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Here's a guide on dos and don'ts of hiring development teams. It is practical knowledge if you want to outsource IT-competences. Based on Alexey Kulakov’s article; full version is available in JetStyle’s Medium blog (click the button).
Do you need outsourcing at all?
If you can manage development processes and have enough staff, then in-house development is a better choice.
Does the process you want to automate exist?
If it doesn’t, better save your time and resources. New software will not help you create it.
Otherwise…
Step 1. Define your IT outsourcing scenario
Do you have enough in-house IT-expertise?
If you do, but you could use outside support – you need to outsource separate elements of your system/product/whatever.
If your in-house IT-expertise is not enough – you need to find a reliable contractor that would deliver their IT expertise to your processes.
Step 2. Choose your development process type
Does your process imply inventing something new?
If it doesn’t, and you only need to reproduce something you have done before, you could work according to terms of reference just fine.
If you need to invent something new, then you will have to experiment a lot. In this case, your best choice is the product development approach.
Step 3. Select your future contractor
Do you have in-house developers and own IT expertise?
If you do, make sure that your partner-to-be has:
- Proven competence and all the necessary skills,
- Experience in a required technological stack,
- Experience with developing similar systems,
- Compatibility with your company’s IT culture.
Step 3.1 Select your future contractor
If you have no in-house IT expertise, look for a team that will be interested to find the solutions to your business task. Also, your perfect contractor is good at:
- Taking responsibility for the programming of the IT system,
- Solving the company’s business tasks,
- Explaining how testing business hypotheses helps the process,
- Speeding up the process of bringing measurable value to the business.
Today, digital production companies create digital products using agile methodologies and iterative development, rather than following terms of reference. As for our experience, development teams that implement the product approach are the best choice for outsourcing.
What is the product development approach?
If you want to know more about the product development approach, visit our Medium blog to read our article about it: https://bit.ly/3SGCIgT
Or get in touch with us – we’d love to answer any questions about outsource development in general. Contact us via orders@jet.style
