Outsourcing Mobile App Development

November 4, 2019

Table of Contents

When an outsourcing initiative has a clear and well-understood goal and it serves a strategic purpose, then it has a good chance of succeeding. – Will Weider, CIO, PeaceHealth

Entrepreneurs are often fully occupied in generating new business. Their prime purpose is to keep strategizing and innovating. Thus, outsourcing the tasks which are not their specialty becomes an impactful solution.

Over the years, offshore outsourcing has become one of the most effective and proven models for profitable business operations. This approach is helping companies to gain a competitive edge and stay ahead of the curve.

Are you also planning to outsource a business function? Is it mobile app development? If yes, this post is definitely for you!

Like we all know, mobile app development is not a cakewalk job and requires thorough research, which leads us to the following two questions:

1. Who will be the Primary Users of the App?

Every successful app addresses some sort of technological challenges. Sometimes the users are not even aware of the challenges until there is an app built for a purpose.

So, before beginning, identify your target audience, demographics, and trends.

2. What will Make the App Stand Out from other Apps?

Consider every possible feature in your app that your competitor is not providing. It will help you define a potential value for your mobile app.

What is the Need for Outsourcing Mobile App Development?

1. Reduce and Control Operational Cost

This is one of the major reasons why businesses choose app development outsourcing. You have to provide many amenities to your in-house employees but it is not the case with the team of offshore mobile app developers.

The remote app developer can help your company convert your fixed cost into a variable cost that yields significant savings. Outsourcing app development cuts uneconomical expenditures to enhance work quality.

Note: Do you have an idea about the number of developers you want to hire and what would be their average hourly rates? If yes, you can evaluate the cost in seconds using our outsourcing ROI calculator.

2. Free Internal Resources

When the internal resources are free, it enables your company to utilize them more efficiently. This not only frees more time but also capital to drive your business.

3. Delegate Functions Challenging to Manage

Outsourcing mobile app development gives an option of freeing from the task of hiring resourced while downsizing personnel. You can simply dissociate from functions that are difficult to manage and control.

No more additional responsibilities once the project is outsourced and in the hands of experienced professionals.

4. Gain Access to New Market Areas

With app development outsourcing, you can delve into new opportunities. This can be done by taking the point in production or delivery closer to the customer. This way, your business is now able to gain access to new markets while establishing a local presence ahead of the competitors.

5. Access to World-Class Talent

Businesses can get access to the latest and most advanced technology without investing in software implementation. The talented remote app developer team working on your project may have fresh and innovative ideas that can help your business stand up to the competition.

As soon as sustainability and profitability work together, the goals for growth follows.

Today in this modern era, different businesses have a wide range of IT requirements which are inclusive online marketing, web or mobile app development, social media engagement, and customer resource management.

When you have understood the needs, now is the time to know the strategies.

Strategy for Outsourcing Mobile App Development Effectively

The strategy for outsourcing mobile app development is basically setting up the roadmap that defines the overall portfolio, category, development tools choice, protocols, and mobile app policies that leads to a successful business.

Here are the strategies you should follow as an entrepreneur:

1. Analyze Competency and Project Execution methodology

When it comes to collaborating with an offshore technology partner for development purpose, the key to making the right choice is to determine the following qualities:

Strong demonstration
Expertise matching your needs.
Quick turnaround time
Agile technical approach
Solution driven processes
Adaptable to the state of the art technology

The project execution methodology focuses on the needs of the customer. The company outsourcing mobile app development should consider a methodology that encompasses a process-driven approach that is open and transparent.

The following project execution methodology should be followed:

Preliminary Discussions
Regular communication
Strong Project management
Transparent pricing
Source control
Iterative development
Thorough testing

2. Forge Partnership with Growth Mindset

Set up an offshore development center that focuses on the growth of both parties, not just themselves. Besides the other factors that contribute to the success of the mobile app, it is very important how the partnership will be carried out.

Governing a business relationship with the remote app developer team requires a good amount of investment while steering towards success.

A smooth way to forge this type of partnership is by;

Have a clear understanding with your remote team about the key objectives, operations as well as deadlines.
Bring clarity in the communication process whether it is verbal or documented.
Respecting the commitments of the client and also the offshore developers you hired.
Understanding the capability threshold.
Ensuring the offshore team stays consistent with the contractual terms.
Being transparent with a plan of action.
Encouragement and appreciation after the accomplishment of important milestones.

3. Structure a Feasible App Development Outsourcing Model

If you do not have any experience of outsourcing projects before, there are a few processes you need to implement to keep track of the existing ones that affect the relationship between both parties.

Define the following;

Size of the project
Scope of change
Timeline
Overall budget
Key KPIs to measure success

Well, the ground reality is, nothing will work if there is no adequate planning and distribution of responsibilities among the offshore development team.

4. Undertake Effective Data Security and Management

Maintaining the confidentiality of the data is very important for every business process. While outsourcing mobile app development, ensure that all proprietary and private data is under protection.

Follow an approach to keep a check on data security for the market you are targeting and pick an offshore development team that has a good proficiency.

Additionally, in order to deal with country-specific requirements, ensure whether the potential service provider has a different infrastructure to support the network.

5. Before Trusting, Start with a Small Project

If you are unsure about the offshore company, hand them over a small project. Work closely with them and see how well they are treating your project. Before signing the contract, make sure the company is genuine and it will not give you headaches.

Most of the time, you can detect everything in the early stage; if the company is worth investing in or not.

6. Beware of Risk Management

To seamlessly manage the app development outsourcing project, it is important to manage the risk involved in different phases.

A few risks include;

Management risk: Make sure the manager of the offshore team is experienced else there will be a risk of poor performance. They won’t be able to manage the team properly.
Hidden cost: Be prepared for the hidden cost that may pop-up in any function which is important to the project. Look for a company that has zero hidden cost and it clarifies the same in the very beginning.
Lack of focus: Many offshore companies are too busy with other projects that they fail to assign dedicated app developers that leads to divided attention. Ensure that the service provider has full-time dedicated offshore developers that can deliver the best results.
Project uncertainty: For start-ups, the overall business is uncertain in the first few years. Therefore, it is important for startups to come to the terms that may help to reduce such uncertainties in the future.

On the contrary, the enterprise project which is assigned to the offshore team earlier may be taken back in-house because of the improper management limitations.

Therefore, you should understand such possibilities beforehand.

7. Allow Flexibility

Projects that don’t allow any changes, leave no room for improvement. It is very important to build flexibility in your partnership while accommodating the one-off request.

In addition to this, expanding the scope and encouraging innovation is also very important. The relationship you build with your outsourcing partner plays an important role in the success of the project as well as in the growth of the company.

Good relationships don’t happen on their own. Flexibility, room for change, and dedication help in building trust. Whether you are new to outsourcing app development or have already collaborated with many companies, follow different strategies to be well on the way to build a profitable and long-term partnership.

8. Always have a Backup Plan Ready

You always have to be aware of the typical app development outsourcing failure.

“Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” This particular quote sums up everything in one line. Before outsourcing app development, it is very important to identify different scenarios that may lead to failure.

Even the most experienced professionals sometimes tend to stumble. In that case, it is advisable not to panic. Calmly lift the curtains of the Plan B and get back on track again.

Mistakes to Avoid When Outsourcing App Development

1. Neglecting the Importance of Location

Failing to grasp the different cultural differences in the development team may put your business at risk of having an outdated product. The standards may vary across areas.

The learning curve of your in-house employee can cost you a lot of dollars. When you hire mobile app developers from a different country, consider the culture and time difference that may impact relationships and communication.

2. Failing to Manage the Remote App Developers Properly

No matter which app development outsourcing team you hire and regardless of their level of competency, they require guidance and instruction.

It is important to check the process and articulate feedback. Frequently communicate with the help of collaboration tools to ensure that assigned tasks finish in a timely manner.

3. Underestimating Quality Assurance

Testing the project while it is underway is important to gain a guarantee that the final project is the way it should be. No matter what type of mobile app is being built, testing is an important part of the software development process.

4. Idolizing Lowest Cost Offer

Cost is one of the major factors while hiring an offshore team to handle your technology functions. But don’t put an excessive focus on cutting the cost as it can turn out to be counterproductive. Remember you eventually want happy and satisfied clients.

So, make sure the company that you have hired is fairly compensated.

5. Beware of the Fixed Price Model

A fixed price model is one of those outsourcing deals that sound to be very attractive as it puts you at ease as per the budget constraints. Unfortunately, there are too many outsourcing companies that lure you a deal and later hit you with hidden or additional charges.

Initially, the vendor quotes incredibly low prices. However, they may include basic features. After a few months, they keep adding more prices for must-have features.

Solution: How Do You Save Yourself from this Disaster?

Well, in this competitive world, you have to understand that a fixed price model is impossible. Instead, it is advised to choose a vendor that invests serious time up-front to build an exceptional app that will be liked by the audience.

1. Must-Have Features

At the outset of the project, it is imperative for the app development outsourcing team to determine how the app should work. Although, it may sound simple there are many outsourcing companies that do not follow this approach.

Choose an offshore mobile app development company that relies on Agile methodology, as it empowers them to build a fast and scalable application. According to this, they will decide the must-have features and first-built features.

2. Get Personnel

The outsourcing company showcases impressive resumes of the remote mobile app developers in the beginning who will work on the project. But in reality, those mobile app developers are actually never working on the project or they are replaced by other team members.

This further proves to be less fruitful.

Solution: Ask for the guarantee that the developers who have started the project will be the ones who will remain the same till the end unless there is a serious illness or death.

Stay connected via online meetings with the developers working on your project on a weekly basis.

3. Improperly Defining Key Performance Indicators

Business success relies on a few performance indicators or KPIs. But the improper selection of metrics may sometimes lead to unexpected results.

For this reason, it is very important to select the exact performance metrics list and define the required KPIs in line with the task nature that is outsourced.

In the Nutshell

Outsourcing mobile app development is a phenomenal business strategy. When done right it can help you achieve your business goals and grow. The important thing is to choose the right outsourcing partner.

Collaboration with a trusted and reliable offshore development team will create a level of consistency in your business functions. So, stop wasting time on repetitive processes and hire an offshore team that can add value to your business.

Outsourcing Mobile App Development – Needs and Strategies