How to Outsource App Development to India?

If you think the pandemic-led situation is only responsible for the overwhelming growth of the IT outsourcing market, you are missing something. For several reasons, the global software development market is continuously tilting towards remote hiring and outsourcing. If you still ask if you should outsource app development, the market signals an approving nod to this question.

As the leading application development outsourcing destination, India has a considerable share of this overwhelming growth story of IT outsourcing. At present, India stands as the most preferred destination for software and mobile app development outsourcing for various reasons. Hiring app development teams from India involves some time-tested processes to get on board the best talents across different skills.

Here we will provide a comprehensive guide on outsourcing mobile development to India.

Why Go for Mobile App Development Outsourcing?

Before you try to know the reasons for outsourcing mobile app development to India, you first need to have a solid understanding of the benefits of outstanding app projects in the first place. Let’s explain these reasons briefly one by one.

• Access to Global Talents: When you outsource mobile app development to India, you get exposure to talented and skilled developers worldwide. For hiring experienced developers for a particular skill, you no longer need to make your search restricted within a geographical region. You can employ development teams from any part of the world. This enhances your chances of choosing the best talents for your app project.
• Getting Access to World-class IT Infrastructure: Generally reputed development companies with global footprints have well-equipped development labs and robust infrastructure to handle development tasks for any project. Besides hiring talented outsourcing mobile app development teams, you also benefit from the world-class IT infrastructure. From powerful server and hosting solutions to licensed software and development tools, they have everything under their command to deliver high-quality development output.
• Bringing Unique Perspectives: Some countries are known for their unique and creative problem-solving abilities for particular industries or segments. For example, app developers in India with exposure to small-enterprise dominated markets can provide innovative solutions to reduce development costs without undermining the quality. Thanks to outsourcing, you can get exposure to such unique market potential.
• Adhering to Global Compliance and Security Standards: A renowned development company that deals with software or app outsourcing projects from all over the globe is already versed with the latest compliance and security standards and regulations. Naturally, by outsourcing mobile app development teams, you can easily make your app product tuned to global standards.
• The Cost Advantage: Last but not the least of significant benefits that propel businesses toward app development outsourcing is the distinct cost advantage. For years, competitive outsourcing app development costs in South Asia have made many Western businesses opt for outsourcing from these countries. This is still a major reason for outsourcing app development. But ideally, cost consideration should only come at the far end when other parameters and considerations are fully met.

Outsourcing and In-House App Development

Both application development outsourcing and in-house development have their respective advantages and disadvantages. Most software development companies rely on both of these models measured and balanced manner. Inhouse development ensures a higher level of control over the developer’s productivity, while outsourcing ensures flexibility, cost advantage, and global exposure.

Let’s explain the pros and cons of both app development outsourcing and in-house development.

Outsourcing app development Pros

• Access to a larger pool of developer talents
• Access to world-class IT infrastructure
• Getting onboard experts versed with the latest development trends
• Access to the latest security and compliance standards and norms
• Capability to choose the most cost-competitive development services
•  Ability to get onboard global standard professionals

Outsourcing app development Cons

• Lack of control over the development teams
• The time-zone gap pulling down productivity
• Chances of hampering project output because of communication blocks
• Lack of integration results in a lack of long-term support
• The difference regarding the use of tools
• Lack of team bonding due to cultural and linguistic differences

Inhouse development Pros

• Better control of the development teams and processes
• A strong team bonding based on communication and collaboration
• Ease of aligning the team with company goals and project objectives
• Ease of getting long-term support from the team
• A coherent and cohesive output in the project based on mutual understanding

Inhouse development Cons

• Inability to get onboard talents from all over the world
• Lack of flexibility in making developers put their best efforts
• Incapability to access global standard IT infrastructure of outsourcing companies
• Lack of professionalism and streamlined output due to newly hired team
• Higher development cost and long-term overhead cost burden

How to Outsource Mobile App Development?

You have a fair idea about the principal pros and cons of outsourcing mobile app development teams and hiring in-house app developers. Even if you are convinced about the distinct advantages of outsourcing app projects, you cannot just outsource the best developer talents without knowing the time-tested steps and measures practiced by outsourcing projects for hiring developers.

Let us explain below the key steps and measures for outsourcing app projects.

Know Where to find the Best Developer Teams

As the invariable first step for outsourcing mobile app development teams, you need to know where to search for the best development companies having a successful track record and portfolio of app projects. The B2B rating sites for software development companies such as Clutch and Goodfirms come as the immediate choices for hiring overseas app developers. Apart from that, developer platforms such as GitHub and StackOverflow are also well-known destinations for finding experienced developers. Approach the most active developers in these platforms with higher ratings and a long list of projects. Lastly, you can always search through the Google Search engine by using the appropriate keywords to find expert development companies.

Evaluate their Portfolio of Past Projects

The second step for offshore mobile app development is to shortlist development companies with the required skills for the app project. Once the shortlisting is complete, you need to download and get an overview of the apps developed by them. Understand their strengths and weaknesses through their developed apps. For a more detailed understanding, you can always contact their clients and discuss their strengths and weaknesses.

Start Remote Technical Evaluation

Now, after evaluating their portfolio of completed app projects, you can shortlist a few development teams further and start a technical evaluation of their core programming skills. For the overseas app developers, the technical interview process headed by the CTO can be conducted remotely by using a video conferencing tool such as Google Meet or Zoom. It is essential to make detailed questionnaires corresponding to the essential programming language skills and frameworks required for the project.

Start a Pair Programming Session

In the case of an offshore mobile app development project, it is important to subject the development team to a live programming session. Generally, in the case of remote hiring, this is done by collaborative team efforts comprising the in-house and the remote teams working on the same app project. The pair programming session should work on a small project that needs the key skills for your intended app project.

Evaluate Soft Skills

Once the technical interview and live programming session are completed, and you are assured of the developer’s skills, it is time to interview to evaluate the soft skills of the developers. This interview and evaluation process mainly focuses on the communication skills, collaborative abilities in an app project, personality attributes required for driving long-term goals, and the work attitude of the developers. These are important attributes of any development team for shaping an app project’s success.

Share the Project details after Signing NDA

The evaluation process is almost completed, and you have almost decided to hire an outsourcing team for the project. This is the time you need to share the project details. For this, you first need to make the development team sign a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) so that you can protect the intellectual property rights of the app idea and prevent any breaching of the data shared during the development.

Have an Onboarding Process

Last but not least important step is onboarding the developers in the company. This requires conducting a video conference session to facilitate communication of the developers on both ends. In this process, the project manager needs to communicate with the developers regarding the development methodologies and practices followed by the teams, the communication methods and timeline, and all the necessary steps and measures for ensuring a smooth collaboration between the inhouse and the remote teams.

Benefits of Outsourcing Mobile App Development to India

We have now explained the value propositions of app development outsourcing and how it is best done by following the industry-acclaimed practices. Now we will explain the particular advantages of outsourcing mobile app development to India.

• Predominant Software Development Market: The outsourcing of mobile development to India is popular also because of the predominantly leading software and mobile app development market here. Over three decades, India has positioned itself as the global outsourcing hub for software outsourcing projects. Naturally, you get wider exposure to a skilled talent pool when you outsource app projects to India.
• Distinct Cost Advantage: Traditionally, app development cost in India, because of the lower developer rate and availability of a large pool of skilled developers, is comparatively lower. Moreover, the domination of small businesses and startups in the Indian economy also impacted the software development market and helped make it a cost-conscious market.
• Creative and Out Of The Box Solutions: India is a primary startup and small business-dominated market where everyone is looking for a creative and unique solution to cut costs and find innovative solutions that others did not try. Outsourcing mobile development to India is a popular choice for global companies as they can take advantage of this creative approach.
• Proficiency in the English Language: English is still now the de-facto communication language for the software world. English is still the official communication language in India and is dominant for most critical development works. Most of the higher educational qualifications rely on English, including computer science and software development. This is another reason many countries consider Indian developers ideal for their projects.
• One of the Largest Pools of Science and Engineering Graduates: India, along with China, produces one of the largest pools of science and engineering graduates every year, ensuring a continuous supply of developer talents to budding development companies. By opting for an Indian outsourcing company, you can have the widest choice of developer talents at your disposal.

Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Hire Outsource App Development Team in India

The advantages of outsourcing app development to India are quite evident from the above discussion. Before you opt to hire outsourcing development teams, it is important to know the particular questions that need to be asked in the interview and evaluation process.

• Have you ever worked on a project in a similar niche?
• What are the critical technology stacks you use?
• What project timeline and process do you follow for the app project?
• How do you allow iterations during the project?
• How do you allow communication during the project?
• What development methodology do you employ for such app projects?
• How is the project manager likely to handle the teams and tasks?
• Would you sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)?
• What are the security arrangements you gave to protect the app project?
• What QA testing process do you follow?
• What is the budget of the app, and what are the payment terms?
• How does the company culture ensure a happy working environment and long-term growth prospects for the development teams?

Wrapping Up

Finally, you have a comprehensive understanding of outsourcing app development projects, their value propositions, how credible developers are hired and what value propositions Indian developers offer. These findings are based upon the experience of most leading app outsourcing projects that found Indian app developers as their ideal choices. These cannot be wrong.