How to Successfully Outsource App Development: Tips and Best Practices

Application development outsourcing is one of the most essential and best practices in the modern IT industry.

App development outsourcing is a win-win strategy for almost all actors on the market: starting with small businesses with limited budgets and no experience in software development and ending with tech giants like Google and Microsoft, who are looking for a cheaper and faster way to develop and integrate new features.

Despite the variety of options for application development outsourcing and the overall usability and efficiency of the IT outsourcing method, such an approach has its challenges.

In addition to learning how to outsource app development successfully, it is also important to know how to find a trustworthy IT outsourcing vendor capable of delivering the required result.

To answer both questions, we have to learn some basics of outsource app development and the main benefits of such a software development approach.

Benefits of Outsourcing App Development

The list of principal benefits of the application outsourcing model is wide. Still, we can name the main reasons for outsourcing app development:

1)Cost of Outsourcing App Development

Software development cost varies, depending on many factors such as the experience of the hired software development team, scale and complexity of the project, software development timelines, type of agreements, used technologies, etc.

When you hire outsourcing team, you save time and resources by accessing a global talent pool and finding experienced software engineers from various regions. This is one of the most critical factors impacting the cost of outsourcing app development.

To simplify, app development outsourcing makes development cheaper by allowing the hiring of developers from other regions like Eastern Europe, Asia, and India, where developers' salaries are lower compared to the US or UK.

2)Access to a Global Talent Pool

The second reason to outsource app development is the global talent pool of outsourced app developers.

To cut a long story short, finding an appropriate development team in certain regions like the US or the UK is challenging; the market is highly competitive, and gathering an in-house team might be long and tricky. Instead, you can always hire offshore developers globally.

As a result, business owners cut the time needed to find and gather a software team. Besides, many outsource app developers have proven experience and might be even more valuable for project development than some local options.

3)Niche-Experienced App Development Offshore

Finally, many IT outsourcing companies have niches in which they have more experience. These niches can include FinTech, Healthcare, Blockchain technologies, eLearning, and many others.

The same applies to software development tools and other technologies: many outsourced app developers have extensive skills and knowledge in specific niches, making them much more suited for particular software development projects.

As a result, the application outsourcing model offers more precise solutions and development approaches, as well as skills and expertise, compared to in-house development.

To sum up, application development outsourcing offers several major benefits, including lower outsource app development cost, faster team gathering and hiring, and extensive expertise in various technologies and development approaches. The combination of these benefits explains why outsource app development is so popular among various businesses nowadays.

Still, it does not explain how to outsource app development successfully. For instance, is it suited for all software types or mobile app development outsourcing is better?

How to Outsource App Development?

The simple answer is no. Each type of software development can be outsourced. However, some software development projects are easier to outsource, and some are harder. For a better illustration, let’s consider mobile app development outsourcing.

Mobile application development outsourcing is probably one of the most popular options: the global mobile app market reached 228.9 billion US dollars in 2023. It is especially beloved by small and mid-size businesses with limited or no experience in software development.

For example, suppose you have a business unrelated to the IT industry yet to compete with the rivals. In that case, you need a mobile application: more than 257 billion mobile apps were downloaded during 2023. Then, mobile app development outsourcing is an ideal option for you.

For successful mobile application development outsourcing, you must:

• Find a mobile app outsourcing company
• Discuss your ideas and possible software solutions
• Choose a platform for your mobile app
• Hire a mobile app development team
• Oversee the progress of development

To simplify it, let’s consider a step-by-step offshore mobile app development.

Step 1: Define Your App Development Needs

First, you must define the core features, needs, and requirements for the future project: whether it will be an MVP or a full-fledged app, whether you will outsource iOS app development or look for Android app development outsourcing, etc.

Among the most important aspects to consider are:

• Type of application
• Operational systems
• Core features of an app
• Scale and Complexity of the Project
• Budget and timelines
• Team composition

In a nutshell, successful application development outsourcing requires answering a few simple questions:

1. What do I need to develop?
2. Why do I need to outsource it?
3. Where can I outsource it?
4. How to outsource it properly?

Frankly, at this step, even general ideas and concepts are enough: many businesses that outsource mobile app development have no background in software development so they will discuss the ideas and concepts with mobile app development outsourcing companies anyway.

Step 2: Choose an Outsourcing Model

The next step would be choosing the way to outsource mobile app development.

In fact, IT outsourcing can be divided into two approaches: nearshore and offshore mobile application development. The main difference between them is the final outsourcing destination.

The nearshore mobile app development team is based in the client's region or time zone or as near as possible. For instance, if you are a Business in Texas, USA, your most likely nearshore destinations will be neighboring states or South American countries. Similar cultures and time zones are the main benefits of nearshore mobile app development. As a result, it would be easier to manage the team and track their efficiency, with almost no need to schedule and plan communication and working hours of different teams.

Alternatively, offshore mobile app development teams are located globally, mainly in different regions and time zones. The same business from Texas can choose outsourcing to Ukraine, other Eastern European countries, or Asia. This simplifies finding outsourced app developers and gives a broader choice. However, you will face language barriers and differences in culture and time zones, which require additional team management skills and more routine.

Step 3: Find Potential Mobile App Development Outsourcing Companies

After clarifying the aforementioned, it is time to find outsource mobile app development company.

Most mobile app development outsourcing companies offer many extra services apart from mobile development, such as QA testing, DevOps on demand, IT consulting, business analysis, and many more.

Still, if outsourcing app development is your goal, you need to find a trustworthy IT vendor with proven experience in this software development niche.

Where to Find Outsource Mobile App Developers?

Fortunately, the modern IT outsourcing services market is clear and predictable. To simplify it, you won’t need to maintain full-fledged and detailed research on each region. Many B2B directories like Clutch or GoodFirms are gathering all the required information on active companies in different locations.

Also, there are various freelance platforms, online blogs, and numerous web search results, which can be useful while looking for a mobile app outsourcing company. So all you need to do - is choose a few platforms and directories and check the business profiles. For illustration, you can easily check the Incora reviews in our profile on Clutch and similar services.

Research Companies with Experience in Your App's Niche

Don’t forget about the need to check the experience of the mobile app development team in your niche.

Once again, you can find this information on various online platforms and B2B directories or the website of an outsource mobile app development company. For instance, each such company has a case studies section where you can find all its previous projects.

Step 4: Contact the Remaining Companies or Developers

After checking all potential candidates and choosing the one most suited for further partnership, you can contact them.

You will most likely have a short list of the most interesting companies. So, don’t be shy - set up meetings for interviews and concept discussions.

Therefore, by discussing your ideas with possible vendors, you will better understand their competence and potential software solutions. Moreover, each mobile app outsourcing company will offer you a brief project estimation with preferred technologies and approximate outsource app development cost.

How Much Does it Cost to Outsource App Development?

The cost of outsourcing app development is variable and depends on numerous factors, such as the preferred tech stack, operating systems, software type, and industries.

For example, native Android app development outsourcing is cheaper and starts from approximately 50,000$. At the same time, it costs 55,000$+ to outsource iOS app development. Hybrid mobile app development offshore starts at 40,000$ yet offers fewer features and capabilities.

The best and most efficient way to learn the cost of outsourcing mobile app development - is to contact an IT vendor and ask them directly. Once again, after a brief estimation during the discovery phase, they can name the approximate cost of offshore mobile application development.

How to Minimise Risks of Mobile App Development Outsourcing?

When you outsource app developers, it is crucial to take a few steps. If you follow these recommendations, you are destined for success.

Defining Clear Requirements and Expectations

The most crucial step is to write clear and understandable software requirements specification documentation.

To cut a long story short, you have to define precise expectations and goals you want to achieve:

Instead of “efficient and fast mobile application”, it is better to say “mobile application with 90%+ performance results in certain testing tools”.

The best way to create precise requirements and expectations documentation is to hire a business analyst to do it for you.

Creating Clear and Detailed Contract

The same is true for contracts and agreements. To simplify it, you have to define all terms in your partnership contract, clarify what exact goals your outsourcing development team must achieve, what the terms of fulfilling all the tasks, what deadlines there are, etc.

The more detailed the contract is - the better the development collaboration will be.

Remember to mention terms of communication, data sharing, NDAs, DPAs, or other supplemental agreements.

Regular Communication and Progress Monitoring

Eventually, transparent and regular communication with your outsource app developers is essential.

So, remember to establish a communication routine and schedule meetings with developers. Communication is the most noticeable drawback of IT outsourcing compared to the in-house team development approach.

The best way to ensure that communication will be seamless and progress monitoring will be flawless - is to discuss the main points and clarify the terms when you contact IT outsourcing companies for the first time.