Top questions in software development outsourcing
The article is a part of Code Inspiration’s software development outsourcing Knowledge Base.
Any software development project begins with a request and questions of a customer. In this article we discuss some unconstructive requests or questions from customers as well explain why they are unconstructive:
1. I need an application just like Uber but with some additional features. My total budget is 5-10k.
An enterprise software like Uber, Amazon, AliExpress and others require few millions for the first year of development. The request itself that you want a Ferrari for 5k sounds funny. In the very beginning aiming to start a business of something global and very complicated, with ability to maintain millions of users, you should understand, that the budget for the development simply can not be low, unless it is a fraud. During 2019 we have spoken to more than 20 clients with similar requests, some of them went with the lower proposals they received and in the end of the year got back to the conversation, as the software didn’t meet the expectation and in most cases was done only partially.
2. I am launching a business in real estate. Need an application to make my business successful and profitable. What would be an approximate cost of the application?
All the estimations are done on the basis of the amount of screens, complexity of the logic, design and front end development. It is unfortunately impossible to provide with a price range for such a software, which has only general idea. As well, development agencies provide technical solutions, however can not guarantee the business to be profitable. The requests for the developer sounds like, “I want a house in the USA, what would be the approximate budget”. As prices for houses in the USA vary from thousands of USD to billions, it is impossible to provide even the approximate estimation for this request. Before applying to your software development partners, make sure you have set general requirements which will help the agency to understand the complexity of the software. For non-technical representatives it is highly recommended hiring a business analyst in order to do a specification guide before the start of the development. This will help you to get a clear understanding of what to expect, will provide you with a possibility to add it to the contract.
3. Thanks, we do not need any maintenance of the software after the launch.
Before you start the development of any project, you should keep in mind that all the software needs maintenance. Especially successful software. All cell phone vendors provide the market with new models of phones with various OS versions and there is always a need to customize software accordingly. A Necessity to update libraries and versions of x-code are also a must. And it is always much better when maintenance is done by the same development team, due to the fact that they know the project inside out.
4. The code of the system is legacy and crunchy. How long would it take to update and fix it.
We would like to explain technical things in non-technical way. Imagine you have a building with a very badly done foundation. Already this building has 80 pieces. How easy would it be to redo the foundation without any impact to the whole building? Imagine if there is an additional necessity to change 30% of bricks?
The summary is that it is impossible to provide an estimation, as any little change can bring consequences. However, fixing is possible, but the estimation of time and what is more important no one will be sure that the time which the developer will need to fix the system will not overlap the time to rebuild the system from scratch.
5. What for do we need backend side? We just need a mobile app to be developed.
In general, all the software can be divided into front end and back end part. Front end part is what a user sees, so called, UI. However, the main logic is done on the back end and all the data and information inside the app is stored at the back end. So, even if you do not see it, back end side exists practically in all the software, be it a mobile app or a website.
Summary
To sum up, when we talk about a software development project, there are no silly questions. So, Code Inspiration’s team provides consultancy and is ready to answer any question no matter how constructive it is in the sense of your given project. In addition, we also advise on the development strategy for your given project or business.
The article is a part of Code Inspiration’s software development outsourcing Knowledge Base.
