In our last two blogs we talked about “What are legacy systems and factors to consider before deciding on modernization?” and about “10 reasons to overhaul the Legacy System”. In this blog we are going to talk about factors that you need to consider while choosing partner for the development of Legacy systems. Below are the 16 points to keep in mind.
1. Define the Project goals
- Set clear goals and expectations of what you want your finished project to be
- List your requirements in detail but also be realistic in your expectations
- If possible, create mock-ups and visual layouts of your software. It will help you visualize what your final product will look like
- Make sure you consider the resources you will need to have a good understanding
2. Define the Time-Frame of The Project with milestones.
- It gives an understanding of project completion time. You can also rely on your software development partner to help you plan out this aspect of your project if you don’t know the software development process
- Once you have an idea of how much time you need to accomplish your primary project goals, you can begin to break down your project work into parts that give detailed information
3. Define Your Technical Stack
- List down technologies & programming languages that you will be using for your updated software. It will help you in selecting the right software development partners
- If not clear which technology to choose, you can take the help of a software development partner for choosing better technologies available in the market
4. Competence
- Check your development partners’ capabilities, stability, and software knowledge
- You can ask the development team key questions like:
- Which tech stacks have they worked on?
- What project management strategies do they implement?
- How do they maintain code quality?
5. Diligence
- It will be a reasonably long engagement, and it makes sense to do a background check on your potential development partner before you engage fully
- Enquire into the candidates’ working methodologies. It will give you a clear idea of what to expect once you start working with them
- You should also check that they have a good team they can assign to your project, including expert developers, quality assurance specialists & project and account teams
- This will give you insights into how modern the company is, how it takes decisions and how well it can integrate into your business processes
6. Communication
- Communication is a vital aspect of the association, so that’s a factor that you need to assess when choosing software services
- You will need to take into account different time zones, languages, and cultural gaps
- Establishing regular channels of communication with the outsourced team is crucially essential for the project’s success
7. Legal restrictions of the country
- Security clauses are the legal provisions included in the contract that addresses the risk, responsibility, and distribution between you and your outsourcing agency. They state who would bear the legal fees and pay for any lawsuits that could come up while the application is being developed
8. Expertise
- The company you choose to trust with your upgrade must cater to your customers’ needs. It must have the right expertise to develop software that will meet the needs of your target users
- Your development partner must have the correct business expertise. You do not want to waste efforts on a partner who has no idea about your business goals and how to help you achieve them
- As software development partners, you will, of course, need to engage a company with exceptional skills. But if they are going to be you for the long haul, you need them to ensure that they have a good knowledge of your business processes as well
9. Experience
- Experience is another factor to be considered while making a partnership with a software development firm. And the term experience does not end at several projects or years
- Many other factors are counted under experience
- Subject Matter Experts with ample Domain experience are very crucial to transform your ideas into solutions. Before signing the deal with the software firm you have shortlisted, it is essential to look at the work experience and software expertise closely
- Check if they have done similar work for other companies in your domain
- Also, if they are overseas, check that they have enough experience working with remote teams using various communication channels and tools, such as Teams, Confluence, Jira, and more
10. Previous Customers experience
- Check the partner’s client Testimonials – especially from clients in your line of business. They help you get a clear picture of how a company operates and serves its customers
11. Cost. How do they compare to the competition?
- Cost is one of the essential & prime factors. So evaluation cost with an outsourced development partner is a crucial aspect
- Factors that define the cost of the project
- Hourly rate
- Location of the software development partner
- Tech Stack used by the development agency
- The expertise of the team
- The request of the customer (if demands are high, the cost will be increased)
12. Diverse portfolio
- If a company has successfully executed other similar projects in your business domain, it is a good sign that they should handle your project as well
13. Process maturity
- Make sure the company you are dealing with is experienced with methodologies and can establish beneficial communication
- Think about the modes of reporting you to need: meetings, demos, calls, etc.
14. Community contribution
- The fact that the company arranges meetups & conferences has good references, or has blogs, tells a lot about it
15. Delivery in time
- Check and verify the outsourcing partner’s delivery schedules and his other commitments
16. Confidentiality
- Look at the reliability and confidentiality of the outsourcing partner, whether he can keep the confidentiality of the business and whether you can enforce the trademark, copyright in the country he has the office
About the author:
Jagdish GundetiJagdish Gundeti is working as a Technical Architect with Application Development and Maintenance department on technologies like C++, VC++ and Embarcadero at Direction Software LLP.