Outsourcing App Development

Home » Think Tank » Mobile App Development » Outsourcing App Development
a

Congratulations! Did your company/business just decide to jump on the bandwagon of introducing an application? Or, are you still stuck between deciding whether to build the app in-house or outsourcing the app development process?

Undoubtedly, the number of people who are accessing the internet through smartphones and tabs has increases manifold. In 2013, Apple statistics showed that there were 1.25 million applications in the Apple store alone. In that year alone, an estimated 50 billion downloads took place. This resulted in the developers getting a staggering $5 billion.

WOW! Just let that sink in for a moment!

Through these figures only, you can see how big and lucrative the app development industry is. Some specialized developers work with different agencies to help develop your apps.

Now, there are two ways you can get the apps made and these are In-house and Outsourcing.

  • In-house: Just as the name suggests, the entire app building process is done in-house (within the company/business). In this, you don’t hire any external talent to come and help you with building your application. This becomes difficult if you are not an app development agency yourself. You can be lacking the professionals, tools, knowledge, resources or expertise to do so.
  • Outsourcing: This is the more widely used approach. This means that you hire the services of a 3rd party to develop the app for your company. If you look around, this is the way to go for most companies. It saves time, is cost-effective and gives better results.

Why do we need to Outsource App Development?

The biggest reason why companies outsource this process is the immense talent, experience and expertise these agencies have. Outsourcing may seem expensive at first but ends up being cost-effective in the longer run.

In-house development is much more complicated. It does not happen overnight. Not only will you be spending a lot of money, it demands a different skill set and a lot of time too. So, outsourcing the process seems like a wise decision, doesn’t it?

Advantages of Outsourcing App Development

When it comes to outsourcing, expertise and experience is not the only advantage you are going to go. The other advantages have been discussed below.

1. Expertise

The reason that makes an app development agency stand out from the crowd is the talent pool it has. They hire the top developers to give the best experience to the clients. Moreover, they have different IT professionals like developers, coders, DevOps, Data Engineers and so much more.

These people are experts in what they do and are highly paid for it. The average salary of an app developer is around $70,000/annum. This shows how skilled these people are.

2. Cost-effective

Apart from general belief, outsourcing is not expensive. On the contrary, when compared to in-housing, it is cheaper. You don’t need to train the staff, make an entire team of developers, pay salaries, keep a check, and monitor them or anything.

In short, if you are hosting an in-house app development department, there is so much overhead and hidden costs that it will be very expensive in the long run.

All you need to do is pay the app development agency and leave the rest to them. Sure, they give you updates and discuss what to do next. But, the responsibility lies with them.

3. Up-to-date Market Knowledge

As app development is the bread and butter of these agencies, they are up-to-date with all the latest technologies and market knowledge. If they aren’t, they won’t be able to give their best. This means that your apps will be made and will incorporate the best technology possible.

4. Experience

As they are in the business, they have a lot of experience with similar projects. They know what issues can arise. With extensive experience, they can easily, quickly and professionally solve the problems that come their way.

At times, they understand what you want better than yourself. The reason being, they have the experience, expertise and knowledge to identify client requirements. The good ones even act as a guide/consultant to you and keep giving suggestions for improvement.

5. Customer Support

Mostly, the app development agencies provide customer support. Even if you face issues with the app down the lane or need to update the old version, customer support is always there for you. Some companies do charge a small fee for this, but that is understandable.

6. Time-saving

Once you outsource everything to the professionals, you are going to be saving a lot of time and money. With extensive knowledge, they know all the tricks of the trade and can do things much quicker than you!

7. Scalability

Depending on your project, the outsourcing agency can easily scale their team down or up to match your requirements. They have multiple projects going on at the same time and can easily shuffle people.

How to Hire the Best?

Now that we know how many advantages outsourcing our app development is, we need to find the best agency. You simply can’t go ahead and hire anyone to do your project. If done wrong, your entire business can be at stake and you can lose out on money, your reputation and so much more.

With the increase in app development, you can see an increase in the number of add development agencies out there. Hop on the internet and you can find so many options that it becomes almost impossible to pick the best one.

To know you are going for the best and specialized people in the field, ensure you follow these 5 steps.

1. Know What you Want

The most important thing is to be clear about what you need. There are so many cases where the companies themselves don’t know exactly what they need. You need to be clear in your mind about the sort of app you need, what features you want etc.

2. Research Well

We recommend spending a major chunk of your time on research. Once you have your requirements in mind, search for companies that have done similar projects or something like that.

There are several ways you can research. You can look online, through referrals, check industrial journals etc.

Remember, it is good to shortlist 5-7 companies that look attractive so you have a choice.

3. Check the Portfolio

Once you have shortlisted a handful of companies/agencies, it is time to check out their portfolio. Most of the companies showcase their projects to gain more clientage. Go online and see their portfolio.

Different apps require different skill sets. For instance, a social networking app requires different skills as compared to a grocery delivery app, right? So, check their portfolio and see if they have done similar work.

4. Talk to Clients

Having a look at the company’s portfolio and website is one thing, talking to clients is another. To be sure that the clients are satisfied and happy with the services, you need to talk to them. The easiest way to do so is to check the testimonials and reviews the company shows on their profile.

Try to contact them and ask them how their experience was, how quick was the response time and how satisfied they are with the agency/company. Once you are satisfied, making a decision will become easier.

5. Talk to the Agency

You need to have a game plan before you contact the app development agency/company. Go to them with your exact requirements and talk to them about how you want to implement things.

This is a big plus point as these agencies can’t make a fool out of you. Clients who are not sure of what they won’t end up being scammed into paying more for the services.

6. Choose the Type of Service Required

When it comes to services, you have a few options to choose from. You can go for dedicated teams, hire project-based 3rd party agencies or outsource a few steps of the development project. This is a personal choice but we always recommend outsourcing the entire project to one agency for higher efficiency.

7. Payment Method and Hidden Costs

Another important thing to look out for is the payment methods. Some charge for the entire project upfront. Others charge a subscription fee, monthly fee, fee by different stages of application development etc. You need to be clear on the payment methods.

 Next, try to look for loopholes like hidden costs. Some companies give you a low rate and ask for additional costs of providing different services. The fee structure needs to be communicated beforehand to avoid any discrepancies.

These are a few things that can put you on the right track and pick the company that suits you. After all, everyone has different needs and requirements and an agency that did well for someone may not work out for you.

Conclusion

As you can see, finding a good app development agency to outsource your project is not going to be an easy task. On the contrary, it is quite daunting. For that, we have included all the steps you require to find the best company that matches your requirements.

So, what are you waiting for?

Share this post:
Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
Share on google
Google+

Project Triangle

The project management triangle (called also the triple constraint, iron triangle and project triangle) is a model of the constraints of project management.

Read More »

LET’S CONNECT.

Connect with us to find out what true value added services are.

Company

Our Services

NEWSLETTER

Join us for get latest updates

Copyright © SOURCEONE SOLUTIONS - All rights reserved

contact@sourceone.io

Headquarters – Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

(+84) 353 197 427

Brand – Sydney, Australia

(+61) 401 713 724

About SourceOne

Privacy

Terms of Use

Mobile application

Website and API Services

UI/UX Design

Next – Gen Technology

NEWSLETTER

Join us for get latest updates

Copyright © SOURCEONE SOLUTIONS - All rights reserved

GET IN TOUCH

Feel free to contact us any time. We will get back to you as soon as we can!