In 2024, the outsourcing mobile apps market size was estimated at $1.11 billion and is projected to exceed $2.78 billion by 2033 at a CAGR of 11%. This growth can be explained not only by the desire to save money: to launch a product to the market as quickly as possible, many companies decide to delegate part of the development cycle to third-party tech teams. In this app development outsourcing guide, we will reveal the inner workings of our company with over 25 years of experience.
When to Consider Outsourcing Your Mobile App
The most common reason for mobile app development outsourcing is the lack of the necessary expertise within the company. Considering that it can take months to fill a vacancy, and after that, the new specialist will need onboarding, this can become a serious obstacle to the timely launch of the app.
At the same time, when you delegate some part of app development to a contractor who has already implemented dozens of mobile projects, you will be moving along the shortest route, since the outsourcing team will be able to start working the next day, with ready-made pipelines and practices honed on other projects.
It is also worth noting the desire of businesses to achieve app development cost savings – in this case, outsourcing enables more flexible budget management and project scaling compared to an in-house team. This is achieved due to the absence of long-term commitments in terms of cooperation with a particular specialist and restrictions in the contractor’s geographic location, which usually results in potentially lower rates.
Choosing the Right Outsourcing Model
Now, let's talk about choosing the right outsourcing model, both in terms of pricing and geographic location.
Fixed-price vs Time & Material vs Dedicated Team
In terms of Fixed-Price vs Time-and-Material comparison, the 1st option is the best for small projects with clear requirements (any changes are agreed upon separately and increase the budget). According to the Time & Material model, you pay for hours and can quickly change the project course, moving forward iteratively. Finally, you can pay attention to the Dedicated Team model – this makes sense if you need a full-fledged team that will delve into your product, adapt to your development pace, and follow your corporate standards.
Nearshore vs Offshore vs Onshore
When comparing offshore vs nearshore outsourcing, it’s wiser to choose the 2nd option due to language/mental/time zone compatibility, while offshore works better when the priority is to minimize the project budget. Onshore is usually more expensive, but can be the best option for corporations with serious legal restrictions and/or the need to integrate individual specialists directly into the internal team.
Where to Find Reliable Mobile App Developers
Based on our experience, most clients come to us through recommendations. However, if you have to deal with choosing the right vendor without them, it is worth starting with platforms like Clutch, where you will be able to assess the contractor’s reputation and cases. Upwork and LinkedIn also work well in this regard, but it is crucial to understand that strong teams are not just experienced developers. They are also project management, QA, DevOps, and analytics – in general, all those specialists and processes that will ensure full synchronization with your idea of how the development course should move.
As for assessing candidate profiles before shortlisting, you have to analyze the portfolio and tech stack carefully. Also, during the first call, be sure to ask: how would you approach our task, what risks of outsourcing app development do you see, and what architectural solutions would be optimal? If the contractor answers vaguely, this is a red flag, because a good technical partner always argues, offers, clarifies, and warns.
How to Evaluate a Mobile App Development Vendor
Let's clarify a little how to check the "perfection" of a mobile app development vendor.
Questions to ask in a discovery call
We always recommend finding out who will work on the project, what communication tools for outsourcing will be used, and how many people will work on a specific task. You also need to ask questions about documentation, testing, CI/CD, access to code, and response to changes in requirements.
Assessing communication and transparency
If possible, you should try to organize as many preliminary calls as possible to understand whether the team meets your specific expectations voiced at the previous meeting. You should also clarify how regularly the reporting will be delivered (and in what format). If your potential contractor does not respond for a long time or puts off important questions "for later," this is a rather alarming sign.
Trial projects and prototypes
The pilot stage is a good way to check your compatibility with the contractor. This could be a small app module or UX prototype, after the implementation of which you will be able to understand in what direction the team thinks, in what manner they write code, and how they process feedback.
Setting the Foundation for Success
Before hiring mobile app developers, it is worth clearly formulating what you want to get – and here is how to do it.
Create a clear project brief and requirements
Even if it seems that you can remember everything, be sure to duplicate it in a brief. It minimizes misunderstandings and eliminates force majeure in the process. For example, we help our clients formalize the idea in the form of documents/prototypes/mindmaps to reduce the number of unnecessary reworks and bring the product launch closer.
Define milestones and KPIs
Milestones and KPIs will allow you to objectively assess the progress of your contractor and find out whether everything is going according to plan. The main thing is to discuss these milestones and metrics with your contractor, too, so that the team understands what is expected of them at the intermediate stages of development as well.
Set up communication tools (Slack, Jira, etc.)
A workspace consists not only of development/testing/deployment/design tools but also of reporting and communication solutions (e.g., Slack, Jira, Confluence, and Notion). In particular, we always adapt to the client, while offering our tech stack if it turns out to be more convenient for both parties.
Protecting Your IP and Business Interests
Any business that outsources mobile app development should first and foremost think about protecting its intellectual property in outsourcing. Here's how it works at our company:
- NDA and contracts. NDA is a document that determines who receives the data the app collects/processes/outputs, how this data is processed, and who has access to it. It also specifies who owns the results of the work and what rights the client retains upon termination.
- Ownership of source code. At WEZOM, all written code and the entire architecture always belong to the client. For this, we transfer full access to repositories, documentation, and internal guides – this facilitates the project’s support and development, regardless of who will work on it further.
- Data privacy compliance. If the application processes personal data, its architecture must initially be tailored to privacy requirements (GDPR, CCPA, etc.). To ensure compliance, we implement encryption standards, as well as set up secure storage and data transfer.
If you would like to free yourself from doubts about your contractor's adherence to your business interests, feel free to contact us.
Managing the Development Process
When you interact with a contractor remotely, it is essential to establish agile outsourcing management processes from the very beginning.
For example, we break projects into agile sprints of 1-2 weeks. Upon their completion, we collect feedback to make edits so as not to waste budget and time on unnecessary features. We also hold regular calls where we demonstrate the completed work and explain the details of its implementation. Finally, we involve QA engineers who constantly maintain a bug tracking system and, where possible, automate testing. This allows us to avoid critical bugs and release stable builds.
Post-Launch Support and Maintenance
The work on the project does not end after its release. For example, we help our clients build a release cycle, including feature planning and publishing in app stores. The frequency and volume of updates are selected individually, according to the app’s type. After the release, we also connect analytical systems that monitor user behavior and the stability of the software itself in real time. This helps us find bottlenecks and make informed decisions in terms of product optimization. And, of course, we help with collecting feedback so that you can turn it into a roadmap and, thus, constantly improve the user experience.
Common Outsourcing Mistakes to Avoid
If you outsource mobile app development, you may face the typical mistake when your expectations are not defined in the document with the technical specifications. Yes, you may spend a few days drafting it, but, in the future, it will save months of work for your contractor (and therefore your budget). Also, often a bet on the cheapest option fails: a seemingly low price may hide a complete lack of process control and a low level of contractor expertise.
You shouldn’t underestimate the harm from poorly built communication, too: if your mobile MVP outsourcing contractor regularly delays responses to your messages or doesn’t provide code access, there is a risk that the project will be unprofitable.
How WEZOM Delivers Mobile App Projects Remotely
Remote work is our basic format of cooperation. We always have fixed roles responsible for each project stage: research, ideation, design, development, testing, release, and support. All our processes are transparent, and documents and artifacts are open to the client. At the same time, we give a sense of the client’s personal presence through demos and regular feedback. Finally, our apps are developed according to standards, regardless of the client’s time zone and geography.
Among our projects, there are both complex corporate solutions and applications for general use, which you can learn more about here.
Conclusion
Summing up these insights on how to outsource app development, we can conclude that mobile app development outsourcing is a strategically correct decision – of course, if you find a reliable tech partner who will provide you with the necessary expertise and ensure transparency at all stages. Specifically, you can contact us for this. Schedule a free online meeting with our specialist at a convenient time right now!