There are helpful steps internal teams can take to make the process and business relationship as smooth as possible.
With more and more people doing business online, it's more important than ever for companies to have mobile apps for products and services. The more convenient it is for potential buyers to purchase products, the more likely they are to proceed.
For many companies, this involves a third-party company responsible for mobile app development. Unless the company already has an in-house software development team that can handle the task, it will need to find a good quality company to handle the outsourcing work for it.
When it comes to creating the right app for a specific product or service, the hiring company needs to ensure they complete due diligence. Fortunately, there are some standardized steps that help companies create the right app with an outsourced development team.
5 Steps to Ensure a Successful Outsourced App
1) Always look for a reputable app development team.
There are many freelance software developers who offer businesses mobile apps at reasonable prices. Unfortunately, not all of them are reliable and this can easily lead to problems.
Instead, the hiring company should do some research to better ensure they are dealing with a company that has an established team of developers who will work on your app.
2) Don't make the mistake of letting price guide the overall decision.
The bottom line is that it will likely cost companies more money to choose an outsourcing company over a freelance software developer. However, this is quite justifiable due to the hours of work it takes a team to create a high-quality mobile app.
However, this is not necessarily a negative. When a company has a quality team working on its behalf, it is much more likely to achieve a positive result compared to individual freelancers. Companies must choose wisely as they will work with them for the time agreed in the contract.
3) Avoid any business that is not easily found (or at all) online.
When it comes to choosing the right development team, decision makers should always look for one that has an established brand of its own. The hiring team should have an easy time finding the company online with their own website, reviews, and/or social media profiles.
It should be very easy to look them up online to see the company's past work. Nothing is more important to a company than its reputation in the business world.
4) Look for online reviews of the company.
One of the best ways to evaluate any company is to look for consumer reviews posted online. There are several online review sites available for anyone to find out what other people are saying about the potential supplier.
These reviews are very useful as they provide good insights into the company before a potential customer decides to work with them on a mobile app. The best way to get to know a company is to hear from other people who have had apps developed for them by the potential team.
5) The app development company must be familiar with the hiring company's industry.
Not all industries are created equal, and the client should select the company with experience in creating applications for the market in which the contracting company's products and services fit.
They are much more likely to get a better result by using a company that has previous experience with their type of product. The hiring company should still complete the research and ask the companies associated with previous work examples if they have any experience creating applications like the one needed.
Having the right development team is just the beginning
Finding the right outsourcing team for new mobile app development is just the beginning. There are several things that hiring companies need to take care of before getting started. The team should ensure they have a solid framework and outline of how they want the application to work against any requirements before meetings with potential outsourcing vendors.
The more details they can share with the outsourcing team, the better. The internal team must provide as much information as possible to ensure that the application created will be exactly as planned, communicated and expected.
Track, but avoid hovering
Companies shouldn't act like those customers who tend to micromanage, as all the constant interruptions can only serve to cause development delays, leading to longer development times. Instead of constantly calling with tons of questions and status checks, internal teams should figure out a way to work with the outsourced team in real time (as much as possible) and with regularly scheduled updates alongside weekly meetings.
Testing is very important
After handing over the application to the internal team, there is one more very important step that they cannot forget: the internal team must take the time to thoroughly test the application and all its functions before even thinking about releasing it to the market. After all testing and quality assurance is complete, teams can work with the development team to add it to Google Play and the App Store.
Great teams create great apps
Internal teams of hiring companies and decision makers must fully understand the process of creating a mobile app with not just an outsourcing team, but the right outsourcing team. It's much more complicated and involves a lot of work to make sure everyone gets it right the first time.
Fortunately, there are many helpful steps and tips that help teams avoid any of the most common pitfalls people face when it comes to creating a mobile app. The best advice is for companies to remember to perform due diligence before making a final decision.
