Why your business needs software development to grow?

It was way back in 2011 when we first heard the phrase that “software is eating the world,” and it’s even more true in 2020. 

Think about an industry that is very physical in nature, so not a digital one. Consider industrial manufacturing. That’s a very physical industry: big machines and people in big warehouses doing projects. But it’s also very driven by digital processes and software: Big Data, virtual reality, automated testing, Internet of Things, etc. You are seeing the same in logistics, too -- augmented reality and other software-driven processes are combining to digitally transform an older industry.

Digital, and processes powered by software, still is very important even in a very physical business. 

Software is eating the world.

What does that mean for your business, though?

You cannot grow without software

It would be nearly impossible in modern business to grow and scale your organization without some software component. That means you need to have access to great developers and engineers. You need a team that can focus on building the right software products to grow your business and boost your customer satisfaction/experience.

So you hire these people, right?

Well, you can. But hiring is a big gamble. It takes time and money to find the right person. You may not have the luxury of either. And all those candidates? They may be speaking to other companies. So if you find the right person, and offer them, there’s no guarantee they will come work for you. And recently, there’s been this whole “ghosting” issue, where you hire someone and they don’t even show up…

The second issue is that business needs change. You might need a personalization expert in October, but then by February you need an expert in automated testing. So now you hired this personalization expert. He is on your payroll. You can either hope he learns more about automated testing, and quickly, or you can go hire another person who knows about automated testing. But now you have two people, both of whom you are paying for, and only one (the automated tester) is important to your current business model.

This is not an effective way to think about staffing and growing.

What would be better?

Outsource this function. When you outsource software development, here’s what you get:

• A team with many skills and different expertise areas
• A team of people who integrate into your culture
• You are paying a flat fee for access to this whole team and their skills, instead of hiring developer by developer
• You can see the previous work that the outsourcing partner has done, so you know what they can accomplish.
• You get things done faster because when you need to pivot, you can pivot easily since the outsourced team has the skills you need in each case.

Cheaper + faster as inputs, and growth as the output. That’s what you want.

To find out more about how to select the best software development partner for your business, download our checklist here: