Hiring a software development company can be an important strategic decision for companies in all industries. After all, having well-developed software can mean gains in efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness.
However, choosing the ideal partner can be challenging, especially if you do not have experience in the field.
Therefore, to avoid headaches, let’s explore the main criteria to consider when choosing a software development company partner and thus ensure the success of your project. Keep reading until the end!
Top criteria for choosing a software development company
Although hiring a particular software development company can never be a guarantee of success, there are some criteria that might help reduce the chances of getting into a bad professional and commercial partnership.
Therefore, we have separated 9 essential points to help you in this search and, thus, assist you in hiring a strategic partner who will as a result provide the expected results for the specific needs of your company.
Next, we will get to know all these points below:
1. Experience
One of the first things to consider is the experience of the software development company.
This might include their expertise in the specific area in which you need help, as well as their overall experience in the market. At this point, make sure the company has a highly qualified and experienced team, as well as relevant previous work which can be somehow verified.
2. Portfolio
Speaking of relevant jobs, another point to consider is the portfolio of the software development company you want to hire. Identify the complexity of the work, where their system is running, what it does in practice, and how it solves their partners’ problems.
Here at LogAp, for example, we have well-documented cases that we have prepared in order to help customers, although there are other areas (e.g. wind power generation, basic sanitation, agriculture, logistics, refinement of fossil fuels, etc.) where we operate:
- Case 1: The Athenas Plant: storing and processing millions of data points efficiently
- Case 2: Alienation Engineering and ALIEN System: How LogAp Developed a Custom-built Solution for CHESF
3. Technology
The software development company must be up to date with the latest technologies and tools necessary for its work.
This does not mean using each and every one of the novelties that pop up in the market, but understanding what are the ideal tools in order to create robust, reliable and extremely high quality systems.
Two examples of technology, recently adopted by LogAp, were Docker and Kubernetes. Both helped to greatly reduce the time of deploying applications, as well as optimizing the development of systems as a whole.
4. Development processes
Well-defined processes also increase the quality of the work as a whole. Therefore, it is essential to ask about the company’s development processes and whether they are willing to share their methodology.
Even if they do not go into detail so as to not compromise their business strategies, the development company should be able to signal which methodologies they use, whether Scrum or Kanban, for example, as well as other tools in order to define solid and efficient processes.
Take the chance to read: How to develop quality software: 4 principles to improve your product
5. Communication
Communication is key to ensuring the success of the project.
Make sure the software development company has good communication skills and is willing to keep you informed about the progress of the project, even in informal situations.
If it doesn’t, it may be a warning sign that something isn’t going well or that there simply isn’t transparency with how they work. As such, keep an eye out should such cases come up.
6. Support
Post-delivery support is important in order to ensure that the software works properly and that issues are resolved quickly.
This is where many software companies fail, as they leave their customers without proper support at the most critical moments, that is during a potential system failure. Therefore, please ensure — via a binding contract — that a level of support that meets the needs of the place where you work is always warranted.
7. Price
Price is an important factor to consider, but it shouldn’t be the only one.
Make sure that the software development company’s price is fair and that the work delivered meets your expectations. Compare the company’s price with other companies in the market (benchmarking).
Speaking of which, LogAp has a blog post precisely about this subject, in case you wish to go deeper: How much does a tailor-made software cost: learn how to calculate and project the values
8. References
Another important point involves references from previous customers of the software development company.
If possible, contact these former partners to see what their experience was like and if they are satisfied with the work delivered. Spend some time investigating the company and weigh the pros and cons well before making any decisions.
9. Flexibility
Last but not least, it is important to choose a software development company that is flexible and able to adapt to your specific needs.
Make sure that the company can handle changes in project scope and have agile processes in place in order to ensure results are delivered quickly. At the end of the day, bear in mind that the system you create will need to suit your needs, not the other way around.
In brief
Hiring a technology partner is not an easy task, as there are many variables that must be considered in the process. It is not always the case that a company that has failed in the past will fail again in the future, just as a good company with a perfect track record can fail at any given time.
Therefore, you need to consider the standard quality of the partner you want to hire. If your deliveries have been of a high quality, it is unlikely that any problem will arise. It is this behavior that you need to detect and watch out for.
Companies that do not value quality and deliver low-value products tend to behave poorly in this way. Should you feel that this is the case, completely avoid any kind of commercial relationship with them.
And if you need a specific solution, which is adapted to your business reality, be sure to access the LogAp website and bring your challenge to us. It will be our pleasure to offer a very high quality solution for your business.
