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5 Things to Know About Outsourcing Web Development

Featured image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

Although some companies may have success doing web development internally, most don’t have the time or the specific expertise for getting great results. For this reason, many companies turn to third-party web development specialists to execute this task for them.

Outsourcing your web development makes a lot of sense in many cases. Even if you do have developers on staff who are capable of web development, outsourcing can still save your company time and money. Moreover, it can free your people up to work on other important projects. What’s more, when you outsource to the right partner, you can get great, not just good, results.

That last part is key when outsourcing your web development work. You not only need to find a good company, but you also need the right partner. In short, you need a partner that has the technical skills needed to get the job done. You also need a partner that has your best interests in mind as much as their own. Here are five points to consider when outsourcing web development work.

1. Find a Web Development Partner That Will Offer a Truly Custom Solution

Plenty of developers can create and develop web projects for your company. But in 2021, just offering a standard solution is not enough. To make it worth the investment, you need the right customized solution for your business.

The right web development partner will offer you solutions that perfectly fit your needs. They will offer the features, functions, connectivity, and user-friendliness you need to provide a best-in-class web application that works for your unique business.

Unique is the key word to keep in mind when looking for the right outsourced web development partner. Your business is different from other businesses and your web applications should reflect that. One-size-fits-all solutions or generic apps with a few brand-specific tweaks won’t do the trick these days. 

If a web development agency is not willing to create a unique solution from the ground up, you should look for one that will. If they won’t offer the flexibility to work with your timeline, your budget, or your function requests, they probably aren’t the partner for you.

2. Find a Partner That Thinks Beyond the Initial Project

Another factor to look for in a partner is a focus on the long-term relationship, not just the short-term project. The project is important, so make sure your initial web development agency gives you what you need at the moment. However, a truly great web development agency will complete the task at hand with a trained eye on the future. This Liventus guide to custom web application development further explains why it’s critical to look toward the future when executing a project.

A web application is only as good as its long-term use for your company. What good is an app that helps your company grow but needs to be replaced after it does so? That is why you want a partner that thinks about what will happen down the road.

How will the app handle an influx of users? How easy is it to scale with growth? Does it have the API to connect with other technologies as you add them to your business? These are all questions that will be answered right up front when you work with the right outsourced web development agency.

3. Find a Partner That Prioritizes Security

Security should always be a top priority for web developers. In 2021, it is more essential than ever. For some time, cyberattacks have been exposing sensitive data and costing companies money to the tune of billions of dollars in losses. This problem increased in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic forced more people to work from home and shop online, creating many more targets for hackers.

Making sure security is a priority for your outsourced web developer should be a top-of-mind for you when looking for the right partner. Security for web-based applications is an ever-changing tug of war between cybersecurity experts and cybercriminals. Knowing the latest security best practices and making security updates and patches easy as time passes are two points to think about when looking for the right development partner.

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4. Find a Partner That Understands Your Business

The right outsourced web development partner doesn’t need to know all the nitty-gritty details of how you do what you do. They do, however, need to understand your business in a way that allows them to comprehend how the app they are developing fits into it. They should also understand your long-term business goals and make sure the solution they are developing fits those ambitions.

The type of overarching understanding you are looking for should answer these questions:

  • Do they understand if the app is for internal or external use (or both)?
  • Do they understand how it will make life easier for your customer or backend users?
  • What features will bring value to your company and which ones are just developer fluff?

If they can demonstrate that level of understanding you are probably in good shape.

5. Find a Partner That Knows the Latest Trends

The world of web application development and technology as a whole is constantly evolving. If your web applications don’t implement the hottest trends, or at least have the capability to implement them later, your project can be obsolete much quicker than you would imagine.

One of the biggest reasons to outsource this type of development is to find web development specialists with their finger on the pulse of the latest trends. In 2021, this includes IoT technology, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, voice search, and more. These are the technologies that will drive development in 2021 and beyond. Your outsourced web development partner should be able to help you navigate all of these trends.

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Outsourcing Web Development Work Makes Sense in 2021

Outsourcing your web development work in 2021 makes a lot of sense for most companies. With the right partner, doing so will save you time and money and give you the best outcome for your project. When looking for the right partner to outsource your project to, remember to look for one that knows how to customize your solution, looks toward the future, understands your business, prioritizes cybersecurity, and draws on the latest tech trends.

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