Did you know that the average price for a custom software development project ranges from $3000 to $120,000? This very interesting statistic was developed by goodfirms.co. Moreover, it is estimated that the average project development time reaches between 4 and 5 months in 61.60% of cases. For over 15% of projects it takes more than half a year. Interesting numbers, right? They present general information, but I would like to draw your attention to a certain tendency.
You invest a lot of money in software development projects, so it's important that you invest them well. Perhaps you need an external partner? I have no doubt that cooperation with a software house is an effective and efficient solution. However, it is important to successfully choose a partner. How can you do it? I have prepared a short guide for you, in which I mention key things worth paying attention to.
The power of recommendation
Nowadays, there are many ways to reach clients. Software houses have different strategies. Some emphasize the development of sales teams, others invest in marketing. I don't want to say that both approaches are wrong. It's not the point. However, I believe that recommendations are still the most effective tool that can be used in selecting your software development partner. It is a reliable confirmation of quality.
Imagine you find a software house that seems like a good choice. However, you want to make sure that their work quality is really high and they are a team of real professionals. It is difficult to verify at the very beginning, so recommendations come in handy at this stage.
When looking for a software development company, you will find the best recommendations on the Clutch portal. It gathers information regarding the software house profile, projects they completed, current technology stack and customer portfolio. You can verify your opinion in just a few clicks. A more traditional way is browsing through the company’s website.
Set a discovery call
The first stage is now behind you, so it’s time to verify the software house during a discovery call. Make an appointment to meet your future partner and talk about the details of your prospective cooperation. This is the best opportunity to learn about their style of work and exchange comments.
Wondering who should participate in the discovery call? Depending on your needs, you can request the presence of both a business manager of the software house and a developer. It will allow you to talk about more detailed aspects of the project. As Codest, we prefer to use this approach. If a CTO with a strong technical background participates in the discovery call, we engage our developer. As a result, we can discuss the general terms of cooperation and details of the product.
Project kick-off
If the previous stages went well, it is time to dive into the cooperation. This is the stage to establish the scope of cooperation, get to know the team you will work with, communicate principles and start the project. In fact, if the software house with which you work manages the entire process well, the project can start immediately.
Observe!
Software development projects are demanding. The team that works on the product must have the appropriate skills and experience, and the communication between you and the software house has to be smooth. This is also important from your perspective as a client. After all, you use software house services to speed up and improve the software development process for your product.
It is crucial to watch how cooperation is going. If you see any threats, intervene. Note whether the software house you work with operates according to the Agile approach. This is important because the client should be able to actively participate (according to Scrum) in the development of the project and see the results of work on an ongoing basis.
How to choose the best software development company? Want to know more?
Check the playbook! Many software houses make their playbooks available on their websites. A typical playbook is a collection of good practices that are used during software development projects. It outlines the approach to cooperation with the client, coding or the principles of building software. It can become a piece of knowledge that will help you make the right decision.
By the way, you can check the Codest Playbook, which we have prepared for our customers.
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