10 Important Things to Check Before Hiring a Software Development Company

If you are out in the market to find a software development company, you may be taken aback by the large pool of options available. Moreover, not all companies are equal- some provide excellent services, and some offer subpar outputs. What seems to be a straightforward task can become quite strenuous, especially if you need clarification on trimming down your options and recognizing the best developer for your particular project. But finding the right software development company doesn’t necessarily have to be complicated.

We have written this guide to assist investors, startups, organizations, and businesses in finding the software development company that best matches their unique needs and requirements. We will focus on the ten most important things you need to consider when hiring a software developer. This article will also guide you in avoiding the major hiring pitfalls and ensuring your project’s success.

How to Find the Right Software Development Agency for Your Requirements?

#1 Get referrals from the internet

The fastest way to find software development companies is to get referrals from the internet. You can use the major search engines, rating and reviews platform, and online business directories.

• Using search engines: You can find a pool of development companies in search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. Shortlist some companies you can find on the search engine results and visit their websites to learn more about them. For example, if you are looking for Laravel developers, you can search for “dedicated Laravel developer” on Google. Moreover, if you are looking for the best service provider who can help you build a crypto wallet software, you should try to search “cryptocurrency wallet development company” on Google. You can then list and check the top ten companies listed on the SERP. You can include both paid and organic search results.

• Online business directories: Online business directories provide a list of companies from different industries. Two of the most trusted business directories are Enroll Business and Merchant Circle. These local business profile directories allow you to find services and businesses quickly. Apart from the information about the specific services and businesses you are looking for, you can also find customer reviews and business updates displayed on each company’s page. These reviews and updates will help you identify which service providers best match your needs and requirements.

#2 Discuss coding/programming

The quality of the programming or coding and the developer’s coding skills will significantly affect the quality of your customized software development project. Before discussing coding or programming, take time to evaluate the scope of your project first and determine your coding or programming needs and requirements. Doing so will help you find full stack developers with coding skills relevant to your needs.

The best ways to assess the coding or programming skills of software development companies are:

• Conducting live coding/programming interviews – You can use technical assessment and interview solution portals like HackerRank and TestGorilla.

• Checking the software development company’s portfolio

• Evaluating the software development company’s GitHub account. You can also directly ask the developer for some code samples or guidelines they follow when coding.

• Providing coding tests

• Looking at the company’s YouTube channel. You can learn more about the company by watching what they are posting on its YouTube channel. YouTube is also a good resource for testimonials and finding out about the company’s work culture. For instance, if you want to know more about APPWRK’s clients, projects, business culture, and team, you can check APPWRK’s YouTube channel.

#3 Years of relevant experience

The essence of solid experience can’t be underrated, especially regarding software development. It is a must to pick a company with real-world, relevant experience developing the kind of software you wish to build.

There are a lot of software developers who have a comprehensive knowledge and in-depth understanding of software development and complex programming. However, not all of them have worked in the real world and have gained solid years of relevant experience.

There is a difference between having relevant experience and being knowledgeable. Often, more than knowledge is needed to provide reliable solutions. You need to consider a company with relevant experience already providing solutions to real client problems. Do more than opt for the company with the most experience. Instead, pick the one with expertise in your niche and business process. One best way to determine whether the company has enough knowledge and experience in your niche is by looking at its case studies. Through these case studies, you will also learn how well the company handles issues, how they present its company, and how they formulate solutions to real problems for actual clients.

#4 Check client reviews and testimonials

One effective way of gauging the software development agency’s competence, expertise, and experience is to read the reviews and testimonials. The reviews and testimonials given by the company’s existing and previous clients will help you know whether or not the company has already done projects similar to yours. It will also help you assess the scale of work they can handle, identify their development practices, and know how they approach specific business goals.

These reviews and testimonials are available on the company’s web pages, ratings and reviews platforms, listing sites, and even search engines. The ratings and review platforms are also excellent sources for software development companies. One of the best things about these platforms is that you can see the ratings and reviews of the company. These platforms also allow you to sort companies based on their ratings and reviews. This feature makes it easier to find the best-performing developers and avoid the bad ones. Two of the most reliable ratings and review platforms for business-to-business service providers are Top developers and Clutch. Upwork also lists the top-rated software developers in their platform. You can likewise find ratings and reviews of different companies by searching Google. For instance, you can search for “clutch.co appwrk it solutions” or “appwrk it solutions reviews” on Google.

#5 Knowledge about the latest market trends

The best software developers are always abreast of the most recent technological advancements in software development and the latest market trends in your industry. They also have the desire and capacity to stay on the top and provide the best quality service. Having up-to-date knowledge about the latest market trends is no longer just a “plus point” but a critical criterion for choosing a custom software development company. Also, check the technology stack of your potential partner and see if they implement new ideas and innovative solutions.

If you aim to develop current and robust software, consider hiring a software development company with knowledge and expertise in the latest market trends.

#6 Communication is important for project management

Communication between you and your potential partner can be improved to avoid delays, waste of resources, and development failures. It can even kill your entire software development project. On the other hand, good communication will ensure that everything is in sync with the timeline and goals of the project. It can also help improve productivity and synergy.

You need to choose the software development company with the best communication practices. Also, see to it that the company has a systematic communication process.

Software development involves technical and complex processes. It also calls for the use of technologies and languages that only developers can understand. Software development likewise requires constant team collaboration.

A developer with good communication skills can effectively communicate complex data and information in a way that can easily be understood primarily by non-experts. They also ensure that everyone in the team who plays a role in the project knows the multiple facets, especially the goals, objectives, coding strategies, and development process.

The software development company with good communication practices is also reachable, responsive, and available to discuss matters regarding the project. This will ensure that you are on the same page with the company and the development team.

Primary communication problems in software development and how you can fix them

Communication breakdown can kill your software development project. To ensure communication breakdowns won’t cause your project to fail, you must identify potential communication problems and know how to handle them effectively.

Below are the primary communication problems in software development and their possible solutions.

• Use of different collaboration tools

Information and updates spread across collaboration tools and communication channels can cause communication breakdowns. It would be difficult for you and the development team to keep track of the relevant information and updates about the project if they are scattered across many channels. Aside from that, constantly keeping an eye on these channels can affect the team’s concentration and productivity.

Solution: Communicate with the software development company and agree on one or two collaboration tools, communication channels, or project management tools. The top five most trusted and efficient project management tools available today are Zoho Projects, Wrike, Trello, Celoxis, and Asana. You can pick one project management tool and one communication channel and then stick with them. This way, it would be easier and faster to monitor all updates regarding the project’s progress.

• Number of communicators

If the development team, the software development company, and your company have fewer communicators, there is a higher possibility of miscommunication, misunderstanding, and errors. Individuals who play a role in the project may also need clarification on who to contact when discussing things.

Solution: Assign a good communicator from your team and ask the software development company to assign one from their team- the project manager or the team leader. The leaders from both parties will then be the ones to communicate the updates and information to their respective teams. It would help if you kept the Agile development team, project coordinators, and scrum masters aligned. Doing so can streamline the communication process and make things easier for everyone.

• Frequency of meetings

You’ll need to call for a meeting to discuss important matters about the project, especially when planning and creating strategies. But holding too many meetings can be pretty troublesome. It can disrupt the concentration, productivity, and efficiency of the team.

Solution: Only conduct meetings for essential matters. As much as possible, keep the time and focus of the development team, especially the developers. Instead of dragging everyone to a meeting, you may communicate with the team leader or project manager. This way, you will save everyone’s time and allow the development team to be more productive and stay focused on building your software.

• Language barrier

Language is the primary barrier to effective communication. If everyone can’t understand each other because of language differences, contact will be impaired, and the outcome of your project will suffer.

Solution: Find a software development company that can communicate using the same language you use. You don’t necessarily have to pick a developer from the United States or other English-speaking countries. It should be enough if both parties can communicate effectively and convey their message.

It is critical to keep the communication line open despite the differences in time zones. Even though the team works in two or multiple time zones, you, as the client, should easily be able to communicate and explain the requirements to the team. The team should also be able to ask relevant questions to make everything about the project clear.

#7 Troubleshooting capabilities

Having troubleshooting skills is critical to a software developer. More than simply understanding the algorithm, the concept of software development, the new technologies, and the different programming languages and frameworks is required to make a software developer outstanding. Software development entails more than just coding and building software. This highly technical process involves multiple aspects, including troubleshooting and problem-solving.

What makes a good software developer (apart from technical skills, experience, and knowledge) is the ability to analyze and troubleshoot problems. Unfortunately, not all software development companies possess such skills. Hiring a software development company with minimal troubleshooting capabilities can jeopardize the outcome of the software development project.

The most renowned development companies like APPWRK IT Solutions have highly competent software developers with superb troubleshooting capabilities. They can identify the problems from the root cause at the earliest stage, even if the issues haven’t displayed any signs yet. They are also capable of finding and implementing practical solutions systematically and logically.

Sometimes there are issues in the software that require immediate attention. For this, you will need the team to be available quickly. See that the company you hire has a team who can jump on a call 24*7 for emergencies. Also, make sure you have an escalation matrix in place.

#8 Know their success rate

The success rate is entirely subjective. We say subjective because it depends on how you measure it. The KPI or metrics you will use to determine success rate should align with your goals and objectives.

In general, measuring success rate is about evaluating the impact of all relevant factors that contribute to the project’s outcome. It can be based on the deliverables, the project’s goals, how well the team performs, customer satisfaction, the number of projects completed, or business performance in general.

You can learn about the company’s success rate by looking at its portfolio, reading its reviews and testimonials, or checking its ratings. You can also directly ask the company to provide a success rate report.

#9 Pricing models

There are different types of pricing models offered by software development firms. The most common models are:

• Dedicated Team
• Time and Material
• Fixed Price
• Mixed Model

Knowing these pricing models will help you understand what works best for your company.

• Dedicated Team

The dedicated team model is closely similar to creating an in-house team. The primary difference between a dedicated and in-house team is the burden of hiring, onboarding, and training employees. By hiring a dedicated team, you can use the services offered by the software development agency without necessarily employing them.

The price range of a dedicated team is quite flexible. The rate includes the admin costs, salaries, and other fees stipulated in the contract. You can pay bi-monthly or monthly, depending on what you and the service provider have agreed upon.

A dedicated team pricing model allows you to influence the developmental process directly. It also gives you greater control over the budget, the number of team members, and the completion deadline.

• Time and Material

The time and material model offers flexibility. The rate depends on the time needed to complete the development process and the project’s requirements. With this pricing model, the software development company will only charge you for hours spent developing your software.

The time and material pricing model is best for software development projects with no restricted budget and strict deadlines. This model is also the best option if your primary objective is to fight off competition by continuously adding or updating functionalities and functions.

• Fixed Price

As its name suggests, the fixed price pricing model is a pricing model wherein you will pay a fixed price for the entire project. This pricing model requires accurate cost estimation and thorough project planning. With this model, you need to compute the price upfront based on factors like designed mockups, technical requirements, project goals and objectives, wireframes, business needs, and deadlines. You will pay for each charted scope completed.

The fixed price pricing model is ideal for short-term and small projects with limited time and budget. With this pricing model, everything is agreed upon from start to finish. It allows you to keep the scope of the project, the deadlines, and the budget during the duration of the development stage.

• Mixed Model

This pricing model is a mixture of the time and material and the fixed price pricing models. With the mixed pricing model, you can enjoy the flexibility of changing the project’s scope while still being strict on deadlines.

#10 Clarify after-development support

Another important thing to consider when screening software development agencies is their after-development support. Do they offer good after-development support?

Another essential thing to consider when screening software development agencies is their after-development support. Do they offer good after-development support?

Before hiring the software development company, discuss and clarify this matter. After-development support includes providing software orientation, timely troubleshooting and fixes, software configuration, software customization, backup services, and monitoring of software implementation. It also involves providing preventive, corrective, adaptive, and perfective maintenance.

Endnote

The wide availability of options can make finding the right software development company quite challenging, especially if you are searching for the ideal developer to help you build dynamic software. Possibilities of making the wrong choice are higher than hiring the right company. Considering the tips and guidelines above will help you weed out the best software development company from the poor ones.

We understand how hiring the right developer is critical to the success of your project. Picking the wrong software development company can lead to a waste of money, subpar software, and development delays. Contact the APPWRK support team now for assistance. Our team shall guide you in the hiring process. We will also help you decide what is best for your project.

Apart from providing the best software development services, we have also been helping many technical teams worldwide to scale their engineering team within 48 hours. Scaling an engineering team usually takes two months if you hire directly, but we can do so in two days. And we do not provide just any engineer; we see to it that every professional in our team has undergone a thorough interview and rigid recruitment process before being hired.