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Tips for choosing the right software company in India for outsourcing

Technology helps in a big way in achieving diverse business goals. No matter the size of the business, we can use technology to remain in the competition and move ahead. In order to be effective, digitizing our processes to the maximum extent possible is a must. With this, you can focus on the core aspects of the business and leave the rest to automation.

Choosing the right technology for the business is not easy as today there are too many options. If your business is driven by technology then it’s much more than just choosing software. It’s about choosing a software company that can help you in achieving digitization. If your business is operating from the US and you want to look for a suitable software company from India, it’s all the more difficult. The reason being India is a software hub and there are millions of software companies in India. Choosing the right one from this lot can be a task.

Let me give you some tips on how you can choose the right software development company from India.

Pricing: For many customers, pricing becomes a very important criterion for choosing a software development company. The value received is often measured against the price the customers pay. In the end, it should be a positive ROI (Return on Investment) for the customer. However, pricing alone cannot determine value. There are other factors as explained below.

Company History: It’s important to know about the history of the software development company that has been shortlisted. This includes the years of experience in the software field, the credentials of the founders, the growth of the company, and the staff turnover to say the least. Getting an accurate picture of these aspects is very important.

Portfolio: Once a software company is shortlisted, it’s of utmost importance to check the work done by this company. Check the proof of the work wherever possible, be it a web application or a mobile application or something else. The more you check their work in detail, the more idea you will get about the kind of company you are looking at.

Reference checks: Once a software company provides references of the clients they have served, it’s important to get in touch with at least some of those references and get a review from them. This helps to ensure that no fake or non-existent references are provided.

Team skills & structure: A mature software company, however small, will have the right team structure. An ideal team structure can facilitate a maker-checker system of work policy. Right from Project manager to QA tester, each of these positions is important for successfully delivering a project. You need to also check if the designated team member has the right skill and experience as is needed.

Methodology: Software companies that follow the best practices tend to achieve better success in creating products or in executing projects. Following Agile processes like Scrum has almost become a norm for projects of all sizes. So the ideal software company should have adapted these industry practices so as to ensure smooth deliveries. In addition to these, you also need to check if they follow important execution level processes like estimations, coding standards, QA processes, version management, change management processes, and code reviews.

Domain knowledge: Functional knowledge is often an ignored aspect of a technology firm. Though typical software consulting firms tend to focus more on the technical skills required for projects, their active involvement in the functional know-how of the projects they work on will only enhance the quality of output. You should ideally be looking for software companies having good domain knowledge of the projects. They should believe in achieving the ‘business objective’ behind executing a project rather than just ‘completing the tasks’.

Security practices: A small security hole can undo all the good work done on a software project. So software development is not just about writing quality code but also giving equal importance to the security aspect of it. Depending on the technology being used, the level of security guidelines to be followed also changes. You need to check the best practices being followed by a software company with regard to security.

Work Ethics: To be successful in business, it’s important to follow good work ethics. Work ethics means showing sincerity, honesty, and transparency in the approach to work. Look for these traits in the software company you choose to work with. Trust and dependability go a long way in establishing a good working partnership than a genius mindset.

Communication: Communication is the core of any successful working relationship. Communication does not mean just the ability to communicate in a common language but it means also being responsive, clear, unambiguous, and approachable. Over the period, the customer and software company end up working as a team and a good communication process helps in a smooth working relationship.