Globalization is a familiar and standard practice across many industries in this era. Information technology and software development companies are also excelling in this drive. Software development teams are working together from various locations by collaborating with the offshore software development outsourcing service providers. Some companies are even shifting their entire development wing in an offshore location to minimize cost and utilize best resource pools available.
Selecting an offshore company/location to outsource software development is a critical decision to make. If the decision is not taken carefully it may hamper the success of the development project.
Here are seven best offshore software development outsourcing practices-
01. Selecting Right-Sized Organization
Right-sized software development company for you vastly depends upon your project size. If your software development project size is huge then you do have less choice as because you need to choose among big software company. But if your project size is small to medium you need to think carefully before choosing your development partner. Selecting big company for such projects may outcome less attention, junior level developers, and less attention from the management. In such cases it’s better to select a software company where you are their biggest customer. This will guarantee experienced and senior level engineering team, advantageous terms and conditions, and prime attention from the top level management resulting a successful project.
02. Development Methodology Selection
Selecting the appropriate software development methodology is a crucial success factor to your software development project. Agile(Scrum) software development process is very popular in the software development industry due to its risk minimizing and less documentation features. The other agile software development methodologies include Kanban, Crystal, and Dynamic Systems Development Model (DSDM). Other major methodologies include Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMi), Feature Driven Development (FDD), Rapid Application Development (RAD), and Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Select the appropriate development methodology depending upon your project size and requirements.
03. Intellectual Property (IP) Protection
Offshoring destination country selection should be done considering the regional Intellectual Property (IP) protection laws to support if any issue arises. Currently, legal support for Intellectual Property (IP) protection in Bangladesh is in moderate state. IP protection related laws and regulations in Bangladesh along with treaty memberships overview can be obtained from World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
04. Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is now a generic industry standard. Prominent and competent offshore software development companies practice a work process where they will sign NDA in the early stage of any software development project. Professional vendors will keep proprietary information or business secrets as confidential.
05. Source Code Ownership Agreement
Appointing a software development company to build a custom software application for your company will not automatically make you the owner of the source code. Software development companies have diversified strategies and service price offerings. Also, Software development companies fetch development tools (utility codes) to each software development project. They may not give the ownership on this part of the code as they are needed regularly in various projects. So, it’s better to have a clear stated agreement regarding the ownership of the source code. You can add a separate section in the service contract containing all the clauses regarding the source code ownership.
06. Building Relationship
Building relationship with offshore team is very important. The development team is an extended team member who are working for your organizational goal. If you have a better understanding with the culture, language of your offshore team then you can utilize the team better. Organizing workshops, visit and few team building activities can make a long term business relation and better fit for your need.
07. Development & Production Servers Control
To have controlled access to the proprietary documents/information and software it’s better to host the development & production servers in your location.
Premium offshore software development companies like iXora Solution Ltd. are concerned about the facts discussed above and they do practice those to facilitate customer satisfaction resulting long term relationship.
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