Though the concept of software outsourcing is not new to the software development industry, it is important to understand the basics of the service models. There may be many models of outsourcing the development, testing and maintenance of a software project, however, they are dependent on three critical approaches such as dedicated teams, IT staff augmentation, and project dependent outsourcing. The concept of the best model does not exist and solely depends on individual requirements.
Software development outsourcing is a very clever option for businesses, especially for mature organizations for many reasons. Companies that are considering outsourcing as an option often have queries related to the budget, quality and project deadline risks associated with software outsourcing. Apart from being a smart option for businesses that are struggling with their transformation on digital platform, it also provides a way of risk elimination and cost savings on various levels. Having looked at some of the advantages of the outsourcing approach, this blog will now attempt to explore some of three basic models of software development outsourcing approaches.
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1. Staff augmentation approach
Considered as the most common form of software development outsourcing, staff augmentation is the process of entrusting the job of building the software development team and dealing with the various aspects of location and placement planning, project and team management, work process controlling etc., to a third party vendor or agency.
2. Dedicated team approach
In case of a dedicated team approach, the external vendor, along with team building responsibility, is involved in people and process quality management. The software outsourcing agency, in this model will look after the entire team of developers to ensure that the pipeline of project leads to a complete service package. Not only hiring, even the firing decisions are handled by the service providers. Working on a large project involves smart dealing of the micromanagement aspects as well. The software development agency engages a team of group leads, team managers and management assistants to monitor the various projects and the teams working on them. In case of a team member calling sick or falling behind schedule, the management team can quickly re arrange the assigned jobs so the project does not fall behind schedule. Though the management of team requirements and project status control and management rest with the service provider, they are liable to periodically report status updates to the client company for their feedback and suggestions. In this model, the final project management decisions generally rest with the client.
3. Project based approach
Project based approach is a simpler model as compared to the dedicated team model. In this approach, emphasis is put more on the outcome of a service and not on the team providing the service. This model works on a pre-determined and defined goal that the software outsourcing company agrees to achieve in a particular time period and budget. However, with the advent of agility in modern software development teams, the concept of paying a member per team and per month is a common practice; this model qualifies more for a project based approach.
Because each rule has an exception to it, a business may find a perfect software outsourcing company meeting specific requirements with final outcomes not completely satisfactory. Irrespective of the client type, a smart approach would be not to compromise on quality for a competitive price offering. Also, as the client business should always ask for customer testimonials from the service vendor. To understand if the selection process is on the right track, another effective approach would be detailed evaluation of the prospective outsourcing vendor in terms of effective time and budget management for project delivery.
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