Last Updated on Dec 20, 2019 by James W
When thinking about building a software system or mobile application for business purposes, one of the most difficult decisions you have to make is the software development team. Ultimately, software products and apps are only as good as those designing and creating them, so business owners have to make sure that they don’t fail in the process of choosing a team able to meet their software needs.
And so, the obvious need for selecting only what’s the best in the field arises. While the tips and tricks for selecting the right development team are abundant, the mistakes which may appear in the selection process and must be avoided are somewhat neglected.
Below we will debate some of the most common mistakes business owners do when choosing the development team for their projects.
The Asked Price Matters More than the Value of the Product
When discussing custom software development services, the price should be your last concern. In software development, the saying “you get what you pay for” seems to be validated on a daily basis.
While you want to remain within the established budget for your project, you want to make your estimations right. Going cheap with the budget for custom software or business application will get you a faulty system that cannot meet the user’s needs and expectations and instead of bringing ease, transparency and streamlined processes, it will hinder your company’s activity.
Software development services are not cheap and this is an idea you should get from the beginning. Agreeing to hire a professional team with productive dynamics translates into somewhat higher costs. If a company offers custom software development services that seem to be under the market rates better avoid the company. On the other hand, before hiring your professionals, don’t sign anything or agree to anything before reviewing their portfolio. Their services and products have to be validated by previous collaborations and previous projects. Check third-party reviews, Google reviews and make sure that you ask the right questions at the right time, preferably, before hiring the team.
You Don’t Pay Attention to Team Dynamics and Communication
Complex software development projects involve close interaction between the members, but also high degrees of communication. The team’s ability to communicate will determine if your project will be accomplished on time and within the specified budget.
When interviewing various teams in the selection process, make sure that you pay attention to their dynamics but also be direct and ask what is their policy when it comes to communication. Take everything up a notch and ask if you can give them a small quiz and test their communication abilities. There are plenty of useful online resources you can use in the process. You can ask former clients what their opinion is on the team’s communication abilities.
You Don’t Have Specific Goals and Objectives
The success of your project is determined by having clear goals and objectives. All developers of enterprise mobile applications will stress this as much as possible, so they assure the success of your project. Before even contacting a software development company and discussing with them, outline some clear goals, but not only. Define what the success of said project looks like for you. Discuss these aspects with your employees and managers, and after you clearly establish specific goals and objectives, communicate them to your software development team.
The Contract is Full of Gaps
Signing a contract for custom software or app that doesn’t clearly specify everything is a recipe for disaster. The surest way to get a product within your budget and on time is stating all requirements in the contract as clearly as possible. From payment schedule to all deliverables of the contract and all steps in the process, what will qualify the project as successful is the cornerstone of an enjoyable and productive collaboration with software development teams. This will offer you a security net in case anything goes wrong with the project, but will also offer background information to your development team. Besides, while you don’t want to think about going to court in case the project fails, when and if necessary, the contract will be analyzed to determine if there was a breach of the agreement.
You Don’t Have a Non-Disclosure Agreement
It’s important to have an NDA before starting your recruitment process. Even if you are familiar with the team, you still want one. While you don’t have the skill and knowledge to put your idea into practice, the team does. While reliable companies won’t steal their potential client’s product ideas, it’s better to be safe than sorry. So, have a non-disclosure agreement signed up before starting your discussions and negotiations.
Being Rigid on the Deadline
While having a product delivered at the stated date and time is always pleasant, try to remember that in some cases, things can get complicated when putting together the application. You should know that developers work separately on different parts of the project and at the end, they simply merge individual work into a single product. This is the phase in which things can go wrong. Having a little patience goes a long way when it comes to custom software products. In these cases, developers use their creativity and experience to fix and perfect the system in the final development stages.
Always Searching for Local Teams
For many, working locally is the perfect situation. However, this restricts their access to skilled and experienced professionals in other areas of the world. Hiring a development team only because they are nearby, makes absolutely no sense. Your applications’ success is not determined by how fast you can reach their office, is given by their experience and skill. In most of the cases, some of the most successful development teams get specialists from different corners of the world together, through smart communication and remote collaboration tools.
