4 Things to Consider When Outsourcing Your MVP Development
Developing your MVP, or Minimum Viable Product, can be done through either in-house development or outsourced development. The former option involves forming and building an in-house team of your own, while the latter refers to partnering with a specialized software development firm to do the job. Though there are companies that opt for in-house development, several other tech startups have found it favorable to outsource their MVP development instead.
Outsourced development offers a number of worthy benefits, but on the other side of things, there are also some concerns. When outsourcing MVP development, there are questions that companies may ask and things that must be taken into consideration. Let’s dive into some of them.
1. What are your outsourcing goals?
The steps to take depend on the destination. Before you outsource, identify why you plan to outsource in the first plan and what you plan to gain through outsourced development. It would also be important to lay out the requirements, both in the short-term and in the long term. This would help set the course of the MVP development process.
After identifying these details, layout your vision with clarity. Make sure that you provide written responsibilities and expectations for your partner. The clearer and more specific the details, the better.
2. Which outsourced development firm should you partner with?
Because of the growing demand and trend of digital transformation, there are several outsourced development firms throughout the world. However, be sure to partner with not just anyone. It is also important to take cost into consideration; however, quality should still be prioritized.
5 things to consider in choosing an outsourced development partner
The company has the liberty to choose which firm to partner with. When choosing, the following factors should be taken into consideration.
- Models of service and approaches to cooperation
- Domains of expertise
- Updatedness of technology
- Previous clients’ feedback
- Portfolio
After taking these into consideration and deciding initially, connect with the firm to discuss and deliberate essential matters. Assess their expertise, commitment, and abilities yourself. Remember, the company must be competent enough to explain the craft to you. Your partner must also have the capacity to accomplish what you expect of them. It is crucial for you to assess this since outsourcing MVP development involves partnership.
3. What should be covered in the contract?
As with any other official and legal partnership, a partnership with an outsourced development firm must be sealed with a contract. In order to avoid communication, technical, or management issues in the course of the MVP development, the contract must be as detailed as possible.
It is important for the contract to be devised based on the rules of shared risk. The contract must also have a clear scope of work. Without it, the outcome may end up being poor. Without clarity, misunderstandings regarding the assuming of responsibility may arise along the way.
4. What makes a successful partnership?
Just like every other endeavor, success is never guaranteed at the start. It is key to mix the right ingredients and their right amounts. Here are some key ingredients to make a partnership work out.
Communication
In any time of partnership, communication is important. It must not be neglected. From the very start, it is important to set firm communication schedules and channels. Be sure to clarify when things are unclear, especially if your partnership is cross-cultural.
Here are some tips that can help promote communication.
- Implement and keep a successful communication flow. Know who to ask in case of clarifications. Make use of available communication platforms and tools.
- Be prompt in responding. Make sure that both parties feel heard. Cater to each concern as promptly as possible. Even short feedback may be enough at times.
- Have a communication policy. This may include which topics should be prioritized and which ones are not acceptable.
Trust and transparency
Greater trust and transparency lead to better outcomes. The process must be commenced with a goal in mind, and KPIs can be set according to such goals. Make expectations as clear as possible. When it comes to communication and feedback, be direct, apparent, and honest. If certain issues arise, do not hesitate to bring them to the table. By doing so, both parties can be on the same page and work towards enhancing collaboration.
Clarity
Successful partnerships start with a clearly stated objective and desired outcome. Ensure that your project’s requirements are clearly defined upfront. Be clear and accurate about the project’s details in order for them to grant a realistic quotation and proposal. Be clear and realistic with the expected deliverables and schedules. This is especially important because the project’s schedule would impact the project’s costs.
Absence of micromanagement
On the client’s side, there may be certain pressure to ensure that the expected output would be met. With this, there may be an urge to micromanage the project.
Micromanagement often includes excessively prescriptive specifications and instructions. Excessive levels of micromanagement may end up doing more harm than good to your project. It may hinder your partner from giving their best in the task. Though the intentions of micromanagement may generally be good, it may end up limiting the professionals from using their own judgment, expertise, and creativity to devise the best possible solutions. This may affect the overall project.
Clients or product owners should focus on overseeing and planning. Insights and evaluation can also be shared from the end-user viewpoint. When it comes to the technicals, the outsourced development partner must be kept in charge. Be sure to have specifications that are not too limiting so that the focus would be on the overall function of the software or app. With this, developers would be granted room to be creative and efficient. Their expertise would be maximized.
Thus, it is important for product owners to not be too involved to the extent where involvement would negatively impact the project’s innovation and progress.
Flexibility
Having a detailed plan is a good start. However, not everything goes according to plan. This is true for outsourced development as well. There may be cases when unexpected delays occur or compliance issues arise. When such instances occur, it is important to be flexible, empathetic, transparent, and patient in order to build bridges and solve problems.
Laying out a contingency plan beforehand may also help deal with such events. Both parties must also be transparent, especially if they have experience in dealing with similar cases.
Moreover, as the project progresses, there may be instances where the changes may lead to a change in the budget and contract as well. This may be especially true for MVP development, where the MVP is constantly modified over time. Thus, it is essential for expectations to be clear from the very start and for communication channels to be open.
Overall, trust must be nurtured in a collaborative relationship. This is important so that when such events occur, the outsourced development partner would be able to problem-solve efficiently, effectively, and transparently.
After taking these things into consideration and discussing them with the prospect outsourced development partner, you can now proceed with the partnership and entrust your MVP development to your partner.
To learn more about MVP development, check out the Ultimate MVP Guidelines.
