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In order to achieve your business goals, your company's software needs to be easy-to-use, reliable, high-performance, compatible, and secure. An outsourcing partnership can help you to achieve those goals while allowing your company to focus on its core business. However, finding a suitable, long-term outsourcing partner can be difficult.
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| If you're new to outsourcing, of if you've had bad experiences with outsourcing firms in the past, this guide is for you. We will explain the reasons behind outsourcing, things to consider when choosing an outsourcing firm, and how to maximize the success of your outsourcing partnership. When you've finished reading this paper, you will be ready to enter the world of software outsourcing. |
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| Why Outsource Software Development? |
Why are we doing this anyway?
There are many reasons to look to a software development services firm to develop all or part of your software. Specialized knowledge and experience, reduced risk, increased flexibility and the development practices of the outsourcing firm are all factors contributing to the value of outsourcing software development. |
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Software Development Is Different
One of the primary reasons to consider outsourcing is when a project is outside your company's core competence. Investing manhours and budget in unfamiliar tools and technologies can often
distract companies from their core business. Turning to an outside provider with expertise in a different OS, Web technologies, a complex SDK, or a new communication protocol is smart. Results
can be achieved quickly when the engineers have experience with the software development tools, technologies, and processes required. |
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Expert Developers and Engineers Are Hard to Find
Creating software requires specialized knowledge. The right talent and expertise can make the difference between success and failure; but finding, hiring and integrating new staff is difficult and expensive. A quicker solution is to hire an outsourcing firm that has already recruited talented engineers and designers with the expertise you require. A quality outsourcing firm can provide your company with superior software engineers. You can choose to have the firm's staff complete the entire project or have their experts integrate with your own internal team. |
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Manage A Variable Workload
The resources required for the different phases of software development fluctuate, making it difficult to keep a large internal team busy throughout the entire project lifecycle. An outsouring firm has “scalable teams”-the number of compatible engineers assigned to a project can be increased or decreased to accommodate project demand. Outsourcing reduces the risk of lowered morale due to internal team downsizing and eliminates the hidden cost of non-productive staff. |
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Start The Project Fast
The agility of the outsourcing firm is an advantage when a project needs to start quickly or has a rigorous deadline. In-house teams usually require substantial lead time to assemble and prepare. Programmers must be freed up from other projects; further delays are to be expected if new engineers must be hired and integrated with existing staff. A good outsourcing firm has highly qualified software engineers with experience working together as a team. Quickly available, these experienced teams are efficient and productive from the first day of the project. The outsourcing team can be augmented by other firm specialists as the project progresses, if the original scope of the work has changed. |
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Avoid The Politics
Although few managers admit it, most organizations are subject to some degree of internal politics. Personality clashes, culture or leadership changes and power struggles can lead to tension, delays, and even project failure. An outsourcing firm is completely free from the negative impact of intra-company politics and will be able to guarantee absolute focus on the successful completion of your project. |
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Better Risk Management
It has been suggested that of all the engineering disciplines, software engineering is the most difficult to execute successfully. In fact, research by The Standish Group shows “a staggering 31.1% of projects will be cancelled before they ever get completed. Further results indicate 52.7% of projects will cost 189% of their original estimates (Chaos Report).” These numbers underscore the amount of risk inherent in developing software. Opting to outsource the development to a qualified firm with a good track record greatly improves your ability to deliver a quality finished product to your company stakeholders. |
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| The Software Engineering Institute of Carnegie Mellon University Risk Management Paradigm is shown below. The paradigm illustrates a set of functions that are identified as continuous activities through the live cycle of a software project. |
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| Risk management involves careful response to a multitude of potential issues. Risks must be identified early, eliminated quickly, and tracked constantly; a well-defined process makes control far easier. Control demands effective resources. An outsourcing firm can alleviate your burden by taking the responsibility for a significant portion of the cost, schedule, and fulfillment issues. You can minimize your risk and maximize the success of your project by selecting the right development firm. |
Why Outsourcing 
