Thursday, June 24, 2010

How to Outsource Software Development Work

Software Development services are becoming increasingly popular these days as companies look for ways to learn how to outsource and cut down on staff and related expenses. But this type of outsourcing is rarely as simple as people make out. The good news is that if you work through all of the right stages you will reap the rewards of outsourcing your work.

The first thing you learn when finding out how to outsource effectively is the importance of drawing up an effective project plan. Just as an outsource programmer will use a flow chart to work from, you also need a similar road map. This initial stage is called Project Planning and without it, your project will quickly find itself in deep water.

During a project planning exercise you identify your goals and objectives, as well as setting down time lines and considering risk management. You also need to consider what human resources you need and how you will communicate with them.

Risk Management

When first learning how to outsource, many software projects fail because proper risk management allowances were not built into the project time lines. There are a lot of problems that can arise; a program can launch later than expected because of bugs or the program can launch on time but full of bugs. A scenario like that will have a negative effect on both your and your providers reputation.

When learning how to outsource programming there are many other aspects that are a part of this, for e.g. did I take the testing process into consideration? Who is going to do this? Do not rely on the person who wrote the program; you will need someone else to look at it from a different point of view that will spot any obvious or potential problems in the source code and the way the graphic user interface has been set up. It is important that the time taken, and the resources needed to test the program, should be built into your project planning road map.

Once you have got a clear road map planned out you can think about the next stage in learning how to outsource effectively: project management.

Project Management

There are 2 essential elements that make a successful project manager:

1. Excellent Communication Skills
2. Excellent Organisational Skills

You need to ensure that your chosen outsourced software development team fully understands exactly what is required of them. From the design of the software through to all channels of communication and quality control, everybody needs to know what their individual responsibilities are within the project; knowing how to outsource is all about knowing how to manage.

Setting up communication channels can sometimes be difficult because a lot of outsource software development services are provided by Asian countries which may be operating on a different time zone to your own.

While you outsource your programming, you will want to be kept updated on all developments. The sooner problems are spotted, the sooner they can be rectified. Recognizing and dealing with these problems is one of the best skills to develop when first learning how to outsource. If you arrange a weekly conference call with your outsource programmer, you will be able to monitor the physical progress of the project and hopefully eliminate some of the problems before the software reaches quality assurance (QA) testing.

Another good skill to develop when learning how to outsource is to be able to give constructive criticism and listen to the advice of your outsource provider. Building a good reputation with your outsourcing team is vital if the project is to be a success.

By sitting down and taking the time to follow the tips in this guide you should enjoy a stress free outsourcing experience!

Source ezinearticles.com


As a Vietnam software outsourcing company, we offer software application outsourcing service, offshore software outsourcing, international outsourcing solutions company

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