who is able to work effectively with an offshore team.
At Accelerance, we focus a lot of attention on helping our clients getting those two things right. We also take performance management incredibly seriously.
What is the lead time to deliver on your requirements? What is the deployment frequency of your software? If there’s a problem, what is the so-called ‘mean time to repair’? What is your rate of change failure, the percentage of the changes you make don’t work out?
By monitoring all of these metrics, you get a true sense of the time efficiency you are really achieving through software outsourcing. Assessing risks to the project, proactively managing those risks, and having a plan for when those risks become reality, is what will save you from missed deadlines and blown budgets.
The bottom line is that if you are not organized to scale, you’ll encounter trouble trying to offshore software development. The hoped for time and cost savings will evaporate.
If you want to maximize time efficiency in software development, you also need to enable people, rather than constrain them. I’ve seen software developers become bogged down because project managers tie them up gathering information for their progress reports to management.
The End Result is What Matters
The focus should be on the end result, not the means of getting there, particularly if time efficiency is a priority. If effective software outsourcing requires discipline, it also requires a large measure of flexibility. Rather than rigidly prescribed processes, I favor guiding principles and frameworks that put everyone on the same page, but put trust in them to get the job done the way that works best for them.
Effective outsourcing also relies on excellent communication and collaboration. If you want to save time, you’ve got to be involved, which is why I spend a lot of time on planes visiting software outsourcing partners and our customers. Understanding local culture is paramount. You need to work even harder to overcome the physical distance that comes with outsourcing development to another part of the world.
In summary, outsourcing can help you maximize time efficiency by:
- Optimizing the development process: To optimize the outsourced development process for speed, businesses should provide development teams with well-developed business requirements, and enable rather than constrain teams, keeping them busy on productive outputs, ensuring smooth progress by proactively removing stumbling blocks.
- Allowing faster time to market: Outsourcing software development enables businesses to expedite their time to market, meet critical deadlines, and seize market opportunities before their competitors. This is achieved through efficient development methodologies, streamlined processes, and access to highly-skilled talent, cutting-edge tools and technologies.
- Offering scalability and flexibility: Outsourcing provides the necessary scalability and flexibility to adapt to changing needs, allowing your business to respond to market dynamics swiftly and stay ahead of the curve.
At Accelerance, we understand our clients' desire to maximize time efficiency in their software development. We act as advisers, architects, coaches, and consultants, working with our clients and the top 1% of the world’s software development firms to improve the time to market for software products. Get in touch to find out how we can help you shift your software development into top gear.
