In our age of digital technologies, companies regularly face the task of automating or optimizing current business processes, as well as launching new lines of business. In all these cases, there is a need for IT products that allow the successful implementation of these projects.

In most cases, software customers do not understand well what the development process is, as a result of which conflicts and disagreements will almost certainly arise in communication with the contractor, complicating and delaying the preparation and launch of the project.

So, what questions should the customer of an IT product answer before setting a task for the developer?

1. Do you need a unique IT product?

In the portfolios of IT companies there is a huge number of solutions for a variety of typical business tasks. It is possible that the customer can find the solution they need among the ready-made proposals of the developers. This is the fastest and easiest way, but standard solutions often do not take into account the specific requirements of the customer. Not every developer will agree to modify the software for your project, moreover, the cost of such modification can be very significant and comparable to the cost of a new IT product.

If your project or startup is unique, has special requirements or parameters, then the decision to develop new software will be the only right one.

2. To whom to entrust the development?

You can create an IT department within the structure of your own company, hire an IT company for outsourcing, or turn to freelancers. Each of these options has its own advantages and disadvantages.

The presence in the structure of its own IT department is available only to large companies with a constant need to develop and maintain IT products. The advantage is that the developers are well informed about the company’s technological processes and their readiness to quickly respond to new business requests. The downsides are high fixed costs for office maintenance, staff salaries and taxes.

The advantage of working with freelancers is the possibility of a significant reduction in development costs, but at the same time, the risk of getting a low-quality product as a result increases significantly. The customer will have to independently form the terms of reference, control the quality of the work, coordinate the actions of individual specialists, ensure their relationship with each other, and before that, they all need to be found, their qualifications determined, contracted and determined on the terms of work.

A contract with an IT company will cost you more than freelance services, but cheaper than creating and maintaining your own development team. You do not have to organize the work of programmers, designers and testers, as well as control the quality and timing of individual development stages. In addition, all the worries associated with the selection and loading of personnel will also be on the side of the IT company.

3. Is it worth spending time on the terms of reference?

The answer to this question is absolutely unequivocal – yes, it is worth it. The more complete and accurate the terms of reference are, the easier it will be for the contractor to create a product that meets the requirements of the customer. Specialists of all directions involved in the development of the site will be based on the conditions specified in the terms of reference.

Sometimes it may seem to the customer that the careful formation of the terms of reference leads only to an additional expenditure of time and money. Practice shows that this is not the case, and high-quality technical specifications will ultimately lead to a reduction in the timing of tasks, and, as a result, to a reduction in costs due to fewer mistakes by performers.

4. How to plan the development budget?

It has been noticed that during the development process, customers repeatedly make changes to the terms of reference and their vision of the project. As a result, the initial budget can change significantly, and, as a rule, upwards. It is very difficult to avoid this. In order to make the budget increase minimal, it is necessary to try not to deviate from the terms of reference, and in order to avoid constant adjustments to the contract amount by additional agreements, do not indicate the exact amount in the contract and make payments for individual development stages in accordance with the acts of work performed.

5. How to choose the right technologies?

The range of technologies used in software development is very wide and varied. If you are not a specialist in the IT field, you will have to trust the competence of the contractor you have chosen and use the technologies offered by him. Large IT companies, as a rule, will be able to offer you several ways to solve your problem, and you will choose the option that suits you in terms of time, price and quality. Companies with a small staff will try to complete the project in their usual technologies, but at the same time they will be able to form a more attractive price offer.

6. How to make your IT product perfect?

The customer often dreams of impressing his clients with a large-scale project with wide functionality. At the same time, in his striving for perfection, he does not take into account a number of important circumstances:

• a large amount of work will require a significant budget;
• the project implementation period will increase significantly;
• a number of functions included in the project may be unclaimed by users.

Therefore, it seems reasonable to stage-by-stage implementation of the project, when it is launched with high-quality basic functionality, and additional services are developed already in relation to a working product in accordance with the wishes of consumers and the customer.

7. Why waste time testing a product?

Testing is a mandatory and very important step in the development of an IT product. It is during the testing process that errors and inconsistencies in the code and individual blocks of the project are identified and eliminated. Savings on testing will lead to the release of a “raw” product with numerous bugs and will harm the customer’s reputation.

Ultimately, the errors will still have to be eliminated, only the costs of rework will be significantly higher than the costs of timely and high-quality testing.

The presence of its own IT product brings the company to a new level of business development and significantly increases its efficiency.

Owning such a product, you will be able to respond flexibly to changes in business processes, modifying and improving it.

Creating new software is a long, costly and painstaking process, accompanied by both successes and mistakes. But by following this path, you will get excellent results and satisfaction from a job well done.