The greatest lesson the last year taught us business-wise was the difference between a whim and a necessity. We’ve all witnessed companies shifting their strategies to those more compatible with the needs of clients locked up at their homes. One of the most vibrant examples of a whim-turning necessity is the need for mobile app development. The thing that many companies consider to be a redundant bluff has nowadays proved itself as the main string of connections between companies and your customers.
With the need for digitizing your business looming brightly on the horizon, the question is, how do you get your mobile app cost-efficiently and perfectly? Basically, there are three paths for you to follow. You can hire a freelance developer, use a ready-made open source solution, or you can outsource your mobile app development. Without further ado, let’s come to terms with this: hiring outsourced development teams is the best card to pull out of this deck of options. In today’s article, we’ll explain why outsourcing app development is the path to choose.
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Table of Contents
To Outsource Or Not To Outsource? That Is the Question!
Outsourcing your app development is not the only method to consider when seeking cost-efficiency and smoothness in the app development process. One way or another, you will most likely get what you want. Yet, the ultimate dilemma is whether you’re building an app for yourself or your end-users. Mobile application development is the process of creating software for smartphones and tablets, and the quality of that process determines your market success.
Open source solutions are often deprived of an extensive customization toolkit, while a freelance mobile app developer might lack the comprehensive expertise you need. Finding a reliable, long-term outsourcing tech partner is by far the best shot you have at creating high-performing mobile applications.
Hiring a Freelancer
Hiring a freelancer is a great idea for a short-term, relatively small task. However, if you think of hiring a single person for end-to-end mobile application development, you might encounter issues. Developing mobile products takes more than one tech; the stack can include JavaScript, CSS, and various APIs. Meanwhile, freelancers are often specialized in one operating system, meaning they might build a great Android app but fail to deliver a seamless iOS app. If you try to hire an army of freelancers, the communication runaround will be overwhelming.
Open-Source Solutions
There are more issues than perks when opting for an open source solution to build apps. While it might be cheap, it is hardly customizable. Application development is the process of meeting unique user needs, but these platforms only let you change the UI (User Interface), not the core logic. Furthermore, open source tools often lack the backend services and support required to maintain the app as your business metrics grow.
Full-Scale Outsourcing
Let’s start talking about outsourcing by acknowledging the fact that it has become a major trend not only in software development but in general. In accordance with SmallBizGenius, nearly 80% of today’s businesses consider outsourcing a lifesaving straw when it comes to ensuring cost-efficiency, product & service quality, and improved managerial routine. Talking about outsourced mobile app development, one can easily claim that the benefits are numerous. So, let’s have a closer look at how outsourced app development can complement your business.
Mobile App Development Outsourcing: Business & Tech Value
Nearly 80% of today’s businesses consider outsourcing a lifesaving straw to ensure product quality. In a market where Android and iOS dominate the operating system landscape, having a partner with the right development approach is critical. Here are eight pivotal reasons why outsourcing can gratify your business.
- Cost Reduction. Research shows 59% of businesses use outsourcing to cut expenses. It is cheaper than in-house production at the hiring stage and throughout the app development lifecycle.
- Expertise Enhancement. Outsourcing opens the doors to a worldwide talent pool. You can find app developers specialized in native and cross-platform solutions, proficient in Flutter, React Native, or native mobile languages.
- Hiring Velocity. While internal hiring takes an average of 24 days, an outsourced mobile development team can start within a week.
- Scaling Flexibility. Whether you need to target mobile users on devices running Android or Apple fans, an outsourced team can scale its resources to meet your development lifecycle needs.
- Core Business Focus. Outsourcing lets you focus on your core business while the vendor handles the risks related to data storage and cloud services.
- Ubiquitous Control. A reliable vendor uses developer tools and project managers to give you a 360-degree view of the typical mobile project progress.
- Support. Once deployed to the Apple App Store or Google Play, your Android mobile or iOS product requires constant updates to debug new issues.
- Security. Cybersecurity for software applications is a long-term mission. For a complex app, you need HIPAA compliance and regular penetration tests, which a professional team can provide via secure cloud-based services.
Outsourced mobile app development brings numerous benefits that none of the other app development avenues has. So, let’s proceed to learn how to choose a vendor that would tick off every requirement on your list.
How to Opt for a Decent Outsourced Vendor
When you look for a mobile development partner, you aren’t just looking for someone who can write code. You need a team that can debug, optimize, and target mobile audiences effectively.
Define Your App
You must understand that when you hire a development team, it’s not a party of fortune tellers that you get to work with. Yes, they will apply a bit of their magic to create your platform, but to know which spells and potions to use, you must tell them what you expect to get in the end.
Copious stories of failure all have one thing in common – the lack of precise requirements for the product. So, take a piece of paper and write down every single feature you want your mobile app development to have. Thus, the developer will get a broader image of what you need, and you will get a product that serves your business just fine.
A reliable outsourcing vendor will always help you conduct additional research and analysis of your mobile app development, assisting you in shaping your future product. Decide if you need a native app for high performance or cross-platform development to save money. A professional vendor will help you choose between a Flutter framework or native development based on your user experience goals.
Set the Budget Right
It seems obvious, right? Calculate how much money you have to spend on your project. That will become the starting point for your venture, as you’ll learn the framework and the scale of your product. This way, you’ll be able to find a vendor that is ready for mobile app development with a fixed price or on a time & material basis. An experienced tech partner will always provide you with a preliminary estimate of how much time and resources they are going to need to develop the app that you want. If their terms fall within your deadline and budget, then you have the green light to begin the project.
Please don’t get too surprised when the price they name will be much lower than what you could have expected. Not all outsourced tech companies want to rip you off. As a matter of fact, it is quite possible that ordering from a freelancer would be more expensive than from a professional tech team guided by an experienced project manager.
Check the Platforms
Now, start selecting the vendor. An appropriate starting point would be to research online marketplaces, where software vendors’ customers leave unbiased feedback on the quality of services received. For example, use sites like Clutch to find a mobile app developer with a proven track record. Look for those who have experience with APIs, JavaScript, and backend services. So, if you want to find a trustworthy vendor, start researching online where clients tell the truth, only the truth, and nothing but the truth.
Choose the Direction
There are many options when it comes to choosing the right IT outsourcing market. We all know about India, China, and other “tech states” where so many beautiful products and platforms have already been created. However, there have been new developments in the IT outsourcing market, as Ukraine is exponentially becoming the world’s most trusted tech partner. There are four pivotal reasons why Ukrainian developers have everything it takes to fulfill your vision.
First of all, there is an immense talent pool, as the Ukrainian educational system provides +50,000 tech specialists annually. Secondly, the Ukrainian IT market is an established partner to the world’s most prominent businesses, including Google, Tesla, Microsoft, etc. Thirdly, the prices are moderate and reasonable.
There’s no wonder why so many start-ups fueled only by ideas and enthusiasm turn to Ukrainian developers. They know that Ukrainian developers will find a path to their product’s monetization. Finally, Ukraine’s geographical location – right in the very heart of Eastern Europe – ensures efficient communication, as you won’t experience too much time zone difference.
Look for Agile
The Agile methodology stands for fast and fruitful software development. It ensures that the Android operating system and iOS versions are built in sync, using a development environment like Visual Studio or specific developer tools. Software vendors that stick with Agile follow a thoroughly planned sprint-based development process, ensuring absolutely no chaos and fuss around. Open communication between the providers, customers, and developers lies at the core of the Agile methodology, so you should, probably, opt for Agile.
POC & MVP Are a Must!
Always start your app development process with a Minimum Viable Product. This allows you to test the user interface and front-end performance on a real mobile device before the full launch.
Yes, MVP might also cost you some money, but it is always a win-win situation. A successful MVP means that your app is nothing but an embodiment of a great idea, and now you have a solid basis for further development.
Meanwhile, if your MVP turns out to be a failure, you’ll know what to improve, and you’ll avoid extra expenditures later. Imagine finding out that the project is not operative after finishing the entire development cycle. Sounds horrible, right? Thus, always start your app development by getting a clickable prototype that will show you what is good and what must be improved.
Sole Sourcing Matters
You don’t want a couple of companies working on the various aspects of your app. The Deloitte research claims that 48% of clients prefer working with a dedicated team from one vendor. The latter covers each and every aspect of their mobile app development, starting from R&D and ending with support and maintenance.
Cooking a boiling pot of developers, designers, QA engineers, project managers, etc., from various vendors is not the best idea, as it will bring a lot of discordance into your project. Also, 89% of the surveyed clients claim that sticking with one vendor helped them increase efficiency while cutting the time and cost required for successful implementation and ongoing support.
Analyze the Portfolio
Roam the chosen vendors’ websites and check their portfolios. There’s nothing much to dwell upon here. Just check their cases and find out whether they have experience accomplishing projects like yours. Related experience matters a lot, and it would be a great advantage for your business to have folks “who know their tricks” working around your code.
Mind the UI/UX
Ensuring smooth user navigation through your app is a must. Check the vendor’s design portfolio and discuss your vision of the app with their designer. For example, sticking with an inclusive design would be a great idea, as it ensures the ease of using your app for every single cohort of your customers. Your mobile app development must be comprehensive in terms of its design, as mobile platforms are no longer designated to be an abridged version of the web app.
Mobile apps must provide users with the full scale of services while on the go, and they should do it even quicker than your website. The obsolete UX myths that “minimalism is everything you need,” “aesthetic is not crucial,” etc., are all a hoax. Make sure to choose a vendor that builds wireframes based on tested, reported, and fixed user stories, as designers don’t always tend to think like users. A great app is nothing but an app like the ones users already love. It should feel like a native product, utilizing native features and native APIs for a seamless app experience.
Talk to Your Potential Vendor
When you’re done with choosing the vendor(s), start talking to them. Get on the calls with their representatives and hear what they’ve got to offer. The rule of thumb here is to not fall for the lowest price. Get the chosen vendors to come up with requests for proposals (RFPs) and compare the values offered to your business by every software vendor.
Conclusion
When you hire a professional team, you get a group of troubleshooters with development skills in cross-platform native or hybrid development. This way, you gain a chance to focus on your business while the software for smartphones you need is being managed by professionals across the entire development lifecycle. Everything that’s left in it for you is to get updates on the progress and enjoy your smoothly-running software. So, don’t hesitate – set your competitive advantage in the market today!
Are you looking for a cross-platform Flutter solution? Or a high-performance native iOS app? We have the tools to make it happen. Get in touch with SPsoft to define your project requirements and receive a preliminary estimate!
FAQ
What is the difference between native and cross-platform development?
Native development involves creating an app specifically for one operating system, like an Android app using Kotlin or an iOS app using Swift. This allows the developer to access native features and native APIs with maximum performance. Conversely, cross-platform development uses a single codebase and a framework like Flutter or React Native to build apps that run on mobile devices of both types. This development approach is generally more cost-effective for small businesses and startups because it requires only one mobile app developer team to maintain both iOS and Android versions.
Why is the app development lifecycle important for project success?
The app development lifecycle is the structured development process that ensures a complex app is built, tested, and deployed correctly. It includes discovery, front-end design, backend services integration, and a rigorous debug phase. Following a clear lifecycle allows app devs to ensure the user experience is consistent and that push notifications or APIs work as intended. Without this structure, mobile application development often suffers from data storage errors or performance issues when the app is finally released to a web browser or a mobile device.
How do cloud-based services benefit modern mobile applications?
Cloud-based services provide the essential backend services and data storage required for modern mobile applications to function. Instead of storing massive amounts of data directly on the mobile device, app developers use cloud services to manage user profiles, sync data, and handle complex calculations. This ensures that a typical mobile user has a fast and seamless experience. Furthermore, using cloud services allows for easier application programming and integration with third-party APIs, which is crucial for features like payments or map services.
What are hybrid apps and when should I choose them?
Hybrid apps are essentially web applications wrapped in a native mobile container. They are built using JavaScript, CSS, and HTML, and they run inside a web browser component within the app. This hybrid development allows web developers who want to enter the mobile market to use their existing development skills. While they might not be as fast as a native app, hybrid mobile solutions are excellent for content-heavy applications where high-speed graphics aren’t the priority. For Android mobile or iOS projects with limited budgets, a hybrid development model can be a viable development approach.
How does a software development kit (SDK) assist in the app development process?
A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of developer tools, libraries, and documentation that allows an app developer to build apps for a specific operating system or framework. For example, the Android SDK provides the necessary application programming interfaces to interact with the Android operating system. Using an SDK simplifies mobile application development by providing pre-written code for common tasks like camera access or push notifications. Without a proper SDK and a modern development environment, creating a complex app would take significantly more time and resources.
What is the role of a web app in a mobile strategy?
A web app or web application is a website designed to look and feel like a mobile app when accessed through a web browser on a mobile device. While a web app doesn’t require installation from the Apple App Store or Google Play, it cannot access native features like the accelerometer or offline data storage as easily as a native mobile product. Many companies start with a web application to test their user interface and user experience before committing to full mobile application development for iOS and Android.
How do APIs improve the functionality of mobile applications?
APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) act as bridges that allow your mobile app to communicate with other software applications or backend services. For example, a developer might use native APIs to connect to a payment processor or a social media login. In mobile app development, APIs are essential for retrieving real-time data and ensuring the app remains lightweight. By using well-documented APIs, app developers can build apps that are highly functional without having to manually code every single feature from scratch.
What should I look for in a mobile app development platform?
Choosing the right app development platform depends on your target mobile audience and your budget. You should look for a development platform that supports modern programming language options and offers robust developer tools for a fast debug process. Popular choices include Flutter for cross-platform needs or Visual Studio for varied software development tasks. The right app development platform provides a stable development environment and a robust software development kit to ensure your Android app or iOS product is secure and seamless.
