Software Development Partner Guide: 8 Essential Steps

Have a big and exciting software project but don’t have the resources for it?  Or you just want to create a software solution without breaking the bank? 

Don’t worry, you’re not alone! Many companies decide to partner with a software development company instead of creating software in-house. 

In fact, 70% of companies outsource their software development activities to achieve an optimal price-quality ratio and save on these otherwise costly projects. 

But how do you find a reliable software development partner that will really understand your needs and deliver the project exactly the way you want it? 

If you don’t have answers to all these questions, you’re in the right place! 

As a software development company with 15+ years in the industry, we’ll reveal all the ins and outs of navigating the vast pool of software development providers. We’ll also cover how to choose the right software development partner in 8 simple steps. 

What Is a Software Development Partner? 

A software development partner is a company or an agency that provides software development and IT services.  

Such companies help you outsource huge software projects while managing to keep the costs low. They offer the talent and expertise needed to deliver your software solution and work closely with you from ideation to launch.  

Types of Software Development Partnerships 

You can choose from a few types of software development partnerships based on your needs. These include: 

• Software development staff augmentation services: This allows you to hire software developers and IT specialists for a specific time period. The augmented staff will integrate into your in-house team and follow your processes and policies. 
• Outsourcing: This involves outsourcing your software development initiatives to a third-party company. By outsourcing, you minimize costs and get access to high-quality specialists. This option is great for companies who want to leave all the technical activities to someone else while putting all their focus on other business objectives. 
• Project-based services: This means you entrust the entire project to the software development company. While you have less control over the project, this allows you to leverage the company’s expertise and resources and achieve your goals in a time-efficient manner. 
• Consultation services: If you’re just seeking advice from an expert software development company, then you might want to go for this type of partnership. The company can give you in-depth insights and specific recommendations on how you can approach and develop your project.

For more information on the differences between these approaches, read our guide on staff augmentation vs consulting.

Benefits of Partnering with a Software Development Company 

There are numerous benefits to getting help from a software development company. Here are a few of them: 

• Time and cost savings: Hiring a third-party company instead of in-house is less costly. Additionally, you can save on operational costs and deliver your project much faster.  
• Technical expertise: When partnering with a software development company, you get access to a pool of highly skilled professionals without incurring the costs of having to hire them long-term. 
• Better scalability and flexibility: Your software development partner can adjust to your needs. You need to scale up for a specific time period and then scale back down? No problem! The company you hire can easily readjust its resource allocation without incurring any losses. 
• Fewer distractions: Software development projects take lots of resources. But why dedicate most of your budget and resources to one such project rather than to business development? With a software development partnership, you can rely on someone else to deliver the software solution while you can keep developing your core competencies without any hindrances. 
• Solid quality assurance and support: Software development companies follow all industry-standard quality assurance processes. They ensure the software runs smoothly and can even provide post-deployment support, ensuring all unexpected bugs and errors are cleared fast, and your software is always secure.  

How to Choose the Right Software Development Partner 

So, you decided that partnering with a software development provider is the way to go. But how exactly do you find the perfect match for you? 

Here are eight steps that can serve as guidance in the vetting process:  

Before starting the actual research, you need to be clear on your specific needs and requirements. Make sure to:  

• Define your project requirements and objectives: Think: What’s the main purpose of your project? What key functionalities and features do you want it to have? Will the solution be deployed on specific platforms? Do you insist on adopting specific technologies? Are there any regulations you need to adhere to? Answering all these questions will ensure you have a clear scope you can communicate with all potential candidates.  
• Assess your technical expertise and resources: Understand what resources you have and what expertise you’re lacking. This will help you determine if you need more comprehensive development services or just need to enhance your existing in-house team with design, coding, testing, or deployment experts.  
• Determine your budget and timeline: Consider what financial resources you can dedicate to the project and what the timeline for completion is. Having a realistic budget and time period for the project will make finding a suitable partner much easier.   

Now that you have defined your project needs, it’s time to research and evaluate potential partners. At this stage, you will identify companies that align with your requirements.  

• Search for reputable software development companies: You can start by exploring different online directories, platforms, and forums or simply conduct a Google search. Compile a list of all companies that could be a good fit based on their industry presence, expertise, and reputation.  
• Evaluate their expertise and experience: Understand whether these companies have a proven track record of projects similar to yours. Also, check whether they have the technical proficiency and technological stacks you need for your project.  
• Review their portfolio and client testimonials: Nothing will give you a better idea of what the company is capable of than seeing what it has already delivered. For this purpose, check thoroughly any available case studies and client reviews.  
• Assess their development methodologies and processes: Find out what SDLC methodologies the company is using. Usually, companies that follow established processes like Agile and Scrum (which promote transparency and flexibility) are seen as reliable. Also, gain an understanding of their project management, QA, and testing approach to see if it aligns with your expectations.  
• Consider their cultural fit and communication capabilities: It’s best to go for a partner that has a company culture and values similar to yours. You should also consider time zone differences, language proficiency, and communication channels. 

Once you have a list of potential partners, it’s time to choose the one that fits your needs best. 

To do that, you should: 

• Prepare a shortlist of potential partners: Create a shortlist of the most promising companies. To identify these, check their profiles on platforms like Clutch, UpCity, G2, Sortlist, and Techreviewer. These provide reliable third-party reviews that can give you a more objective overview of the company’s competence and expertise.  All you have to  do is find the company on each of these platforms and navigate to the “Reviews” tab that looks like this:  

• Conduct initial consultations and interviews: Next, you should reach out to each of these shortlisted companies for an exploration interview.  At this stage, you can discuss your project in more detail. Evaluate their responsiveness, interest in the project, and communication skills.   
• Request and evaluate proposals: The project proposal will give you a breakdown of the project scope, timeline and cost estimates, and deliverables. Carefully evaluate how they approach the project requirements and the recommendations they give.   
• Check references and conduct background checks: Reach out to past clients and ask for their feedback on how the company handled their projects. For example, did they meet the timeline and budget requirements? Are they happy with the quality of the work and their collaboration skills? Also, make a final background check to ensure there are no major red flags, and their reputation is solid. 
• Make a final decision based on your evaluation criteria: Once you have all the details on all shortlisted companies, you can make a final decision. Choose the partner that best fits your company’s goals and values. 

Once you have selected your partner, it’s time to establish clear and transparent partnership terms and conditions. Now, the terms can look different depending on the type of software development partnership. However, the following steps apply to all partnership types:  

• Define project details: Work out the project scope, including deliverables, milestones, and timelines. Communicate all your requirements and expectations to ensure you and your partner are on the same page and can proceed to execute the project without any ambiguities. 
• Negotiate pricing and payment terms: Ensure that the pricing model takes into consideration the project complexity, expertise needed, and duration. Find a payment method that suits your project needs best and is convenient and clear for both parties.  
• Draft a comprehensive partnership contract: A well-crafted partnership agreement will clarify the rights, responsibilities, and obligations of both parties. The contract should also include the project scope, deliverables, timelines, payment terms, and any other important details.  
• Clarify intellectual property ownership and confidentiality: You can clarify the details around intellectual property ownership and confidentiality either in the contract or in a separate NDA (non-disclosure agreement) document. This ensures your partner will maintain strict confidentiality on all sensitive information you share with them. 

Next, you need to set up effective management practices for the duration of your partnership. For example, you should: 

• Set up effective communication channels: Communication is key to the success of your partnership. That’s why you should set up appropriate communication channels that work well for both you and your partner. For example, you can communicate on a designated project management platform like Asana, via email, or through instant messaging platforms like Slack. Whichever option you choose, make sure you always have an open line of communication and that you’re both clear on the frequency of updates. 
• Establish project management and collaboration tools and dev stack: Identify the tools that work best for your project. For example, when it comes to project management, you need a tool that can help you track project deadlines, address critical issues, share important documents, and assign tasks. Also, you should ensure your partner’s development stack and your existing technology infrastructure are compatible to minimize integration issues. 
• Conduct regular progress updates and status meetings: Schedule periodic meetings where you can communicate any updates, raise concerns, and ensure alignment. These meetings can help you evaluate the project’s overall progress, make any needed adjustments, and ensure that everyone is on track. 
• Resolve conflicts or issues that may arise: It’s common to face unexpected issues or conflicts throughout the project development. That’s why you should be prepared for such case scenarios and have a preset plan of action you can implement right away. Ensure you have open and transparent communication with your partner and encourage a constructive and solution-oriented approach to all conflicts. 
• Maintain transparency and accountability: Make sure that both you and your partner keep each other informed about project deadlines, challenges, and progress updates. Also, you should both be accountable for your assigned responsibilities and agreed deadlines. 

Collaboration is essential for your project’s success, especially when working with a third-party service provider. Here are a few key pointers to keep in mind when establishing your requirements for the development process: 

• Collaborate on project requirements and specifications: Whether you’re building a website, a web, or a mobile app, you need to discuss your objectives, features you want to incorporate, UX considerations, and any other technical requirements. This will ensure your partner is fully onboard with your vision and goals. 
• Participate in the software development life cycle: Active participation in the project on your side ensures you’re always in the loop of progress, challenges, and updates related to the development process. To maximize your involvement, you can participate in the project planning, attend regular meetings, and review all deliverables. 
• Ensure quality assurance and testing processes: QA and testing are vital for the software’s success. Ensure your partner adopts the best practices and be clear on the kind of testing they adopt (functional, performance, security, and usability testing), so you eliminate quality assurance misalignment. You can also outline the test criteria and request timely reporting on all bugs discovered during testing. 
• Conduct user acceptance testing and feedback cycles: User acceptance testing is when real users test the software. Here, you should involve key stakeholders and define the test scenarios and criteria. Once the test is completed, gather and analyze all feedback so you and your partner can collaborate on making any necessary adjustments.

At this stage, you need to establish effective tracking and monitoring mechanisms to ensure the project will be completed successfully.  

For example, you should:  

• Define key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics: Establish clear and measurable KPIs. This can help you track development progress, project timeline and budget adherence, and more.  
• Track project progress and milestones: Tracking progress can help you identify potential bottlenecks early on, minimize delays, and have a clear overview of all milestones and deadlines at all times. This way, you can make any adjustments needed to stay on track and ensure project success.  
• Conduct regular quality assessments and code reviews: Regular quality assessments and code reviews are essential if you want to ensure the end solution meets your requirements. For example, you can ask your partner to conduct automated or manual testing at each stage of the development process and adhere to high-quality assurance techniques and best practices. 
• Address any deviations from the agreed-upon plan: Deviations can occur as the project progresses. That’s why it’s important for you and your software development service provider to be ready to address any such changes timely and efficiently.  

When choosing a software partner, think not only about how they will conduct the development process but also about what post-deployment support and maintenance services they offer. For example, you should:  

• Plan for post-launch support and maintenance: Having a plan in place for any post-launch maintenance and support is vital for the success of the deployed software. This should cover any user inquiries, unexpected bugs, and issues. Get in touch with your partner to understand what support they can provide post-deployment and understand if that fits your needs.  
• Define service level agreements (SLAs): Clarify the service level agreements with your partner to ensure you get adequate support from them. Agree on the scope of support, response times, issue resolution processes, and other post-development services. 
• Establish a system for bug fixing and updates: Any software could face unexpected bugs, issues, or security vulnerabilities. To ensure these are addressed as fast as possible, you should establish a reporting system. Also, ensure your partner can provide regular software updates so your solution works smoothly. 
• Evaluate the possibility of a long-term partnership: Explore whether your software development partner is willing to commit to a long-term commitment by maintaining the software and providing any necessary changes down the line. This could make things easier for you as they already know the project and your business needs.  

FAQs on Choosing the Right Software Development Partner 

Check out the answers to some commonly asked questions on finding a software development partner: 

Conclusion 

Finding the right software development partner can be challenging as you have to navigate through a vast pool of candidates. You should also be clear on your project requirements and expectations and do your due diligence to determine which potential candidates fit with them.  

If you’re in need of a reliable software product development company, we’re here to help! 

At Scopic, we have 15+ years of experience in developing various software solutions for clients from a wide range of industries. Check out our portfolio here or contact us for a free quote.