So, you’ve finally decided to develop custom software for your business. Great! But what next? Do you plan to hire in-house developers for it and lay them off after the project is over? Even if that’s understood, what about the resources incurred in finding the right people? Too many questions to answer.

A straightforward solution to it is to find a custom software development company in SA. That will make your life much easier and allow you to focus on your core business. However, with that, comes the question, how do you find the right one. Picking the right company can seem challenging. But believe us, it isn’t as complicated, especially when you have this 7-step guide to find a software company that serves your needs. So, let’s get going.

• Begin With Identifying and Understanding Your Needs

First things first – you should have a clear vision about what you want. With so much that you’d want to do, zeroing on a set of needs can take time and require extensive brainstorming. Accordingly, you should invest the required time and thought to determine your needs with heads from the concerned departments.

For example, if you need custom software to help your customers book tickets, hotels, cabs, etc., from your website, you should work the requirement out with your operations and finance team. It will help you establish the features and functionalities to make it more accurate per user needs.

Remember, your needs will drive the search for and choice of the best-suited custom software development company in Durban.

• Search, Scan, and Shortlist Potential Choices

If you search for custom software development companies in Durban, SA, you will see hundreds of them listed on your results page. Now, you need not connect with everyone or engage with someone only because it appears first in the search results. Note that it is about finding the right fit for your needs rather than the best one in the market. So, delve into a company’s details and scan its profile. A few factors to look for would include but won’t be limited to the following.

•   Scope of services and solutions offered
•   Case studies of projects handled in the past
•   Access to technologies and looking for those relevant in your case
•   Development practices and methodologies (Agile, Waterfall, etc.)
•   The company’s customization capabilities and more

At this stage, you should overview the above factors and shortlist choices based on your assessment. However, you should ensure you discuss the above along with any specific questions you may have during your interaction with the company’s custom software development team.

• Connect with the Shortlisted Companies

The next step is to connect with the companies you’ve shortlisted. Have a one-to-one interaction preferably at their office. An onsite meeting will help you assess the company’s infrastructure, overall working environment, team size, and more. In other words, it will help you gauge the company and its abilities better.

Furthermore, interaction with the management members, project manager, and execution team will provide you the opportunity to discuss your project wholeheartedly and seek answers to all your questions. During the meeting, you can discuss your overall requirements, specific expectations, customization requirements, software scalability, technical support and maintenance, the team’s capabilities and profile, and compliance and legal aspects.

Additionally, it will help you assess the company’s readiness to do a Proof of Concept (PoC) to help you understand its working style and capabilities.

Even if it is the first, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the last meeting. You may meet a couple of times again, wherein you address the specific concerns and questions of the software development team, know and understand their recommendations, discuss their custom software development quote and its inclusions, and factors like software ownership.

After a few productive interactions like these, you will be in a better position to decide whether to go ahead with the company or ease them out of your league.

• Evaluate their Past Work

It can happen even while interacting with the company across the table or before that. However, ensure you take some time to peacefully review the company’s past work. For instance, if you are an eCommerce company looking to develop custom software for your portal, check out the sites that run on the developer’s software at the backend. Some factors to evaluate include responsiveness, speed, accuracy, recommendations, UI/UX, and more.

Additionally, you should review numerous client testimonials and try to connect with some to gather feedback about the development company. The key to choosing the right custom software development in SA is to make an informed decision after a comprehensive evaluation. Client feedback and testimonials should surely form part of that process.

• Assess the Company’s Pricing Model

We’ve mentioned checking out the company’s estimate. But since everything boils down to the money invested, it is a crucial aspect that deserves a separate point. While searching for the right custom software development company in Durban, you will encounter companies with their unique pricing models. Here the question is, are these models well-suited to your needs and project requirements?

For example, a company will offer a fixed price model where you pay a lump sum. However, you lose flexibility. On the other hand, some companies offer a time-based model in which you pay the company as the project progresses.

Additionally, look for hidden costs, if any. Together these costs can sum up to form an expense big enough to shatter your budget. Accordingly, prefer working with a company that maintains pricing transparency and has all the cards on the table at the beginning of the project itself.

• Discuss the Staffing Model

This is another critical aspect. Often, software development companies outsource some part of the project like testing or core development to an external team or freelancers. On the other hand, some have in-house resources for everything.

Remember, no staffing model is perfect. And there’s nothing wrong with outsourcing or insourcing something. However, what matters is your project, its investment, and its needs. Accordingly, you should discuss factors like the company’s staffing model and parts of the project it is likely to outsource.

Additionally, it is necessary to clarify aspects like contingency plans, sudden resignations, illnesses, and organizational failure. It will help you assess the company’s preparedness to deal with such situations while ensuring timely and efficient completion of your project.

• Beware of the Yes!

This isn’t a step but a precaution. A few software companies may say yes to everything you say without assessing its possibility. Stay away from such companies! Although bespoke software development is about hand-crafting a solution that precisely meets your needs, some technical complications or limitations should be addressed before committing to something.

A sensible custom software development company in SA will evaluate a possibility and give an informed response based on its assessment and experience. Look for companies that respond thoughtfully and do not agree to everything and anything only to win a particular project.

Make an Informed Choice with FABTARY – A Trusted Custom Software Development Company in SA

Custom software involves a huge investment. Hence, the more informed your choice, the better. So, consider partnering with us. We are open to every assessment in your endeavor to choose the right custom software development company in Durban. Our proven experience, technical expertise, client feedback, past projects, customization capabilities, success rate, and overall approach make us a worthwhile choice. Write to us at info@fabtary.com to navigate our profile and interact with our experts for a detailed discussion of your project.