How to Outsource App Development?

How to Outsource App Development?

Outsource mobile app development

Every company tries to expand their horizons and set up mobile presence, which gives them extra boost. And app development agencies are the first to call. They assist a firm to build an application from scratch or help maintain the existing one. It is a full-circle development support, from designing software architecture to technical support.

App development cooperation model and project complexity

Before searching for an app development team, you should define your project size.

There can be different levels of complexity:

–  A simple one. It includes building a simple app or developing the existing one by integrating additional features.

–  Medium level. It includes creating a web app, online store, and everything that requires integration of other solutions such as CRM, CMS, various databases, AI chatbots etc.

–  Large-sized project. It requires a bunch of sophisticated technologies and integration with cloud hosting servers to store all user data and process it in real time. That is ecommerce stores or social networks building processes.

According to your business demand, you can choose the most suitable cooperation model:

–  Dedicated development team (a team of developers who work on a project over a long period).

–  Team extension (one or more software developers who have the specific skills required for a project).

–  Managed team (one or more developers that can augment your in-house development team on-premises or remotely).

–  Outsourcing (delegating your work to an entity outside your core team).

What is an outsource app development team?

Should you start hiring an in-house app development team and rent out an office to create a mobile app for your business? There’s no need for that as you can go for outsourcing. The mobile app outsourcing company has a complete team that incorporates all the essential experts ready for fruitful cooperation. It kills two birds at once: cost efficiency and team’s expertise. Starting from planning, implementing, monitoring, communicating and finally delivering the completed product before the deadline, they ensure quality at each step.

You can choose a custom web app development firm or cloud services to solve your business needs. It depends on your budget and goals you want to reach.

Shopify mobile app development provides an effective mobile app development service that offers you an android or iOS app for your Shopify store. Their extensive apps come with diverse features to cater to all online sales requirements. The mobile apps include loyalty programs, payment gateways, carts, order tracking system, and chat messengers.

However, we think it will never replace custom development, which implements your brand’s personality into a unique product.

The cost of outsource app development team services

Once you outsource app developers under the Outstaff model, you pay them a monthly salary like regular staff members. As for a dedicated team or a project-based working model, you can choose among the following options:

–  Fixed price. It would be a good option for a small project with limited budget and estimated time to complete it. This paying model suits new-born startups which need to develop an MVP. However, it is tough to evaluate the project scope initially due to the human factor. For this reason, most of the dev companies prefer working on the next model.

–  Time and Material. This payment model, also known as Pay as You Go, is prevalent among companies that use Agile methodology. You agree upon the hourly rate of each developer, and you pay based on the actual time spent on the development. It would be a good option when it is hard to determine the scope of work in advance and the client needs to change the requirements during the process.

How to find your outsourcing mobile app development company?

To find your perfect web development team you should pay attention to a few things:

–  Reviews and recommendations.  There are a lot of platforms such as Clutch, GoodFirms, where you can easily check the rate of a company, its size, main technical focus, etc. Also a company has a list of clients who can describe their own experience of work with the team.

–  Project estimation. The estimation should be based on project scope, number of involved full stack developers, PMs, designers, QA engineer, and comply with quality-price ratio.

–  Domain expertise. Hire the team, which specializes in your business niche. They will bring the exact solution you need, because they know how it works.

–  Payment. The company of your choice may follow one of the many payment models such as dedicated team, time & materials, fixed price, hybrid or else.

–  Qualification of web developers. Pay attention to the experience of developers you are going to hire, their previous projects, set up a meeting to interview them.

Also, you have to clarify your goals and budget. Think about how much money you are willing to invest to reach your goals and set KPIs. Define Key Performance Indicators which will adequately assess the effectiveness of a particular member of a team.

Example of provided custom mobile app development services

The logistics company came to us with a mobile app idea. The major functionality they required was accurate GPS tracking of temperature-sensitive freight. We started our cooperation from the discovery stage to learn about particular client needs. In the process, we learned that damaged cargo was the company’s biggest pain point. Given that they deal with perishable goods, we had to design an app that would allow quickly identifying a possible problem and acting on it on time.

The challenge

The app is meant to be used by the company’s drivers as well as third-party drivers so we needed to make the interface as simple as possible so that any driver can understand the flow intuitively without additional guidance.

While this is a relatively typical challenge, the tougher one was related to crafting a live map. In the app, admins are able to see the map with all current deliveries in real time and receive notifications if any delivery doesn’t move for a given period of time. Since they deal with perishable goods, the accuracy of location tracking and data synchronization between driver and admin systems were essential to the project.

Value we delivered

–  Flexible cargo tracking.  With powerful GPS tracking at its core, the app features important customization options. Admins can choose what information they need to be displayed at any given moment, set notification alerts, and quickly search in the delivery database by different parameters. Drivers, in their turn, can add notes to any delivery request, document the receipt of cargo in multiple ways, and specify cargo’s temperature.

–  Multiple messaging options. Seamless communication between drivers and admins is essential to the company. The app allows drivers to communicate any issues to admins. They can add photos, record audio, or type text messages if they need to document anything regarding cargo and delivery. Plus, they have an opportunity to inform admins about an incident with one quick tap.

–  Simple UI. Even though the interface includes lots of details – delivery addresses, reference numbers, ETA calculation – it looks clean and helps users easily perform their tasks, document and track deliveries, and communicate in case of any issues.