How To Successfully Outsource Web Development?

Whether you own a small office, medium enterprise, a start-up or a massive business empire with various business processes and diversified interests, outsourcing web development services can help. Not only will you get quality work at cheaper rates but you will also be able to focus on core business issues as you will have enough time on your hands while your offshore team takes care of your web development needs. However, there are certain safety measures that you should adhere to ensure a smooth transition into such outsourced work.

Safety measures to take before outsourcing web development

Perform a background check - To begin with, find out if the offshore service provider has the requisite experience and expertise of handling your project. Check their portfolio, get in touch with some of their past clients, check references and Google them on the web to find out what people have to say about their services in general. Since it may not always be feasible to visit the offshore office of your chosen company, try to communicate via various modes like phone, video chat or Skype to understand how they work and have a feel of their work culture. You may even interview the developers online to check if they really know what they are expected to deliver before closing the deal. Remember, communication plays a very crucial role in outsourced models. So, make sure that your web development service provider has clear and excellent communication channels.

Documentation - The next step is to check if the company follows good documentation practices or not. To manage and implement projects with ease, proper and quick documentation is mandatory. It is therefore vital to check if everything is in place before you begin work.

Development methodology - Examining the outline of your project and how your offshore service provider plans to handle it are also crucial for the success of your project. Verify the documents and ensure that they reflect what your needs are. Having a clear picture of the development methodology and the project plan will simplify your task of managing the job from a distance. Unless your partner in web development services has the skilled workforce, a well-developed process, and advanced technology at hand, delivering quality output will be a far cry.

Scope of the project -  Make sure that the scope of your project is well defined. It is often seen that poor understanding of the framework by either party gives rise to conflicts, which in turn hampers the work in progress. So, it is your duty to check if your offshore service provider understands your business model. A service provider who can visualize the bigger picture of your business is always a better choice than the one who cannot. The former can do value additions to the entire job, which may often go beyond your specifications. So, encourage your offshore partner in web development services to ask questions and seek clarifications, as and when the need arises. Make an arrangement to review the work from time to time to check if everything is on track and bring changes, adjustments or modifications in the work where needed.

How to Outsource Web Development Work

Before you consider using outsource services you need to do some planning. The first stage in the process is called a Project Planning Exercise. This is where you identify the goals, objectives and timelines for the project and it is a vital component if you want your project to be successful. Here are some of the questions that you should ask yourself:

• What sort of website do you want?
• Are you selling something or providing information?
• How many pages do you need?
• Are the pages static or interactive?
• What is the time frame for delivery?

Your project instructions must be clear and precise and leave no doubt in the mind of the outsource developer as to what you require.

Once you have identified exactly what you want, you can begin contacting outsource providers to see if they have the skills you require. When learning how to outsource web development, it is important to remember that a lot of developers specialize in a particular type of websites such as E-Commerce, Flash or Database sites; this is why you need to know what you want.

Ensure that your outsource developer has proven experience and preferably a portfolio detailing past projects. A portfolio is an excellent way to check credentials and ensure that the developer has skills that match your requirements.

Project Management

Once you have selected an outsource service, you need to make sure that the project runs smoothly. This crucial stage is known as project management, and it is imperative to gain an understanding of learning how to outsource. It involves managing the outsourcing resources required to ensure that the project goals and objectives are met.

You have already identified the project aims, but now you need to ensure that your chosen outsource developer understands exactly what the project involves. Good, clear communication is absolutely essential here. The ability to express yourself in straightforward, easy to understand language can make the difference between success and failure of a project.

Communication Matters

What is equally important in this stage of learning how to outsource is the frequency and mode of communication. If you are outsourcing web development you need to be able to see how much progress has been made along the way. A regular conference call will enable you to follow the development and provide regular feedback. It is always possible during this call that you will see things that are not as you required. You must be prepared to give constructive feedback in such an instance. Explain exactly what the problem is and work out a solution with your outsource service. This is something you will perfect along the way as you learn how to outsource your web development projects.

An important fact to keep in my mind when outsourcing web development is that the finished product will only be as good as the instructions you provide. By adopting the project planning and project management approach, you should end up with the website you envisioned at the start.

The following points will give you a detailed understanding of "How Outsourcing of Web Development service" will be beneficial considering all of this factors:

Standard development Process -  Many Companies follows strict process model. Clients are assured of the standard processing and get their development work completed on-time and delivery without any complication.

Meet your budget constraints - You want to build a quality product, which requires design and development expertise that you don't have on your team. A good offshore development partner helps you achieve your product objectives while staying within your budget because the cost of skilled labor in other countries is 3 to 5 times less expensive than in the US.

Reliable and Accurate -  All these companies have experience & knowledge of development, so the delivered product will be reliable & accurate in terms of outputs which the client demanded.

Future enhancement -  As every company wants to maximize their business, these companies provide regular maintenance and notifications to update your product if required.

There are many invisible benefits of Outsourcing on client side also. Clients can:

1. Further, concentrate on their routine without bothering about their Web development process. So time is saved.
2. Save money by choosing Outsourcing which is nearly equal to half the cost required in own development process. So you can use them for future enhancement & maintenance.
3. Get a chance to know new process models & their skilled knowledge.
4. Expect best recommendations & latest technologies that best suits your business requirements & success on the basis of their experienced skills and requirement analysis.

 Although the process of outsourcing web development might be tricky and sometimes risky, following the above-discussed guidelines will help you successfully get what you want at the end of the day.