Need to cut costs? It's time to change your software development approach.

Need to cut costs? It's time to change your software development approach.

Are you thinking about reducing costs? Are you looking for ways to “expand” your budget even though there is less money on it? If so, most of the times, the very first idea that comes in mind is “let’s do it ourselves”! Will this be the best way to go? Maybe not and, in fact, this is the very first question you should be posing yourself and your team.

It is a fact: budgets are getting smaller each day and, along with them, so are development teams inside organizations. It is time to cut costs and make your math correctly: nowadays, enterprises have no margin to go wrong, to work on a project where they will be losing money, as well as precious time of the working force and, most of all, lose some (rather important) clients.

On the other hand, there is no way we can imagine a company working without software. That is, no longer, a valid equation as technology – in all its ways – is dominating day-to-day work. That is why, the necessity for software development and maintenance is becoming more and more important. And, in this particular area, fact is that costs do not stay on the ground level; they rise and skyrocket until they may supplant the company’s overall profit. And that is a scenario companies do not want to face.

One of the problems related to this previous reality is that software development project deadlines are known to fail, sometime weeks, eventually months. Other is the end result doesn’t always meets expectations either in functionality or quality. That is not something organizations want because it means, eventually, more harm than good to companies.

So, how can we get around this issue? How to reduce software development costs without sacrificing the quality of a product?

We leave you with some ideas to follow!

Do you (really) know what you need?

Time is now and you really have to start developing your process and taking care of your software. But, before beginning all the development, it is important to take a few minutes off, and draw up something like a requirements analysis. What are we talking about? Nothing more than a simple business plan, where you should place all the software aims for the project and the goals your team will have to reach in order to succeed and avoid delays.

We may look at this as an extensive checklist, where you have everything from start to finish on the process and, of course, where you also consider what may go wrong (so you will be able to avoid it) and which are the main things you really don’t want to include in the process.

  • What do I want?
  • Which are the main technological integrations I have to assure?
  • Is this an internal project or will it be available also to my clients?

These are some of the most important questions to ask yourself and the team.

By the end of the day, you will have a roadmap, as accurate as possible, which the team and the client may access at any point of the project.

Agile is (for sure) an option

It is a clever step to take! Not only because it is good for (reducing) cost but also because it`s a better way of work, leading both developer and client to the same points and reaching out the very same goals. We are talking about Agile Software Development, which refers to a group of software development methodologies based on iterative development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams.

By using the so called, Agile processes, companies are generally promoting a disciplined project management process, made of frequent inspection and adaptation, a leadership philosophy that encourages teamwork, self-organization and accountability, along with other important goals.

This is a methodology used to develop both enterprises as well as mobile applications, with much more success and in a shorter period of time than we would need to, when working on a traditional methodology.

The explanation is easy: there is an effective cooperation of stakeholders on all stages of software development and in every stage completion the developers show the product to the customer; this means it can be improved based on customer’s feedback. By the end of the project, both parts have exactly the product they were looking for.  Risk reduced, success amplified, Agile at its best!

When you go outsourcing

Outsourcing a software development project is one of the easiest ways to drastically cut down expenses. In fact, outsourcing will help managers to conduct a cost effective business by decreasing the payroll. At the same time, it will help the company itself to give a more specific oriented task to employees.

So, if you are looking for some top reasons why to outsource a project, you may start with cost savings in terms of hiring full-time employees, including benefits, salaries, and overhead expenses.

Apart from that, it is a fact that outsourcing will also help companies to expand their working force portfolio, not being limited to the internal IT team.

The external partner has a lot on his side as he is for sure a dedicated partner, working fulltime on the project and according to some restricted service level agreements and well-defined timelines. Working with the most experienced teams in the Agile area, partners like Blue Screen are 100 percent dedicated to the project. With 20 plus years of experience in the development area, and working with Agile since 2013, Blue Screen is the right choice for any company and any project.

It is a wrap

– With Agile development, you can outline some of the most important internal problems and difficulties, concerning software development; this happens mostly because you are putting the work in the hands of an external partner much more tailored to work on it.

– Are deadlines important for you? If so, outsourcing is the answer. By working with an external partner you make sure projects are finished on time, and the product’s time-to-market is accomplished.

– Blue Screen is the right choice and the best partner to work with clients, helping them on their software development project and making all the dreams come true.