We know the adrenaline that comes from creating a new project. But companies must be patient and not rush when choosing the technology partner, since a bad choice can mean disasters for your project, loss of time and money. Do you see that it is not a decision that you should take lightly?
Now we are going to specify the things that you should avoid at all costs before partnering with a provider.
Many of the relationships between companies and partners are broken even before development begins due to cultural differences. From our point of view, understanding and respect between both parties are vital for the project to have a happy ending.
A partner is about having an ally, a support that will work with you to give your company a valuable boost. You and your partner must be on the same page: have the same aspirations and expectations about the development of the project, the quality standards, and its implementation, so that the whole team, in general, is aligned with the goal.
Keep in mind that this technological partner should come to your company to add experience, expertise, and a helping hand: it must make an effort to understand what the situation and requirements are to adjust to that reality and help you improve it. Never accept changes or suggestions that go against your quality principles.
The budget is one of the aspects that most worries companies, regardless of size. They all want to create the best projects with the best performance and quality, but many times they do not have the necessary team so they look for a partner to help them achieve their goal.
This of course requires an investment, but make sure that the urgency does not lead you to look for a cheaper service without taking into account the quality of this partner. Also: don't expect exceptional quality with mega cheap service. They are misleading offers that you should consider with extreme care before making a decision.
If you are concerned about investment, I recommend that you first make a list of the priorities that you need to solve in the company, and, based on that, you can estimate how much you need to invest and how much you can spend at this time.
With this, you can make a more precise search for your technology partner, adjusting quality and price. When this partner offers you their service proposal, analyze the price-quality ratio to know what to expect from it.
It is true that we have placed a lot of emphasis on the partner's work methodology. Yes, it is important that you as a company know how the partner plans the execution of projects but it is also necessary to see how flexible it can be when changing plans.
Make sure he handles different software development methodologies, offering you the options that best suit your type of company and project. Do not allow the partner to impose a specific methodology since not all of them apply to all projects.
In addition, technology projects are always subject to change and improvement. Sometimes the plans that we had designed on paper are transformed when we are executing them. So flexibility must be present in your technology partner.
If you are already considering having a technology partner, think of it as long-term support and not just to solve a momentary need. We understand that you need to solve the most urgent and punctual projects first, but try to find a partner who has a vision for the future. That it not only offers you solutions here and now but is projected into the future, having a much broader vision of your company and projects.
I'll explain it to you like this: you may need to develop a website for your insurance company at this time. Certainly, the partner will help you with this platform. But what if later you want to give it continuity, adding an online quote website? If you work with a technology partner with a long-term vision, he can become the best ally to expand your business, adding scalability to your projects.