Strike a Balance Between Quality and Cost When Outsourcing Software Development

It’s an old adage: You can have it fast, cheap or good – just pick two. With software development, though, quality usually matters most. Who cares how cheap it is if it’s not done well or to completion? Software shouldn’t suffer because of budget constraints, but quality often dissipates when costs get trimmed. How does this happen?

When companies turn to outsourcing with only a low-cost mentality, quality goes by the wayside and the initiative or business fails. Selecting a provider on price alone eliminates a holistic view of the potential software development partner, and companies miss critical information – such as insights on the provider’s development processes, standards and company culture. All of this makes a difference in your software development effort.

Don’t Jump at the Lowest Price

Major investments are never the cheapest, so don’t simply gravitate towards the lowest price. Who does that with a major purchase? Shop for a software development partner just as you’d look for a dependable family car. You don’t want flashy or cheap. You want something solid, stable, low maintenance and cost-effective with years of experience and thousands of hours of engineering behind it.

Surely, price alone should never be the deciding factor when choosing a software development partner. To get everything you’re looking for from your provider at a fair price, do the research. Find the balance between quality and cost that works for you. Anything less will inevitably cost more over the long run, through expensive and difficult delays, updates, debugging, support, etc.

In the end, the factors that separate one software provider from another can be significant, and quality of skills and quality of relationship matter as much as price when weighing the differences. So look for the highest quality for your investment.

In Outsource or Else! Jason weighs the differences between two software development providers. The factors that separate his two potential partners are vast: the quality of the conditions, the happiness of the developers and the ability to communicate. These factors make a tremendous amount of difference, which overcome the difference in price. When it comes time to make a decision, Jason recognizes that good people produce good products, a sentiment which has been verified time and time again in our real-world experiences.

Other Factors Matter as Much as Price

Don’t define developer quality by technical skill and experience alone. Also consider a team’s ability to learn, work collaboratively, communicate clearly and fit in with your company’s culture and values. Likewise, innovation focus, motivating leadership and good hiring standards should be part of your overall assessment criteria. Ultimately, vetting potential outsourcing partners to find the highest quality at a price you’re comfortable with is crucial to your success.

While offshore or nearshore software engineers do represent a savings over onshore developers, some companies have hesitated over outsourcing because of perceptions of a lower-skilled workforce. Yet, any perception of less-skilled offshore talent has been blown away. The global outsourcing market is full of talented, world-class software development professionals that bring a strong quality game while being cost-effective. You just have to find them. Or better still, Accelerance can connect you with pre-vetted, quality-focused and certified engineers, so you don’t miss out on the real value of the outsourcing model.