Outsourcing software is a proven way for tech firms to improve productivity, save time and money, specially overall stay on top of the competition. However, when you decide to outsource your software requirements, one of the most pressing questions is this — How to choose the right outsourcing software partner?

There’s no one-word answer. Still, it’s not impossible to figure out what the best partners for outsourcing software development are. To help you go about this exercise, we’ve listed together some pointers that make it easier for you to choose the right outsourcing company.

Step 1: Understand Your Outsourcing Goals

Too many great, productive, professional relationships are ruined by a failure to set proper goals from the beginning. Proper goals are concrete tasks like “Build this app to this spec” or “Increase this performance metric to that level.”

Vague expectations like “Improve our profits” or “Create something new that our customers will love” typically won’t yield the best results.

To that end, the provider needs guidance and direction in order to succeed. Nobody knows your business better than your in-house team, and expecting an outsider to instantly have that same familiarity isn’t fair to the outsourced personnel or to your employees.

Step 2: Do Carefully Research

Once you’ve defined your requirements, there is an onus on the partner to maintain a high standard of quality. Choosing an outsourcing vendor is a large investment in time and resources. The next step is to conduct adequate research and identify the outsourcing vendors who can meet your specific needs. Look up the various forums and platforms that give you short bios of possible partners. Scour through customer testimonials and shortlist a few B2B service providers who fit your bill.

Remember that at this stage, you’re only looking for various options. So, it’s alright not to find the perfect fit. However, if you have any deal-breakers, it’s best to use them as filters.

Step 3: Make a shortlist provider

Narrow down your choices to a short list of the firms that you’d like to get more in-depth with. That list should be about 2 to 4 companies (at the maximum), and their suitability based on the initial criteria you’ve identified. If you’re serious about making the right choice in picking a partner, you will need ample time to assess each of them. Rather than simply looking at the cost, a better way to gauge this metric is to work out the value for money the provider will be able to deliver over time.

Vietnam is one of the countries providing competitive software outsourcing services with highly skilled IT engineers. As a general rule of thumb, vendors who advertise themselves as the cheapest in the industry are clearly the wrong choice.

Step 4: Contact Provider

If you have the time, you should go visit at least the one partner you’re more certain to work with, if not the two other options you have. Making an actual visit allows you a more hands-on approach to evaluating these firms rather than simply relying on what you read about them.

If you can’t visit the potential tech partner’s location, consider at least doing a few video calls with the management. Maybe have a peek at the offices and working spaces, and speak to a few employees to get a better feel of the company and its culture.

Providers unwilling to invite you to experience their business firsthand are already sending a message about the engagement style you might expect from them. Unlike finite tasks, such as painting a room or balancing an expense spreadsheet, software design and development is a living entity that grows and matures over time and that requires evolving communication and collaboration. Any early indicator that these two requirements are problematic will tell you something of the partnership you might expect. Your goals and the development outcomes are achieved together. You succeed and celebrate milestones together and share the burden of working through problems to solutions together. It only makes sense to evaluate your software partner in these sorts of relationship terms.

Choose a provider that can provide concrete case studies and real client references. Check those references, and don’t be afraid to ask the “hard questions.” Contracting with an outsourcing company should be the start of a long, productive business relationship. Don’t shoot the relationship in the foot by picking the wrong team.

Contact to us:

NMS – Software outsourcing VietNam

Mail: customercare@nms.com.vn

Phone number: +84 24.7300 8555