What is Software Development Outsourcing?

Software development outsourcing is when an organization hires another company to develop its software instead of doing it. It is delegating programming, IT tasks, and responsibilities to a third-party outsourced company that provides such services. This allows companies to focus on what they do best—running their business—while letting another company take care of the technical details. Software development outsourcing is one of the largest areas of outsourcing tech-related responsibilities. Since the software is the main product of many businesses, these companies need to research what company they can outsource their development tasks to.

How Does Software Development Outsourcing Work

The most common software development outsourcing model is when clients want to build their digital product from scratch. The client's product request goes through several stages, and during these stages, the size of the project and the approximate time required are determined.

The first step is also known as discovery. During this stage, project requirements such as business model, platforms, main features, and goals are collected. Based on this step, the team creates a specified model containing all the digital product's main features and technicalities. This model is made to help deliver the customer's vision and reduce miscommunications. For the next stage, the team creates wireframes of the digital product. This includes representing each screen or section with defined user flows of the elements. In short, wireframes represent the main framework of the product. QAs check these wireframes and frameworks and once done, development costs and timespan are estimated. Once the discovery is made, the client receives detailed estimations, wireframes, and project specifications. 

The next phase, the development phase, starts with UI/UX designing. After designing the mockups is finished, the software development phase begins. Finally, the finished product is set for a release stage and handed over to the client. 

Outsourcing Software Development Models

There are three principal software outsourcing models that companies can choose from. Each model has its pros and cons. The programming outsourcing model which suits your project will depend on your digital product type, its complexity, budget, timescale, and status of involvement.

The most standard form of software development outsourcing is staff augmentation, where an outsourced team works with your internal team to develop the software. The model we discussed earlier fits into this category. Staff augmentation is done with either work from office or remote work models. 

The dedicated team model presents outsourced expertise with more responsibility for managing the project. The outsourcing company provides management structure, allocating specific tasks and overseeing workflow.

With a project-based model, the outsourcing company manages software development, from defining specifications to allocating workflow, setting timescales, and quality testing.

Benefits of Outsourcing Software Development 

Outsourcing programming allows you to access global expertise which complements your infrastructure. Outsourcing makes room for flexibility, productivity, and faster turnarounds and will enable businesses to save time and cost simultaneously. Suppose your business plans to outsource its entire software development tasks. In that case, they can rest assured the product is perfected, polished, and unified, and miscommunications -which typically lead to delays and other time management concerns- are dramatically reduced in the development team.

Programming Tasks You Can Outsource

You can outsource an entire team of software developers with their services, or you can outsource only some specific aspects of programming and other tech tasks. Some of the software development tasks that are regularly outsourced by both smaller and larger businesses are:

• Mobile apps
• Websites
• Front-end development
• Back-end development
• Desktop apps
• PWAs
• UI/UX design
• DevOps services
• Project management
• Software testing
• Support and maintenance

Best Countries For Outsourcing Software Development

Devification offers outsourcing services in ideal destinations like Turkey, Iran, Romania, Georgia, Ukraine, and more. Turkey has recently gained popularity as a thriving outsourcing destination since it has an educated, multilingual, and young population, and the popularity of IT services is growing significantly in Turkey. Iran is also a favorable option for many businesses to outsource tasks; it gives them easy access to specialized, senior talent and expertise at a very low cost.

Examples of Companies That Have Outsourced Software Development

Many tech giants are leveraging the benefits of outsourcing software development. Some of these corporations are:

• GitHub: Major part of back-end development was outsourced.
• Slack: The design for their marketing website was outsourced.
• Alibaba: All of the design and development tasks were outsourced.
• WhatsApp: The development of WhatsApp's iOS app was outsourced. 

Why Outsource Software Development?

Outsourcing programming services allows you to leverage expertise while saving on time and costs, so you can put your focus on other aspects of your business. At the same time, a team of senior software developers works on perfecting your product. Devification allows your company to access a professional, specialized workforce for software development. With software development outsourcing, you can create and polish your digital product while saving on development costs. You can contact us to learn more about our software development outsourcing services.