When it comes to developing a mobile application for your business, there are many options that are available. There is always the option of outsourcing the development of a mobile application to other businesses. There can be a number of different costs and surprising findings when one decides to outsource.
One of the main reasons business owners look at outsourcing is to help minimize cost. Here are 6 main things you should consider before outsourcing mobile app development.
There are different types of outsourcing
There are three main types of outsourcing, Specialized companies, Freelancers, and Overseas outsourcing.
On the more expensive side, you have specialized businesses that help with application development. While these can be more expensive, they can also give a lot of specialized knowledge that may not be available elsewhere.
Then you can also use Freelancers. These typically are developers and specialists that work alone. Freelancers will often cost less, but they may not completely offer all of the specialized knowledge in mobile web applications. An example of this is that they may not be able to help understand marketing analytics that businesses often require.
A new common type of outsourcing has been overseas type companies, typically in countries like India. These companies in India offer one of the lowest hourly rates for mobile application developers. This may seem like a lucrative deal, but there are several barriers you will have to consider.
One barrier is simply the distance between you and the developers. This can play into how much and how often you coordinate with the developers and also cause problems in the accurate execution of these ideas.
In addition to the distance, you also have a cultural and language divide. English is widely spoken in India, but it is likely that not every outsourced developer can speak it fluently. The reason why this is important is-when communicating the specifics of work or the job that needs to be done, there can be chances of misinterpretation.
The potential for a missed communication in combination with cultural differences can lead to errors and mistakes in the development process, which increases your back and forth with the team. This not only causes tense situations but also increases your development cycle, killing time.
An experienced outsourced developer can help you with your idea
Developing an application is not a one-sided relationship where you provide your idea and then the developer makes the application. There is nothing wrong with having great ideas, but you should consider the cost that will go into app development. A grand, ambitious goal may not be ideal when it comes to matching up with the needs of your business.
It is likely the outsourced developer is going to understand the processes of what you are going through. That is, they will most probably help you reform and tune what the app will do based on your wants and needs. Considering the fact that an outsourced app developer you choose would ideally have experience refining your idea.
There is an advantage to having your mobile development outsourced, which is that it can help create new ideas. An experienced App developer would also likely be aware of other processes that exist for a particular genre of business and be helpful in applying those ideas to your own.
It is important to go through portfolios of the developers you choose and dig deep into the tech stacks they operate with. Do your research on which responsive tech stacks newly launched applications are using.
Your app will require consistent maintenance and updates
Once your mobile application is launched and live, that doesn’t mean it’s the end and you don’t have to worry about it. In fact, mobile apps on iOS and Android often require frequent updates. There are many reasons why these applications are frequently updated. One is that companies constantly update their phones operating systems and in turn, the applications need to be updated as well.
There are a number of features in mobile applications that need to be constantly updated, for example-security. All it takes is one instance of a security breach and the PR of a business can be tarnished.
It’s also important to understand that security isn’t a goal, but a constantly evolving situation that requires your app to be updated. This in turn also requires you to have a strong security environment for your application which can be expensive. Because of this, you will likely need to rehire your existing outsourced team to reapply and also revisit your app as they will likely know more about the programming details of the app than any other firm.
Building an App requires a team of specialized people
Often, it’s not so simple as to hire a lone experienced developer and believe that they will create your app solo. Mobile application development requires a team of designers, marketers, programmers, and a host of other specialized staff. You might be able to get away with just hiring a developer, but you would also likely miss an important puzzle piece in your application that would be crucial for its total completion and success.
Building applications require multiple areas of not only knowledge but also practical skill sets. Expecting a developer to know all the ins and outs of mobile application development is unrealistic. You will also likely want to track customer data and perform data analytics on that to see where your strongest suits are, which may be difficult if that developer lacks that expertise to implement those features.
Outsourcing your app development to experts can increase business efficacy
By outsourcing your work to a different company with development specializations, you can customize and have your app built from scratch. Because of the experience they have when it comes to mobile app development, they could be an important resource for the experience. This can be especially useful when your startup is under a time constraint.
Specialized companies also have a plethora of existing resources to use. For example, they may have similar code in their existing code storage that they can deploy on to your application. After that, they can quickly make changes to patches of code to give you functions that you want in your application. This process will cut-short your development time.
Costs can add up when it comes to mobile app development. Some of these costs include things like marketing, legal fees, and continuous updates. The average total cost of creating a mobile application ranges from $140,000 to $210,000 depending on the complexity of the project.
Expect it to take at least 6 months to have a complete app finished
While it can often take a shorter timer, it can also take longer depending on how simple to complicated your app will be. If the application, you had in mind was going to offer many different services or functions, then you can likely expect the cost and time to increase. If you are adding more features, then expect longer development cycles including testing timeframes.
Once you have developed your application you will also need to have it beta tested with developers. The amount of beta testing that your app will need also greatly depends on the type of application and the number of structural details you are adding to it.
When looking at outsourcing your app development process, there isn’t a clear answer to whether you should do it or not. As a business owner, you will have to weigh the pros and cons of each decision.
One thing is certain – no matter what, do your research and go through portfolios with details on tech stacks. Be well connected with any outsourced team via video and audio calls. Form a good relationship and verify their credibility through the web and relative sources like LinkedIn.
