Should you outsource rapid application development? And why?

In short answer to the title: yes, you should. Why, though?

Business is fast these days. It’s nimble, it’s disruptive, and it moves quicker than it ever has.

Your biggest advantages in this context:

• Small teams
• Clear objectives
• Constant feedback
• High-quality software
• Fast time to market
• Less fixes on the back-end
• Deliver project, pause, reflect, restart the cycle

You get all this with rapid application development. But it’s done better with outsourced teams. To wit:

• Hiring in-house is expensive, time-consuming, and you don’t always know if you’re getting the right type of expertise.
• When you try to do RAD with an internal team, there’s a lot of politics because the internal team is close, knows the founders and executives, etc… so deployments can stall because of work psychology and thus delay projects.
• Remember, you are looking for small teams, quick delivery, cost efficiency, quality software, and expertise.

Let’s walk through one or two examples here

Scenario 1:

A startup is planning to develop a modern, scalable, and robust platform. Modern architecture is a must, but they also need to use the best practices of project management and DevOps. Because they are building from scratch, it is not only important to provide an agile approach but to document and perform automated testing. This is mandatory. Documentation is necessary because they plan to onboard additional developers over time, as the platform will grow. The platform must be installed on AWS.

What an outsourced model would look like:

Serengeti would provide five people (1 tester/product owner, 2 frontend and 2 backend developers). Our delivery team will tightly cooperate with the customer’s team, sharing knowledge and expertise. Development will be based on RAD, which will speed up delivery of the minimum viable product for investors.

Scenario 2:

An IT vendor lacks expertise in building modern progressive applications accessible from desktop and from mobile. The application was not specified well, but both the budget and the delivery date are fixed.

What an outsourced team could do for this project:

We’d provide a small delivery team of three people (1 tester/product owner, 1 frontend and 1 backend developer) with the support of an architect and a DevOps engineer. At first, the product owner will provide the necessary specifications. After the specifications are approved, the development team will develop the required features in 3 months.

If you are competing on cost and speed -- which will be attractive to investors -- then you need to embrace the outsourcing model. You can look at our specs or you can check out our guide to what you need from an outsourced partner in terms of expertise, background, and methodology.