What problems should be paid attention to when looking for a software outsourcing company to do a project?

Messi wrote some routines for outsourcing companies to develop apps, reminding everyone! We must pay attention to the following five points!

Routine 1. False famous cases

Generally speaking, customers and outsourcing companies have three opportunities for realistic communication.

1. Pre-negotiation: the two parties establish contact, the outsourcing company introduces itself, and the customers explain their needs.

2. On-the-spot investigation: The customer visited the outsourcing company to learn about the company scale, office space and staff structure.

3. Reach cooperation: confirm the demand, sign a contract and start research and development.

The three steps are interlocking and there are hidden dangers.

In the initial negotiation stage, customers will ask outsourcing companies what cases they have, and some unreliable outsourcing companies will brag about themselves with various successful cases. We made a beautiful group and Didi outsourced it to us. Momo is also our case ... but after careful inquiry, we can't tell the product details and development process.

In contrast, those outsourcing companies that dare to show their real development but unknown success stories to customers are more honest and credible (after all, there are not so many cases that can be completed, and many need time to precipitate).

Routine two, if the demand is not clear, quote directly.

Generally speaking, in the initial negotiation, customers will want to know the quotation. If the outsourcing company directly blurts out an accurate price without knowing the demand, it can pass directly.

Because of the development of an App, from the login mode to the product information architecture, different needs have great differences in the pricing of a project. The outsourcing company that directly informs the price when the demand is not clear is simply luring customers with low prices.

Therefore, when the outsourcing company asks a lot of requirements in detail before quoting, it is a performance of being responsible to customers and will be a good start.

Routine three. This company relies entirely on sales.

After using well-known cases and low-cost flicker, enter the second step. After all, customers will still be skeptical of "seeing is believing, but listening is empty", so they need to make a field trip to see what their staffing is like. There are several engineers, several product managers and UI, and some are in sales.

Some outsourcing companies only take more orders and don't pay attention to technology, so the proportion of engineers will be less, and there may even be no product manager.

This will lead to the following three problems:

1. Many companies don't know technology and Internet in sales. They promise their customers that they can do some needs when they can't. Finally, the engineers couldn't develop it, which delayed the development time and trapped the engineers.

2. Sales talks about the demand, and after signing the contract, it directly develops. There is no product manager to analyze requirements, design interaction, and no test engineer to do tests, which leads to no closed loop, no complete logic and poor user experience.

3. The team's engineers rarely or directly hire interns, lack of experience, technology can't keep up, and quality is not guaranteed. Moreover, they may outsource the project and earn the difference in the middle. Because of poor communication, incorrect demand communication and many other reasons, the project cannot develop.

So not all big companies are reliable, and not all small companies are unreliable. After a field trip, my heart was steadfast.

Routine four, contract trap

Some unreliable outsourcing companies often make a fuss about the contract, such as vague description of requirements, unclear delivery time, and no mention of development methods and acceptance criteria. Once there is a problem, they will shirk their responsibilities according to the contract and harm the interests of customers.

Therefore, before the development, we must discuss the details and implement them in the contract. No matter how small the details are, we should make it clear from the beginning.

Routine five, the product lacks arms and legs, and it is not responsible in the later stage. The price starts from the ground.

When customers carefully select outsourcing companies, regular companies with large fields, many cases and complete personnel allocation, after on-the-spot investigation and verification, there is no trap in the contract details, and there is still a pit waiting for you-the products lack arms and legs, shoddy, irresponsible, and sit on the ground.

This is crucial. Many customers suffered a big loss here. First of all, to develop an App, there must be a clear requirement document, which is usually the product of repeated communication between customers and product managers of outsourcing companies. It is an extremely important step to specify each function and the effect to be achieved in the requirements document, which is also the only basis for technology development. If some requirements are not written into the document, or just unexpected small requirements, then in the later stage, some outsourcing companies will also sit on the ground and start the price.

Take the most commonly used login method as an example. I don't think about it in the early stage, I just want to log in with my mobile phone verification code, and I want to log in via WeChat and QQ in the later stage. In fact, it is only a very simple small demand, and the process logic is the same, but some outsourcing companies will move out of the contract and ask for more money as long as the demand increases.

Of course, there are also low-priced bids in the early stage and high prices in the middle to increase demand; There are also passive slacking and cutting corners; There are also people who are arrogant and seek development; What's more, we employ inexperienced interns and encounter difficulties in our development ..... The App and outsourcing companies developed in this way are completely bottomless. Are you at ease?

Therefore, in view of the five "Yin" classics mentioned by Messi above, how should customers polish their eyes and see through these routines? Don't worry, I hope the software will teach you the "steps"

The first step is to find out the truth.

When they say which famous cases they did, don't just listen, but look at their use case diagrams and UI diagrams. If there is an online App, download it to experience the actual operation, see if there is any problem with the logic function, what is the design style, whether it will suddenly flash back or crash, and so on.

After the first field trip, you can also secretly make surprise visits to employees and venues. After all, real gold is not afraid of fire, and good companies are not afraid of surprises.

The second step is to define the demand.

Only you know best what you want, what style your app needs, what functions it needs and what functions it doesn't need. You must have a clear idea. You can listen to the advice of the outsourcing team, but you can't be completely taken away by them. The detailed requirements conveyed must also be fully realized in the requirements document, function list or prototype diagram, and confirmed and signed one by one.

The third step, professional products

The outsourcing team must have the position of product manager, which is the best communication bridge between customers and programmers. When customers can't explain the requirements clearly and programmers can't understand them, the best translator is the product manager.

Professionally, they can break the requirements and convey them to programmers from the perspective of users and customers, which can avoid many communication and development problems and make app development smoother.

Step 4: Track progress.

Customers need to be clear about the development process and progress of app. Before formally entering the project development, the outsourcing team will make a preliminary judgment on the project development cycle, test time and pre-release time, and divide the project requirements into nodes for iterative development planning. After each node development test is completed, submit a weekly report or acceptance confirmation to the customer, and then continue to develop the next node.

Step 5: Check the contract.

There is generally no one-time contract. Before signing the contract, we should consider whether the project is done according to the preliminary prototype, whether the functions are perfect and available, whether the construction period is reasonable, and the payment method. In a society ruled by law, everyone abides by the law, and formal outsourcing companies will sign formal development contracts with customers. Therefore, the aforementioned development methods, requirements, UI, construction period, payment, etc. must be strictly stipulated in the contract.

Step 6: Customize &; Final result

The finished app is a template that applies other apps, so it may not have its own characteristics. If you need to add functions, you have to pay extra money. Customized development is completely based on the customer's own needs, the price is higher than the finished app, and the construction period will be longer.

Both have their own advantages and disadvantages, and customers can analyze and choose by themselves. However, it should be noted that if the finished product is purchased directly, whether the outsourcing company can increase or decrease the functional modules and whether the price is reasonable needs to be communicated clearly in advance; If you choose custom development, you should prevent the outsourcing company from not following the previous prototype, but give you a set of templates.

Step 7, source code delivery.

Don't think that you are completely relieved after the project is developed, and delivery is also a very important piece. According to the contract, the outsourcing team needs to deliver the source code (including source code), description documents, operation documents and other related materials of all projects to customers.

Including but not limited to:

1. The latest source code (including comments) of all front-end and back-end projects.

2. Database design documents

3.API interface documentation

4. All developer account information.

5. Draft prototype design

6.UI design draft

7. Documents and other materials related to the project

Be sure to take the source code into your own hands to facilitate the later iterative development and system maintenance.

Step 8: Complete the service

Complete service refers to providing not only pure technical services, but also a series of services such as product design, user experience, technical consultation, operation and maintenance. The outsourcing team needs a complete service chain from development to maintenance, so that customers can avoid detours with professional experience.

No matter whether it is a big outsourcing company or a small outsourcing team, any outsourcing that can't serve customers with an "All In" attitude can't be regarded as good outsourcing.

The magic is one foot high and the road is ten feet high. I hope the software has taught you the tricks of learning, but you should collect it well. In fact, for our software development service providers, we have a win-win relationship with our customers, and ultimately we hope to help our customers make money. So in the process of development, it would be great if both sides could be honest with each other.