Every business, irrespective of the fact, what their core function comprises of, keeps thinking about ways to manage and enhance their IT function. Any idea about expansion largely depends upon suitable and well-aligned software, applications, website, and so on.
In other words, the business has a high-dependency on the seamless IT integration. Most of the companies have realized that managing and maintaining an on-site IT project will be a tedious task. Hence they look out for suitable offshore technology partners to fulfill their requirements.
However, with a plethora of choices available beside lucrative promises, choosing the right offshore technology partner that can handle the back-end software requirement seamlessly, is an overwhelming job.
In order to make a wise choice, it is important to refine your options to the best-suited solution. And then selecting the one that meets the objective of your IT project.
While budgetary constraints are always there, it cannot serve as a driving factor in decision-making. A less competent IT solution provider, who cannot handle your requirements efficiently is the worst investment. In such a case, you can certainly hamper your profits and reputation as well.
So, to make an informed decision it is important to take into account various other factors that are described below.
Industry Experience and Expertise
Experience of the business cannot be only determined by the number of years it has been operational. A lot of other factors matter. Get answers for few questions such as:
- What is the process of handling the project?
- Do they have the required staff like app developers, project managers and other staff dedicated to each project
- How many successful projects they have completed?
- What is the customer’s feedback?
- Are they equipped to update their It skills on a real-time basis?
All these questions are important and once the company is able to deliver a satisfactory response along with verifiable examples. You can shortlist the vendors.
Mastery in Required Technology
Before, you start shortlisting the candidate, have a clear picture of the technologies that your project demands. Very few companies will have expertise in all the technologies, even then, there will be issues.
Some companies specialize in ASP.NET or Java-based development, while others are confident in Open Source technologies such as PHP with MySQL. So, based on your current needs and also a foreseeable future need, pick the one that has expertise in the required technology.
Compliance
You must hedge yourself from any future complications that may arise while working with an offshore technology partner. So, draft a clear and concise agreement. It should state all the necessary terms and conditions, including the protection and privacy of your data, entry and exit clause, and so on.
Also, draft a set standard for performance evaluation. The offshore company must have a clear idea about your expectations from them. It must clearly specify the working and reporting style along with all other expectations.
Scalability
Always opt for an offshore technology partner that is willing to accommodate your changing needs. They must be ready to support your business as it grows. Even if it requires to add more people in the team or faster delivery of the project. It should have the capability to adjust to the changing business requirements.
Project Management
Since you will be monitoring the performance of your offshore technology partner, based on your requirements, it is important that you work out a plan to manage the project efficiently. Check if they are using an in-house certified Agile Scrum master or any other tools to manage and report the project progress.
It is important to have dedicated contact person/ project managers who will be reporting the progress of the project, periodically in a fixed format. Communication is vital to project success, so ensure that they have a mutually beneficial communication plan and policy in place.
Location constraint
Learn where the offshore technology partner is located. Calculate the feasibility of meeting on a regular basis for knowledge transfer and deployment support. Also, check out the immigration rules before finalizing the contract, because in some countries it’s easier to get a short-term business VISA, while it's difficult in others.
However, in some cases, companies work together even without meeting physically. They usually communicate via video conferencing and can easily work together. So, it totally depends upon your project requirements.
Also, in some cases, when offshore technology partner handles your tech-support or customer-service, it becomes crucial to calculate the time zone difference and whether or not, the solution provider can provide round the clock service.
So, consider the factor of availability as well, in case you plan to take up support services in an off-shore location. Customer satisfaction must not suffer due to varied time zones.
Thus, while choosing an offshore technology partner, if you consider the above-mentioned points, you can be certain of making the right choice.
However, if you are finding the entire process tricky and seek professional help, then connect with Your Team in India, a leading IT outsourcing services provider in India. It can give you the best of outsourcing services while saving your business investments up to 80%. The team of dedicated offshore developers has the skills and expertise of giving you the best of offshore services with the quality and competency of an onshore office.
Feel free to reach us at info@yourteaminindia.com and we will reach out to you instantly.
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