Having a developer in house is convenient for project management reasons, however it’s not always financially viable for a marketing department or agency. On top of financial viability, not one developer has the capability to handle the breadth of development needs your team may have. Outsourcing software development has become a common activity for smart agencies and can often help a team to uplevel their service capabilities.

With any outsourcing project there are risks involved, and you don’t have time for your projects to go over deadline or end up improperly developed. To help keep your software development projects stay on task, avoid the following mistakes when sourcing your outsourced software developer(s).

You compromise quality for price

When you first start to source your outsource projects, you’ll collect a variety of quotes with a variety of ranges. You may get a fixed price quote, you may get an hourly rate with a projected timeline. Whatever you receive, undoubtedly the price that will stand out will be the cheapest. You’ve probably heard this before, but do not compromise quality for price, get reviews, requests portfolios, lean towards developers who are experts/specialize in the type of development you need. There is no value, in under par work.

You demands unreasonable timeline

Proper programming needs a flexible timeline in order to account for bugs and additional development needs. If you set an unreasonable timeline and your expectations are too high, you are going to receive negative results. Instead, work with developers on a flexible time frame that allows a bit of wiggle room so they can tackle unpredictable challenges as they arise.

You choose developers based on lowest cost

Most companies that outsource do so to help cut down on development costs. The price of talent overseas can be a fraction of what it would cost to hire someone in-house. However, saving a few extra pennies on an inexperienced developer can end up costing you more in the long run. Search for developers based on talent, experience, and communication.

You always work with your favourite developer

Showing allegiance to one freelancer can have it’s ups, great working relationships and its downs, he/she is unfamiliar with this or that kind of build. Like I mentioned above, there are so many technicalities to development, for one person to be in expert in all, it just isn’t possible. If your favourite freelancer isn’t experienced in the type of build you need, you shouldn’t feel guilty about looking elsewhere and really they should advise you to do the same. Why pay for them to figure it out?

You are not focusing on working relationships

There is something to having a great working relationship; open communication, project management and understanding of working styles. You need to be able to communicate with your developer, plain and simple, be really focused on your initial conversations and start with a small project to test out the waters. You won’t regret asking the right questions and focusing on fostering a good working relationship.

You expect developers to have the same project management style as you

Your software developer may not have the same style as you do. They may work off a ticketing system, they may have other projects on the go, they may not check-in everyday. You have to be okay with the fact that your developer doesn’t work at your pace or in the same style as you do. Be prepared to adapt.

You've chosen one person when you could have a team

Why work with one expert when you could work with a team of experts. Aside from having a resource of developers, they will also have more time for you and the capability to handle more projects.

With anyone you hire you always do your due diligence, the same should be said with your outsourced software developers, weigh your options, think through thoroughly and consider how each developer can work best for you. 

You don't have in-house tech know-how

Some companies believe they can develop a product with only an idea and outsourcing without knowing what it takes to actually build said product. Without a team leader with tech know-how, there are bound to be communication issues between in-house and outsourced workers. Outsourcing software development is becoming more and more common in this day and age. However, it is still new to a lot of companies and can be confusing for the first time.