IT departments and software companies across the world are considering outsourcing in a big way. The obvious advantage is the cost and the not-so-obvious advantage is the availability of highly qualified personnel. If you are considering engaging an offshore development team then these tips can help you make an educated decision on which company to go with:

1) Knowledge of the industry vertical Software has become highly specialized and it is necessary that you choose a vendor who has working knowledge about the vertical you belong to. A company claiming to cater to all verticals in software development services may not have specialization in any area. Choosing a company which does not understand your industry can result in a learning curve which may even become a cost centre for you in development costs.

2) Track record One of the best ways to check knowledge of a company is to pay attention to the track record of the company. Ideally case studies of previous projects and client references of people who you can contact are good indicators to check the working history of the company. This may take some time to do, but should definitely be done if you are considering employing a team for the long run.

3) Quality certification Most well qualified outsourcing companies are now working hard towards quality certification to help them stand out in the crowd. A basic ISO certification or SEI CMM level certification should be given preference when considering an offshore vendor. These quality certifications are usually awarded for the processes followed by the company and can go a long way in influencing the quality of work.

4) Quality of personnel A quality check and telephone interview should be done with personnel who will write your code. It is necessary to validate that they are familiar with the fundamentals and have good research knowledge along with the ability to learn.

5) Infrastructure Information Technology services requires good infrastructure and sufficient back ups to tide over various kinds of problems which might arise from either technical failure or geo-political issues. Apart from back up plans, regular telecom and hardware infrastructure along with physical infrastructure should also be considered when evaluating a vendor.

6) Years of business Preferred offshore vendors are those companies which can show over 7 years of business (which means that they have been around since the time of the dot com crash and have managed to live through it) and a healthy percentage of growth. A fairly new company might have a good value proposition but there is a risk factor regarding business continuity which you might need to take into account.

7) An onsite visit to validate all claims One of the best ways to ensure that you choose the right vendor is to actually take a trip to the country where the vendor is based. Most software developers are based in India or Eastern Europe and a visit there can validate all the points above as well as give you an opportunity to meet the people who will be delivering business critical services.

It may not be possible for you to undertake all the above steps when evaluating a vendor but even a few of these steps will ensure that you are able to make a good decision when it comes to choosing an offshore vendor.

Large scale software development companies are still quite young and the software industry itself is a fairly new one. Outsourcing of software development has been around for only a couple of decades and as the industry gains maturity, quality certification has taken on a whole new meaning for suppliers as well as customers. Quality certification in software is slightly different from quality certification in manufacturing. Though a number of business process management and quality control principles are derived from popular quality certifications, the implementation and implications are noticeably different.

There are two broad types of quality certifications which can be obtained by software development companies. One is the ISO 9001:2000 standard and the other is various levels of SEI CMM. Some organizations may achieve an ISO first and then work towards an SEI CMM level certification whereas some may go directly to an SEI CMM certification. ISO certification however, is a lot easier than SEI CMM (as well a lot cheaper) and thus the number of companies with ISO certifications are quite a few whereas SEI CMM level companies are not so many in number.

One of the key benefits of quality certification in a software development company is that it showcases the maturity and continuity of the organization. Both quality certifications pay attention to processes. ISO guidelines state that you should define a process and make sure that it is being followed whereas SEI CMM dictates certain parameters of a process within which the company should work. Achieving certification and maintaining the documented processes provides a long term growth pattern in the company and at the same time helps in building a differentiating factor with customers.

Apart from the maturity and continuity of the organization, software development companies need quality certification to ensure the success of large projects. Tried and tested development methodologies which are part of the certification process ensure that the coding and designing produced by the company are of a high standard and will withstand the test of use and durability. Customers planning to do business with a quality certified company find it much easier to get a good quality software product. Non-certified companies have a tough time when competing with a certified company and that is the reason why more and more software development companies are moving towards quality certification.

Most medium to large companies are moving towards SEI CMM level certification as that quality certification has been developed with software development in mind. There are various levels of the certification and level 5 is the highest a software development company can achieve. The entire certification process for SEI CMM level is lengthy, time consuming and quite expensive when compared with ISO 9001:2000 but the benefits compensate often compensate for that.

So if you are a software company and have not yet gone down the path of certification, it is time you gave it serious thought. If you are an organization looking to outsource software development work to companies in India, China, the Philippines, Poland or parts of Eastern Europe, it is advisable that you consider their quality certifications. Though we have mostly mentioned ISO 9001:2000 quality certifications, there are other industry and technology specific certifications which can also be obtained by software development companies. Usually these certifications are given by software manufacturers or independent bodies and though they might not be as critical as the quality certifications mentioned, they have a good level of importance when evaluating a supplier.