As remote software developers continue to trend in this present era of virtual collaboration, top Sri Lanka software development companies are also joining in, in order to serve their customers efficiently and in record time. As a result, leading software companies in Sri Lanka now emulate service concepts that resemble that of software outsourcing companies which are based in Asia and around the world. From quickly assembling dedicated teams to offering strategic ad hoc solutions, software outsourcing companies in the Sri Lanka are now in lockstep with their global counterparts – and this offers a number of exclusive benefits to businesses that are based locally within the region.
Being able to outsource software development locally while enjoying similar cost savings is one of the biggest benefits that Sri Lankan-based businesses have, in this case. Although virtual collaboration is still going to be the primary way in which teams communicate and build software, knowing that an offshore software development team is still based within a closer proximity can give business leaders the confidence to implement development projects with greater ease, speed and clarity. At EFutures, we understand the concerns that businesses have when it comes to outsourcing software development halfway across the world – which, in turn, has led us to establish our own Sri Lanka software development office in Sri Lanka.
Whether it’s being able to build teams at scale, or some good ol’ cost savings, software outsourcing can offer innovative business ideas the leverage they deserve to take flight. As core teams focus on core duties within the business, an offshore software development team can be the supporting arm of augmented operations, so leaders have the autonomy to focus on what truly deserves their attention.
Being able to save more in terms of money, time and effort has been the single biggest reason that has driven the adoption of outsourced software development all over the world. As businesses realise how much they can save by offshoring their software development operations, they are willing to restructure schedules to accommodate remote collaboration with offshore teams in order to build application strategies, review interfaces and offer approvals to deploy new systems.
Being able to save money, time and valuable energy by outsourcing software development happens in a number of key ways. By establishing a software development team that isn’t based in-house, businesses forgo the costs associated with conducting a hiring, onboarding and compensation process for new employees. Subsequently, this also eliminates the need for office space, furniture and utilities necessary to maintain in-house employees. All of this combined offers key cost, time and energy savings for businesses, so that businesses can maximise revenue, while also freeing up funds and manpower to focus on the tasks which require their undivided attention.
When combined with cloud based services and infrastructure, software development outsourcing can further improve cost savings for businesses. Owing to all services being hosted on the cloud, the requirement to maintain on-premise servers is eliminated, thereby empowering businesses to distribute their teams, and collaborate virtually from anywhere in the world.
With software development outsourcing, teams are typically based long-distance, often halfway round the world. During the hiring and onboarding process, businesses have the opportunity to expand their talent search beyond geographical boundaries, thereby enabling them to inspect and subsequently hire a wider pool of talented individuals. Hiring skilled individuals via a software development outsourcing company can also be more affordable both in the short and long-term, owing to advantageous currency exchange rates as well as the alleviation of complex HR and legal processes.
Alternatively, companies that are keen on going beyond borders to hire high quality talent but function in a traditional in-person environment need to adhere to complex, tedious and time-consuming immigration formalities, in order to sponsor a skilled professional. Additionally, companies will also need to foot costs pertaining to accommodation, transport and other allowances, thereby incurring a significant expense – something that most companies (especially smaller businesses) cannot afford.
With software development outsourcing, candidates can be hired remotely, as virtual collaborations with cloud-based task management and video conferencing tools enables businesses to work with the best professionals – without ever having to worry about executing immigration formalities and spending on expensive sponsorships.
With requirements to maintain an in-house team now absent owing to outsourcing software development operations, businesses can now build teams on demand, and at scale. This significantly enables the quick adoption of new concepts, so that businesses can always stay one step ahead, and top of mind with their customers. In a business landscape that is ever-evolving, fast-paced and aggressive with competition, being afforded the ability to quickly scale innovative ideas is something that can help modern businesses digitally disrupt their markets, and thereby stay relevant.
By outsourcing the task of hiring and onboarding skilled professionals for building a software development team, businesses will be enabled to focus better on core strategic duties, to maximise productivity and reduce (if not completely eliminate) downtime. Teams can also be built on a temporary or project basis, so when businesses do need to downsize, they can do so with speed and convenience.
As outsourcing software development operations makes scaling up and down easy for today’s businesses, cloud based services further propel this possibility. The combination of software development outsourcing and cloud based services form a powerhouse of virtual resources that can be custom-configured and sourced on demand, so businesses need not experience any downtime whenever they wish to scale up or down.
Containerization is one out of many virtualized services that are highly resourceful for today’s software development teams in general. By storing all necessary components pertaining to an application (such as code and frameworks) into a ‘container’, developers can move these capabilities across multiple virtual resources, for quick and scalable execution. For outsourced software development teams in particular, Role Based Access Control (RBAC) can be used to govern who gets access to proprietary resources in the cloud, as well as how much.
All these functionalities in unison can substantially enhance scalability for software development teams and their business clients who are working remotely, as part of distributed teams.
Before deciding to work with any third-party company (let alone software development outsourcing), it is imperative to build a business assessment that can help business leaders and their various teams understand the nature and depth of existing problems within the business and/or its product, as well as what is required as a solution.
Start by gathering relevant members from business teams across your organisation, in order to initiate a discussion. If your business goal encompasses the building or upgrading of a product that is part of your business offering, consider reviewing any product analytics that may exist as well, in order to understand the current positioning of said product more clearly.
During the information gathering session, try asking any of the below questions, to break the ice:
While every question stated above may not be applicable to your unique business predicament, they will still encourage team members to report problems that currently plague your business – and how a software outsourcing team can solve them. As team members share their insights, collating all these findings into a brief can then serve as a business assessment; a primary document of reference throughout the selection process for both your organisation, as well as prospective software development outsourcing providers.
Searching for software development outsourcing vendors can be done in a variety of ways, both online and offline. While online searches can reveal rankings and reviews of leading vendors depending on region, asking colleagues you trust for recommendations can also help you and your team analyse which vendors are potentially best suited for your business. One-on-one recommendations are especially helpful if they come from professionals that operate within, or are familiar with the industry that you function in.
Once you have a pool of vendors that are possibly fitting for your business, it is time to shortlist and eventually select the best one. At this point, your business assessment will help you and your team identify high-potential prospects; tallying between the strategies suggested and the problems outlined in the assessment can enable you and your team to pick the vendor that’s most precisely aligned to your goals.
Ensuring that your software development outsourcing vendor of choice understands your business goals and is able to meet them consistently is the biggest factor to consider. Once this has been ascertained, it is now time to focus on budgets and timeframes. Although both these factors generally come at a close second when it comes to vendor selection, it is wise to disclose any constraints surrounding budgets and deadlines during the business assessment stage itself, so that software development outsourcing vendors have a complete picture of the problems you are currently facing.
With the typical software development project being long-term and ongoing, business leaders and product owners need to constantly work with their software development outsourcing agency to upgrade existing product features based on feedback – or build new capabilities all together. Maintaining a DevOps cycle for this purpose will ensure development and product teams are mutually aligned, so that bugs can receive timely fixes, and new features can be put into the pipeline for systematic design, development and implementation.
Working with a software development outsourcing agency will always involve remote, distributed teams. Be they within different regions in the same country, or across multiple continents, bringing all your teams together in the interest of collaboration will require strategic coordination. Owing to differing time zones, creating meeting schedules to discuss key processes that every team member is involved in (ideally on a daily basis) can help foster a productive working environment. While arranging meetings during a hospitable hour for both parties can be tricky, finding an overlap between the time zones involved can offer teams a brief window of appropriate timings that can be used for one-on-one meetings via voice or video call.
Software development outsourcing has been around for a long time, and is now significantly popular among businesses the world over. Offering valuable benefits such as cost savings due to alleviating the need for extra overheads within the organisation, outsourced software development is a key component for numerous business strategies in today’s fast-paced business environment. Being able to expand the search for talent is another major benefit of software development outsourcing services, as businesses need not confine themselves to geographical boundaries and immigration restrictions to hire the best talent.
With virtual collaboration and remote working, software development outsourcing makes the hiring and retaining of any skilled individual conveniently possible, so businesses can work with nothing short of the very best. However, having a software outsourcing company that is based locally (or within the region) can further leverage the control that businesses have over otherwise daily remote collaboration, as local representations can foster in-person meetings whenever needed.
Selecting the right software development outsourcing provider is a matter of shortlisting suitable companies based on their quality of alignment with existing business goals, and scaling accordingly as these goals evolve with time. With the right partnership, businesses and software development outsourcing companies can nurture a long-term alliance that can enable the building of high-performance apps in an ever-changing marketplace – no matter how turbulent or unpredictable.