Choosing the right development partner for your project can be a difficult task. There are a number of things you need to consider before you even start to approach companies, and then when you do find the right one, how do you know they’re the right partner for you?

To help make the decision making process slightly easier we’ve made a list of a few things worth considering before you start your research…

Define your goals What do you need from a development partner? If you don’t know what support your teams require, your chosen partner won’t know either.

A good place to start is with a project audit, this will give you a clear indication of the areas you require assistance - maybe you discover you need an end-to-end developer, or you just require project management, maybe you need someone for QA purposes, or you might find that you need the complete development package.

Research Now that you have a clearer idea of what you need from a development partner you need to start researching into the companies that are available to you. It’s important that your chosen company is able to meet your requirements - start looking at their past projects and case studies, if they haven’t worked on a project with similar specifications, they might not be suitable for your company.

Buy cheap, buy twice The saying is true, buy cheap, buy twice! Just because someone is offering you the “complete package” at a lower cost doesn’t always mean you’re getting the best deal. It is worth paying a little more to ensure that your product is finished exactly how you want it to be. You should also check what you are getting for your money, it may be that some companies are cheaper because they don’t offer certain services such as QA or project management.

Time zones Following on from the point above, a company may be less expensive because of their location. Offshore companies are often used because of the price difference, and for some people they work well, but before you approach an overseas company consider the time differences. Will working in different time zones impact the project management of your product or could it make communication difficult?

Consider the future Before you make any commitments you should ask yourself if you can see a future working with that company. A good development partner should feel like an extension of your existing team and if you can’t see a future with them, maybe they’re not right for you. It’s also important at this stage to think about your team and make sure they’re also happy with the pending partnership, after all your existing team of people are what makes your business, well, your business.

If you have any questions about finding the right development partner, or would like to talk about an upcoming project, get in touch with us, we’re always happy to help.