Why Do Companies Outsource Software Development in the UK

What Is Software Outsourcing?

Software development outsourcing is a management practice being adopted by an increasing number of businesses to hire an incredible team of specialist software developers available at a reputed software development company having the certified skills for the particular software development. The outsourced software developers work as your employees but they are not entitled/concerned with-

• Infrastructure usage like working place, tech equipment, settlements, etc
• Legal issues
• Onboarding
• Employee benefits

 All such issues are taken care of by the hired software development vendor you are partnering with. While outsourcing software development, your responsibility is limited to finding the best bespoke software design and development agency, explaining the requirements, deciding the terms and conditions,  and sign-up an agreement/contract letter.

Eight Benefits of Outsourcing Bespoke Software in the UK

Why do the majority of businesses in the UK tend to outsource custom software development, integration, implementation, and maintenance? Outsourcing project is a smart way to stay competitive and grow in the challenging business world.  Here are some of the key benefits that encourage UK businesses to outsource software development-

1. Reduction in overhead costs: Working with external professionals means you are paying only for the services; it saves a considerable amount you otherwise spend on in-house staff like pay, hardware, software rental, training, etc.
2. Hiring costs reduction: You don’t need a bespoke software solution to streamline and improve your operational management in different verticals again and again. If you hire a team for a particular software development, it may not be as useful for other tasks after the implementation of the developed software.
3. Time-saving on hiring particular specialists: Finding the right talent with adequate experience for a short-term period or on a project basis is a time-consuming affair. In addition, you can't be sure of the capabilities to deliver what you exactly want.    
4. Benefit of domain knowledge: You might not be having experts in the particular domain. When you hire a custom software development agency to develop your custom-to-need business solution with a particular tech stack, your in-house professionals get domain knowledge at no extra cost.
5. Unlimited options to hire the best software developers: The availability of software companies all around the UK gives you unlimited choices to explore the options and hire the best talent.
6. Flexibility of scaling the project progress: Many unexpected variables often make a software development project more expensive and longer than you thought it would. Regular monitoring and scaling of the project progress ensures you get the custom-to-need product on time and within the estimated cost.
7. Latest trends and cutting-edge tech stack: It is a must for businesses to use the advanced cutting-edge tech stack. The tech stack is evolving dramatically; therefore, your in-house team may not have the required expertise level in the latest technologies. The professionals of software outsourcing companies are updated with the latest innovations and practices.
8. Improved compliance and less risk: Having the rights over generated software is the major advantage of outsourcing software development. The hired transfers the right of developed software to you without requiring paying the initial fee.  

How To Outsource Software Development The Best- Eight Tips

  Digitization and automation have become key growth drivers for businesses. Companies, irrespective to size and business nature, tend to use custom business applications to simplify and streamline business operations and to improve customer experiences by using data-driven metrics. However, keeping in-house software developers may not be an affordable solution for every business; that’s why, outsourcing software development has become an increasing practice all across the UK. The key concern to this practice is to get the best worth of investment made in outsourcing custom software solutions. The following eight tips will help you outsource the required software solution to ultimate satisfaction:   

1. Identify Your Requirements: Before hiring a software development outsourcing company, fix your requirements- “What exactly do I need?”. It is a must to fix the objectives to overcome the key concerns like the lack of in-house resources and specialization.  Identify your requirements and hire a software development company that is capable to serve your objectives. 
2. Write a Scope Statement for Software Development: The objectives, deliverables, content, scope, and budgets are the milestones of the project outsourcing roadmap. Explain how the developed software is expected to align with your business goals. Define the deliverables at the end of each sprint cycle. Also define the project constraints like start time, estimated timeline, change requests, key milestones, approvals, etc.
3. Look for a Suitable Software Development Agency: The major benefit of outsourcing project development is flexibility. Shortlist a few bespoke software companies and select the one according to your needs, expectations and comparison parameters based on-  

• Experience in a particular software project development
• Specialization in a particular technology (Tech Stack)
• Software development methodology
• Working strategy, workflow, and policies
• Support model
• Customers review
• Price  

4. Consult Industry Colleagues and Friends: Discuss your requirements with the people you know well and ask for recommendation based on their experience with outsourcing software. Company size also matters; does it have the certified skills for the particular tech stack?  
5. Evaluate The Company Culture: Cultural difference emerges as the big barrier to outsourcing software development. Every company has different cultures and values; you should be comfortable with these.   
6. Evaluate Security Policies: Is your data secure? It is an important aspect of software outsourcing because every software development agency has different security cover and security protocols. Unless you are sure about data and information security, don’t compromise just for price benefit. 
7. Trust Onshore Outsourcing: Choosing an outsourcing partner near you or in your region is a good practice because of high cultural alignment, no time zone difference, ease of communication, etc.
8. Choose an Outsourcing Model: You have three options to choose the best suitable-

• Outsourcing staff from a software development agency temporarily with the responsibility of day-to-day management of individual employees
• Hiring a full team of experts to work with your in-house team
• Project-based model that transfers all the responsibilities to your outsourcing partner ’s project manager but you are involved in key decision-making. 

Agreements for Outsourcing Software Development

After selecting a software development vendor to outsource your business software solution, it is time to focus on drafting the contract. Primarily, there are four types of draft agreements-

1. Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA): It is an agreement between two parties stating that none of the parties will share critical data, confidential or information in full or part with a third party. It includes Critical /confidential information, information that can be shared, NDA validity, etc. 
2. Master Services Agreement (MSA): It is an agreement between two parties that defines terms and conditions to make the long-term relationship between the two parties transparent beyond this particular project development and delivery. It includes the project audit process, payment terms, support terms, dispute resolution process, etc.
3. Services Level Agreement (SLA): It is an agreement defining software quality parameters and confirming quality assurance. It includes Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), reporting, process monitoring, support, hosting, infrastructure, maintenance, etc.
4. Statement of Work (SOW): It is a formal project-level agreement; it defines expectations regarding project deliverables. It includes KPIs to measure the success of the project development, software development stages, development period, deployment timeline, etc. 

Outsourcing software development to the right custom software development agency is not only cost-effective but it helps you get exceptional products for long-term benefits. Outsourcing software development is a convenient practice for businesses that can't afford to employ and manage an in-house development team for a particular project. The key to success in outsourcing project development at a reasonable cost is – ‘Invest time in researching, define outsourcing strategy, set your own parameters, value quality more rather than the cost, be available& responsive, and be transparent’.