Agile based methodology in Offshore Software Development Process

It is believed that effective communication plays an important role in the success of any software development process. This belief has given rise to agile software development wherein there is no fixed plan for development. Instead, the developers and clients regularly communicate to decide the next plan of action. As opposed to this, an offshore software development process entails a plan driven approach. It involves much less communication than the agile methodology. The development process is largely based on a plan of action chalked out in the beginning. Software development projects from Europe and North America are now undertaken by development firms based as far as India. While offshore development means significantly reduced development costs, the other benefits of it are less known. It is in the best interest of clients that a certain level of agility exists in any development process. Therefore, integrating some approaches of agile development into an offshore based methodology can help the latter succeed.

• Setup a defined communication protocol: It is usually seen that remote servers are situated in locations where the largest development teams sit. Smaller teams communicate to these servers over the internet. It is essential to set redundant communication channel for back-up when the primary ones fail. A particular communication protocol must be set for the complete development process. This would include documentations structures, strategic location of servers, video conferencing plans and also field visit plans.

• Use of wikis as knowledge repositories: Since face to face communication is not possible on a regular basis, it is essential to bridge this gap by creating effective knowledge repositories. Wikis can be used to share information and also to provide updated on the development process. This is offset the problem resulting from the absence of physical proximity. Most offshore software development centers follow a plan driven approach. As such they require detailed plans and designs for the requirements. Knowledge repositories can help to communicate these plans. Moreover, they can be used by both the client and developers for future reference. The lack of structure of wikis allows the involved parties to create documentation of their own suitable structure. The notification capabilities of wikis can be used to alert all distant parties about any significant changes as well.

• Continuous integration of the completed work: It is a common practice to divide the development process and delegate it to different firms. While this results in faster products with fewer bugs, integration becomes a bottleneck. Having continuous integration is very important for such an offshore software development process. But, multi-site teams may face serious glitches during integration. Therefore, it is important that all the teams use the same code base and interoperable design methodology. It is a must that every development is done keep the future integration in mind so as to avoid future issues.

• Importance of regular bug fixing and code reviews: There might be times when the development output of a team is used as a code base by another. During such times, bug fixing before embarking on the development procedure is important. This makes the developers familiar with the code base, its structure, limitations, capabilities and future scope of enhancement. This in turn results in a better product with no bugs. Having regular code reviews between multi site teams proved to be helpful in building a robust product. Ambassadors from each team can visit their peer teams so that everyone is on the same page. This will bring the aspect of face to face communication used in agile approach into an offshore development process.

In this way, incorporating agility through communication into an offshore software development process helps create a cost effective and successful product.

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Tips While Choosing Offshore Software Development Company

Outsourcing to an offshore software development company definitely has its own set of advantages. However, geographical and linguistic differences may pose certain challenges. The good news is that these challenges can be easily overcome by following these important tips.

Save Money but Wisely: Cost-effectiveness is the primary reasons why the software development outsourcing businesses are in demand. While looking around for an offshore company, you might be inclined towards the least expensive one. However, choosing the cheapest company for your project may lead you into spending more in damage control. The expense of maintenance and bug fixing may cost you way more than what you saved by choosing an incompetent company. The company with the lowest price quotes evidently earns the lowest profit margins too. Thus, you may not get the best development team at your disposal. Evaluate the companies operating model properly and identify its strengths and weaknesses. Once you have done the analysis only then finalize the contract for your project.

Take References; Hear Stories: Invest time in hearing the story of the offshore software development company. It will give you a fair idea about their business conducts and professionalism. You will be in a much better position to understand if you can trust them with your project needs. The company that is organized and ethical will definitely have a nice story to tell. But do not end the quest there. Try and learn about the provider from the other companies who have done (or are already doing) business with the provider. The references from other people will help you make a better choice. 

Communication is the Key: Your business needs are known the best to you. The idea is to have a clearly defined channel of communication so that the offshore software development services company is fully in tune with your project requirement. As the service provider is operational in another part of the world, it would rely completely on the inputs provided by you. If the project demands are big, a dedicated project manager at the provider’s end is an absolute necessity to bridge the communication gap. The project goes through several phases of development and testing. The back and forth exchange of information regarding the progress of each phase is extremely crucial. A proper communication channel aids the streamlining of the process.

Go with the company that follows high standards: Identify the industry standards the tips for offshore development service provider follows. Remember that the success of your project depends a great deal upon the industry standards the vendor is adhering to. In the software development process, there is standardization for everything including documentation, coding, and testing. For that matter, the entire development cycle of the project works on the industry norms. The closer the vendor is to the standards, the better are the chances of getting the desirable results.

Always reference the previous work: The type of projects the offshore development company has delivered in the past speaks volumes about their competencies. It also gives you the insight into the type of domains they have created the projects for. The companies with higher experience also have more exposure to the different types of businesses. Although most of the good companies are able to develop programs for all types of businesses, their core competencies may still lie in only limited domains.

Are they technologically up to the task? While the offshore software development company may have experience in your domain, you may still have bigger project demands for which higher levels of technological competencies may be required. Therefore, evaluating the technological prowess of the company before finalizing the deal would be worthwhile.

A Bit of History: Outsourced Development and Offshore Development

Software development programs were kick started long before. But the concept of offshore software development was conceived only in early 1990’s. Not many companies where doing offshore software development programs at that time. Companies at that time where having their own space at their own locations. There they will hire software professionals and take all kinds of development projects. Then, who is the first one who came up with the offshore development idea? We have to dig into the history to know about the roots of Outsource Software Development projects.

Anyone remember the name Andersen consulting? In Europe and US they were the first to attempt project development outsourcing. At that time no one ever thought about doing such type of initiatives. Everyone liked to look after their business from the same place itself. But the term outsourcing was not anyone at that time. Anderson and allies were doing onshore development projects. Their method of project execution is similar to the one that was doing by offshore development companies. The company was recruiting many software professionals at that time. The hired professionals were sent to special training sessions. In that session they will be taught about the various ways in which a project has to be executed for the customers. Training on software development was given on diverse platforms. Again, there were many levels in it. They were programmers, system analysts and project managers. After giving a common training program, each level of executives will be again trained according to their post. By following this method of development practises Anderson was able to gain lot of business in the software development area.

At a time there were able to handle lot of clients. This helped them in improving the business. But the main problem with this type of project execution method was its cost. They were hiring programmers and development professionals at very high prices. Or at that time the software development professionals in U.S and Europe were only a few. So there was great demand for such people. Thus it becomes not practical for smaller or low investment companies to meet the cost of software development programs. This forced many to think about alternative methods. It becomes very much impossible for companies to meet the expenses related to developing software. Later, it was towards the end of 1990’s many having started thinking about offshore development or project outsourcing.

In late 1990’s many companies have started having tie-up with companies of other countries. Certain other companies have started enquiring about software development projects and its cost directly with companies outside the country. All these efforts where started after realizing the benefits of software development outsourcing. When compare with the cost associated with developing software in the hometown with other countries, it was relatively very high. But the expertise of professionals on developing software was same. This forced companies to opt for outsourcing. Many companies in U.S and Europe have started sending project offers to other countries where production cost was lower. This includes countries like India. Earlier U.S companies where sending representatives to other countries for collecting information regarding the cost, professional expertise, man power, company set up etc. After sometime there came a change in this trend. The companies in other countries started bidding for projects and this can be called Outsource Software Development trend. The company that won the bid will take the project and submit it on time after completion. Nowadays all the major outsourcing companies are following this pattern. With the development of technology it becomes easy for offshore development companies to find projects and bid for it. The term “outsourcing” is now used in a broader sense. Not only software development, many more works have started coming from various companies to offshore development companies.  

Importance of choosing the best software development firm

If you are interested in expanding your business across the globe, then develop software that will help you in reaching the desk of customers as well as vendors without any delay. Advanced technologies and applications made it possible to do business in a smart way. It is not possible for most of the companies to have their own software development team as permanent employees. Majority want to use applications developed for different purposes, but those all are one time requirements. If you are planning to develop software that can help in enhancing your business, then search for the best Software Development Company.

It is not easy to develop software from the scratch. An experienced and talent team of developers and designers of a Software Development Company can help you in achieving your aims. These days software development companies have started offering services in diverse areas. They can provide mobile software development services and web development services. It is better to assign the task of software development to those companies that are having good will in the industry.

Many things have to be taken into consideration while selecting a software development company. In the software development process, designing is the first stage. A good software designer will do through research and collect vital data about the company and its products before designing software. This helps them in understanding the requirements of the customer. A customer should be able to describe in detail about the type of software they would like to implement in the organization. Conveying details in an accurate way allows designers in giving the best work. After finishing the designing process, the decision regarding the type of software will be taken.

Most of the software development companies decide about this after checking the type of software an organization require in the current scenario. A customer should check the services offered by companies in the software development field, including cost.A comparison between the services offered by each allows in choosing the best service at affordable rate. Many new technologies and applications are introducing in the development field very now and then. Check the currently used techniques and technologies before agreeing with a software development company.