How to find the right software development company
As your organization grows in size and scale sooner or later you are going to require custom-built software. Although there are thousands of software companies selling prepackaged software, every company has unique requirements and to cater to those requirements the development of custom software is inescapable. But it is easier said than done. More often than not the software development company that you find for your organization can prove to be the biggest roadblock if you’re not careful enough about selecting it. In this blog post we shall explore a few things that you can take into consideration while trying to find the right software development company.
Before you can embark upon this task you have to clearly define what your organization needs. Research the market carefully and find out if software already exists to solve your problem. Purchasing a pre-existing software solution is always better than getting the whole thing developed from scratch. Look for a software development company only as a last option, only when you cannot find what you are looking for in the market.
So here are a few things you should keep in mind while trying to find the right software development company for your organization:
The technical expertise of the software development company
Software development is all about technology. The successful completion of your software development project depends a lot on what kind of technology is used to develop your software; so pay close attention to what kind of development technology the company is comfortable with. Of course for this you must have some basic knowledge of the capabilities of different technologies. For instance, the Windows environment is plagued by security issues and the UNIX environment needs a steep learning curve. Decide on what you need and what you don’t need.
The portfolio of the software development company
Although in the field of software development more than the experience it is the knowledge and the drive that decides the competency of a software development company, it can help you decide if you can go through a few of their past projects and have an idea of what sort of applications they have worked on. Normally when software development companies have worked on many projects they develop a sound methodology to ensure successful completion of the projects. A new software company that doesn’t have much experience still needs to develop its methodologies and hence may not be aware of the various problems and glitches that surface during software development life cycle.
Delivery time
Understandably it is very critical that your software application is delivered on time so that your company employees get enough time to test it and report any bugs. Even after the testing and debugging phase is over some of your employees will need extensive training and orientation in order to make better use of the application. All these factors make it necessary that your software is developed within the timeframe decided during the initial negotiations. Delays also give rise to unnecessary costs.
Quality of software development
Actually software can be developed by anybody; what is the quality of the application is what is important. The code should not be buggy; it should not be resource-hungry; the documentation should be up to the mark; easy feature updates should be possible; and the code should be as lean as possible.
After-development support
The software development company shouldn’t wash its hands off the project as soon as its engineers have installed the application at your office premises. You will require lots of support after that in terms of configuring the software, getting to know how to use it, understanding various many options and customization features, the maintenance and backup procedures, and scores of other support-related issues that may crop up afterwards.
Discuss all these things with the software development company that you are planning to hire and get everything written and duly signed.