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7 tips for successful cooperation with an outsourcing partner

7 tips for successful cooperation with an outsourcing partner
The problem of choice has been a global human problem at all times. And IT sphere is not an exception.
Oksana Khrupa
Oksana Khrupa
Chief Sales Officer
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The problem of choice has been a global human problem at all times. And IT sphere is not an exception. Nowadays in the era of digital technologies the problem of choice has become even more acute, because the range of services and tools, suggested by IT companies makes our heads spin.

If you have made a decision to outsource your business processes you will definitely face the problem of choice, since the number of IT companies is exponentially growing. So we are going to make this process easier for you and here we suggest a list of factors, which will help you to choose a really trustworthy partner.

1. RELIABILITY

The number one factor is of course the level of RELIABILITY. But how to choose a company you can trust and not to make a mistake so that not to face a disastrous effect? The answer is - research. Make real research of the companies to make sure they have been rendering services for a number of years and have enough experience in the field. Check company profiles on all possible resources like LinkedIn, Behance, Clutch, Upwork, Hubstaff talent, Youteam, etc. to find out the information about the completed projects, operational offices, scope of works. Even Instagram and Facebook can give you a grasp of the company’s processes, organisation of teamwork, number of employees and so on. If a company has its own blog, the information there can also be quite essential. Of course each customer is looking for a partner, who will not shaft him and leave the work unfinished, so our practical advice in this concern is to “dig” deeper and study the reviews on the company, see if they keep their promises and stick to the scheduled plan. Thus, the study of reviews on the company smoothly leads us to the next important factor, which is

2. REFERENCES

When you are planning to watch a good film at the weekend, you will probably search for people’s reviews to make sure you choose a movie, that will not spoil your pleasant evening. And it is the same here. You can read the customers’ references on the website of any IT company, check if these customers continue cooperation with a chosen company or why they stopped it. Contact details of those customers, who leave comments or reviews on the IT companies, can be found on the platforms, mentioned previously, like Clutch e.g. Just don’t be lazy and feel free to address directly, contact them and ask in details about the nature of cooperation with this or that company, if they completed the work on time, if they were keeping in touch and what is primary here - if the customer got the desired result in the end. Real recommendations of your business partners can also be especially helpful. As many as 42% of clients have chosen LinkUp Studio upon the recommendations of other customers. And this is an indicator of high trust and confidence for us. We appreciate it greatly!

3. СOMMUNICATION TRANSPARENCY

СOMMUNICATION TRANSPARENCY is probably one of the most essential factors. On choosing of your outsourcing partner you and your team members will have to communicate with the team of developers on a regular basis and the success of your collaboration will depend on the level of communication to a large extent. You have to make sure that you will be timely informed about the development stage of your project and will definitely know who is dealing with the project and the moment as well as be aware of current difficulties, accomplished work and spent budget. Human factor plays a key role in any kind of relationship, and business as well. In this regard it would be recommended to make sure that the company is ready to arrange conference calls via various applications. Our experience has shown that Skype is gradually losing its advantages in business communication in favour of such software tools as Google Hangouts, Zoom or Gotomeeting. Scheduled communication is preferable because in this case you will have an opportunity to plan your other activities during the day.

4. PROJECT EXPERIENCE

is the next important factor. If you want to run a startup it should be done by professionals not amateurs. And in this regard it would be extremely important to study the history of projects of a chosen company. Case studies, which are available on the company website will help you to understand, what kinds of projects the company accomplished previously, if they had any similar projects as yours and if the company has particular strong points in project implementation. By the way, here you can find available information on the completion of LinkUp Studio projects, dealing with real estate, Marketplace. traveling, nutrition and others.

5. TECHNICAL COMPETENCE/EQUIPMENT.

If you are not a developer yourself probably it won’t be easy for you to estimate technical capacities of the chosen company, but it will be helpful to find out more about the company expertise and inner processes as well as to learn about the methods, used by the company for tracking of results and resolution of issues. Project experience (see p.3) will also provide you with information about technical readiness of the company to deal with your future project. Up-to-date and properly operating equipment is just out of the question.

6. FLEXIBILITY

This factor is extremely important if you are going to cooperate with a foreign software company. Since the outsourcing companies can be located in different time zones it is necessary for the team members to be prepared for time difference as it will influence the choice of hours for communication. The knowledge of cultural aspects and difference of mentality is also important for effective cooperation on a remote basis. We often deal with customers from the USA, Australia, etc. and we can admit that distance is not a problem for successful collaboration if the process is planned and cohesive.

7. SECURITY, SECURITY AND ONCE AGAIN SECURITY

Your potential outsourcing partner has to be absolutely aware of modern security procedures so that to make sure that none of your data will be duplicated. We always suggest our customers to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to guarantee the protection of their rights. Testing is also an important aspect of security arrangement. Before the release you must ensure that everything is well-functioning and available for use. Going back to the question of staff the availability of QA managers is not even debatable.

Summing up, we would like to admit that choosing a reliable outsourcing partner is a very serious step if you have decided to automate your business processes. So choose an experienced company of professionals, and it does not necessarily have to be large. Smaller companies are often more attentive to their customers and tend to do their best in delivering of high-quality services.

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Oksana Khrupa
Oksana Khrupa
Chief Sales Officer
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