A Quick Guide For Outsourcing Mobile App Development

Are you planning to build an awesome mobile app, and exploring the options to outsource your project? Congratulations! you have come to the right place. This is a beginner’s guide to outsourcing mobile app development. 

Do you know that Bill Gates regrets that Microsoft couldn’t build a market-competitive mobile OS? He said that letting Android tech win was one of his ‘biggest mistakes’!

“We knew the mobile phone would be very popular, and so we were doing what was called Windows Mobile. Microsoft missed being the dominant mobile operating system by a very tiny amount. We didn’t assign the best people to do the work. So it’s the biggest mistake I made in terms of something that was clearly within our skillset.  Microsoft allowed this Motorola design win, and therefore the software momentum to go to Android, and so it became the dominant non-Apple mobile phone operating system globally.”

One can understand the regret of Bill Gates. There is no doubt that the demand for mobile app development is increasing with time. According to a survey, The annual mobile app downloads are going to increase by 45% in 2022 in comparison to 2017 downloads! The future of businesses is in mobile technology. Furthermore, we can also see an increasing trend in mobile app outsourcing. 

Guide to Outsourcing Mobile App Development

In this guide, I have tried to provide you with all the details on app outsourcing, including the dos and don'ts of outsourcing, the benefits of outsourcing mobile app development, finding the right mobile app development team, and how much it cost to build an app in 2021.

Recommended: An In-Depth Guide On How To Create A Music Streaming App

Why Outsource Mobile App Development?

The big question - Why should I outsource app development instead of opting for in-house app development?  Here are the benefits of outsourcing mobile app development:

• Outsourcing mobile app development is cost and time effective

First of all, let’s discuss the cost of outsourcing mobile app development. For an organization to develop a mobile app on its own, dedicated human resources and IT infrastructure is required which may lead to high costs. On the other hand, due to tough competition in the market, mobile app development outsourcing companies offer friendly packages to their clients and ensure product delivery on time. 

• Through app outsourcing, you can find expert teams, proficient in the latest technology

App development outsourcing companies keep up with the latest technology and trends to stay relevant in the market. On the other hand, enterprises need to allocate separate finances to hiring new staff with expertise in the latest technologies and/or training of their staff. Therefore, one of the top advantages of outsourcing software development is that you can hire experts in the app development game. You can hire developers with expertise in your required tech-stack.

• Outsourcing provides quality and flexibility in app development

Outsourcing mobile app development ensures high quality and flexibility to the customer as an experienced outsourcing company makes correct technological decisions giving high-quality products. It has dedicated infrastructure, services, and a qualified team to work with. 

Development Model	Time	Cost	Expertise	Quality
In-House App Development	More time is required	High costs in hiring and managing resources	Hiring and training costs of in-house experts	Dedicated QA personnel required for the project
Outsourcing App Development	Reduced, timely development	Cost friendly option	You can hire expert resources for a limited period.	Outsourcing company takes care of quality control

Recommended: How to Reduce the App Development Costs Without Compromising the Quality?

The Right Way to Outsourcing Mobile App Development

Know your Requirements

Make sure that you are aware of all the functional and non-functional requirements of your app before outsourcing your project. The functional requirements include all the features of your app while non-functional requirements include usability, performance, security, etc. Make sure that you understand and communicate your requirements well.

The Right Technology Stack

[caption id="attachment_10165" align="aligncenter" width="547"] Source: LoboStudioHamburg, Pixabay[/caption]

What’s your preferred tech stack?

Do you want to hire Android app developers or want a platform-independent app?

Do you want to build a web app or a native app?

Make sure that you know the answers to these questions. Hire the experts in your required technology stack. See relevant portfolios of the prospective companies. Moreover, check the CVs and expertise of developers before hiring. Here are a few interesting articles on mobile app development technologies:

Java vs Kotlin – Which Programming Language is Best for Android App Development?

InvoZone offers its clients a whole week of the free trial period! Contact us now!

Choose the Right Outsourcing Partner

How do you make sure that you choose the right partner to outsource the mobile app development team? Follow these suggestions while choosing your technology partner:

• Check their online presence. Google the company, check their portfolio, read their blogs, and check the reviews and rankings of the company. 
• Communicate with their representatives. See how they understand your requirements, what’s their knowledge base, and how well are they listening to your requirements. Good communication is a pillar of a successful project.
• It is crucial to identify whether the outsourcing company takes care of regulations and compliance. 
• Moreover, see if the company understands and implements security standards such as GDPR or HIPPA.

Recommended: Restaurant App Development: Everything You Need to Know

Select the Right Engagement and Pricing Models

The nature of your project, your requirements, resources, and budget define the right engagement and pricing model for you. So what are the outsourcing engagement models? and how much does it cost to outsource building an app? - Let’s answer these questions.

Outsourcing Mobile App Development - Engagement Models

Staff Augmentation

The pricing of the staff augmentation services depends on the number of members and hours. You can hire mobile app developers temporarily to augment the capacity of your team. When it the staff augmentation model the best choice for you? Here are a few scenarios:

• Increasing workforce capacity to ensure timely completion.
• To immediately have team members with specialized skills without a lengthy process of hiring.
• For strategic reasons, where the team is flexible and gives a competitive advantage.

Dedicated Team Model

In this model, the outsourcing company provides you with a dedicated team of experts that can help you build your software product. These experts include software developers, designers, UI/UX experts, QA engineers, etc. Therefore, this team guarantees the smooth operation of the software product development process. The outsourcing company might provide you with these professionals onshore, or they may also work remotely according to your requirements and feasibility. 

Do you know that InvoZone offers you a free QA expert and project manager with a dedicated team to ensure quality product delivery on time?! To find more details, contact us!

Fixed Gigs

In the fixed gigs model, you hand over the entire project to the outsourcing company. Now it’s the company’s headache to manage the outsourced project development cycle. Consequently, you just need to set up the requirements and budget for your project.

How Much Does it Cost to Build an App in 2023?

This is a tricky question. It depends on the way you make your choices. For example:

• App Outsourcing vs In-house Development - As discussed earlier, outsourcing mobile app development is cost-friendly as compared to in-house development. But remember, hiring expert professionals from a good outsourcing service-providing company isn’t cheap. If you do not want to compromise on the quality of your product, you have to pay for it. However, once your project is complete, you are free from the developer’s costs. So in comparison, outsourced product development is cost and time-effective. 
• Custom mobile app development vs off-the-shelf solutions - It is obvious that custom app development costs way higher. On the other hand, off-the-shelf apps are a quick and economical way to launch your own business app. However, with custom development, you can enjoy the freedom and flexibility of building a unique and feature-loaded app. The choice is yours.

Just in case, you are interested in off-the-shelf FMCG and on-demand services apps, check out our products here!

• What's the tech stack? - You read it right. The nature of the tech stack also defines the pricing of app development. 

• Last, but not the least, the engagement model that you are choosing, defines the pricing. For example, You can hire resources on an hourly basis or you can opt for fixed gigs and the pricing will be decided according to the nature of the app! 

Conclusion

In this article, I have tried to answer all your questions regarding outsourcing mobile app development. Thank you for the read! If you have any queries regarding mobile app development, contact us right away!