9 Steps to Outsource Mobile App Development Successfully

The application outsourcing market is fast-evolving. The niche is projected to generate a revenue of $116.4 billion by 2022 (Statista).

Globally, companies have embraced remote working as an outcome of the Pandemic, which has led to increased adoption of cost-effective tools and software solutions. Businesses want to expand their digital presence while staying on budget.

As a result, you will observe an increased demand for the outsourcing market. As a result, the estimated growth rate between 2021 and 2024 is 3 to 5% (MarketWatch).

Why Are Companies Embracing App Outsourcing?

The numbers indicate an increase in app outsourcing. Let us see why companies want to outsource app development instead of hiring an in-house team.

1. It improves the overall productivity of the company. As a result, companies can focus on their core expertise because they don't have to spend time and effort on app development.
2. When you hire an in-house team, you will spend a lot of time and effort hiring resources and providing suitable infrastructure. That is not the case with outsourcing. You will spend on the services you opt for; the offshore company will be responsible for the infrastructure, resources, and deliveries. This makes it beneficial and cost-efficient for your business.
3. When you outsource to companies in different time zones, you will be able to enjoy work round-the-clock. This ensures seamlessness in deliveries and a faster turnaround time.
4. When you outsource app development, the vendor will focus their efforts on delivering quality and building a secure app solution.

What to Expect When Outsourcing Your App?

There are advantages and risks associated with app development outsourcing. Here we will talk about some of the challenges that come with outsourcing and take you through the tips to overcome them.

Cultural differences

Let's talk about a company located in the United States of America. They have outsourced app development to a company in India. They are not just different geographically but also culturally. The two countries approach problems differently. Their value systems, hierarchies, and empowerment strategies are different.

The process may involve several people and a lengthy timeline for a single change to be done. These cultural differences can impact your development timeline and outcomes.

To overcome this: Before appointing the company for app outsourcing, connect with them about the cultural codes and see how it impacts app development. Seek enough information about how they connect and communicate.

Understand their approaches, and know what sort of communication and approaches they take. It is essential to mitigate the cultural differences before taking on the partnership.

Change in processes

When you outsource to an app development company, you can expect a change in the overall development process. For example, you may have defined an internal process to deliver and deploy the app solutions. However, outsourcing changes the processes.

There is a lot of information exchange involved. This could mean lengthy timelines and delayed deployment.

To overcome this: You will need to connect with the app outsourcing company and define a process that both of you can work with. First, determine the process properly before moving forth with app development. Then, make sure it works out to simplify the development and accelerate your launch.

Organizational acceptance

With every decision, you will notice an impact on your cultures and processes. This happens with outsourcing too. You will see a part of the team will need to refine their methods to suit the outsourcing needs.

When you outsource, it also hampers your organizational-level activities and methods. It could lead to challenges concerning acceptance. You may notice that people in your company are not ready to accept the new changes.

It will affect your organization's delivery, hinder the outsourced company's milestones, and make everything inefficient.

To overcome this: Make sure people in your company are not impacted by the process change. For example, do not have an entire team working with the outsourced company.

Identify key people who would communicate and connect. This would ensure fewer delays, faster acceptance, and better work.

Delivery and communication-related challenges

When working with different time zones, this is a common challenge. You will notice that when the work hours in your time zone end, it begins elsewhere. So, you have minimal to no overlapping time, which can cause delays. 
When you are in the communication zone, people may not be there. This is true for deliveries too. The other side may be out of the office when you share your feedback.

To overcome this: You can use this to your advantage as well. So, when you finish your work of sharing feedback and end your day, the other company sets to work on it. You have a ready product with the input incorporated at the end of the day. So, when you are not working, they are, and you get the product.

To overcome the communication issues, you can set an hour or two's overlapping time between your team and the outsourced company's team. It will help figure out problems and work on them.

Information Leakage

You need to share all critical information required for app development with the mobile app development organization. For example, it could be patient data (in case it is a healthcare app) or retail customer data.

All of this information should be compliant with the standards and codes. In addition, you should ensure that the data is shared securely and reliably.

However, you are taking a risk, as you don't know how the offshore company will treat the data.

To overcome this: You should check the company's credibility. They should be aware of the criticality of the data. It is equally essential to sign an NDA with the company before proceeding.

Lack of Control

When you outsource app development, you may not enjoy complete control of the processes or the team. It will occur at their end, and you will not get to see how much work has happened.

This lack of control over the development team and the overall process can make you feel restless. You want to make sure things are done on time, but you don't know how much work has already been done.

To overcome this: Seek reports from the team about the work done, where they are stuck, and how you can help. It is essential to run weekly, or bi-weekly sprints to know the progress and discuss the issues.

How to Prepare for Outsourcing App Development?

When you outsource app development to another company located in a geographically different location, it is essential to prepare thoroughly. It would help if you had the processes in place, your teams (both you and the offshore company) connected and provided a robust communication code.

Here we will take you through the steps to help prepare for outsourcing app development.

Know What to Outsource

You may not outsource the entire app for development. However, you may have plans to develop fragments of the app solution internally while outsourcing a part of the solution.

In some cases, organizations outsource iOS and complete Android development internally or vice versa.

At such times, before you connect with the offshore development team, you should know what aspects you are outsourcing. Then, think through how you wish to communicate the same. Finally, make pointers on what they need to know during the meeting.

It is essential to develop a chart internally on the outsourced company's goals, milestones, and phases. What will be their role in the entire development process? How will the two teams connect over this app development?

Estimates for the Development

It is essential to estimate the timelines and budget early on for the app development. You want to make sure you aren't spending more than required for the development and have a thoroughly defined budget.

You can use past project sources to estimate your current project. For example, if you have done similar projects in the past, you would know the timelines and budget for the current one. Similarly, if you have some estimating raw data available for a similar project from other sources, you can use them for yours.

Roadmap for outsourcing

Outsourcing can become tedious if you are not prepared for the same. Your preparedness would show in the way you plan the whole process.

You have already identified the key things that need to be outsourced for this project. It is essential to determine how to outsource it.

1. Prepare a blueprint to identify the number of days it will take to complete the knowledge transfer.
2. Discuss internally and identify all the key things that need to be given to the development company for speedy and functional development.
3. Think of all the things you want to include in the document you plan to share.
4. Check for NDA and other aspects; make sure you have taken into consideration the legal aspects before planning the outsource.
5. Declare the critical members of your team who will be responsible for communication with the offshore team.

Once everything is settled, you can start working according to the blueprint.

Find a suitable partner

1. Choosing a suitable and efficient outsourcing partner plays a pivotal role in ensuring you get a high-quality app within the timelines. 
2. Look for someone competent. The person/team in question should be experienced, have the expertise and be a team player.
3. Choose someone/a partner company that keeps up with the changing trends and is abreast with the current technologies.
4. Follow the processes and have a proven methodology in place.
5. Can take ownership, offer complete documentation and provide the project in phases.
6. They should be flexible in their contracts and know when to extend the contract.
7. They should build to test for faster and more reliable releases.

Choose a payment and engagement model

You should have defined a budget and ensure your partner company is well within the defined budget. It is now time to discuss the payment methods and engagement models with the partner company.

You can define the payment milestones for the vendor and the accepted payment modes. This is a responsible conversation, as it also involves how you plan to hire the development team from the offshore company. For example, would you be hiring a dedicated team or a developer hourly?

These questions need to be answered in the preparation stage so that you don't face hiccups during development.

Layout guidelines for communication and deliveries

As discussed in the challenges part, the central issue is meeting timelines and understanding the communication. You should look at the communication guidelines, discuss them with the offshore development team and match the timelines accordingly.

The differing cultures can make it impossible for you to share the same communication goals and methods. Therefore, you need to ensure a communication model and process are defined.

Have a one-point contact on both sides

Involving the teams in all the sprints and communication can make things tiresome. Instead of adding to the process, simplify it by adding a single point of contact from both sides. You should ideally identify the point of contact early on, at the time when you are discussing the project goals and timelines. This would make communication easy and effective.

Invest in the right tools

It is essential to invest in the proper infrastructure, especially when working with a remote team. In addition, you should over-communicate your goals, purpose, and even the work.

For this purpose, you need tools that can help you communicate and collaborate. Investing in project management tools, software solutions, and even real-time messenger tools can help you manage the processes smoothly with greater efficiency.

Conclusion

Outsourcing mobile app development to an expert company can help deliver a capable solution faster and more quickly to the market. However, preparing your business project for outsourcing will help manage every aspect carefully. For example, you will know the portions that need to be outsourced and how to ensure smooth communication.

1. When you are planning for outsourcing, you should
2. Take cultural differences into consideration
3. Streamline the processes and identify the way to collaborate
4. Create the guidelines for communication and deliveries
5. Manage the points of contact
6. Invest in the right tools and technologies

Your search for a suitable partner for outsourcing comes to an end with Expert App Devs. Our team of reputed developers offers robust and capable app solutions. We can collaborate with you to develop an end-to-end or a partial solution. If you want to talk about an idea you are excited about, connect with our team by filling out this contact form.

Jignen Pandya

Vice President at Expert App Devs

Responsible for creating a sales funnel, attracting top-of-the-funnel customers, and converting the target market.