Choosing a technology partner: 5 main factors to consider
A skilled technology partner is essential for bringing digital ideas to life. But when it comes to identifying the best technical services for your business needs, where do you start?
Picking the right partnerships can be tricky, and there are a number of factors that require careful consideration. But the aim overall is to find a team of developers who can not only deliver the technical specifications of your digital product, but the necessary support to give it the best possible chance of success.
Choosing a technology partner is not a decision to rush into – it really can be the difference between success and failure. To help steer you in the right direction, here are five important factors to consider when choosing a tech team to work with.
1. People and expertise
It goes without saying that any technology partner needs to consist of skilled professionals. But what separates great development teams from good ones is that the former fully understands their chosen profession is a highly complex one, which can easily be misunderstood. A quality technology partner will make you feel at ease from the beginning, and be extremely forthcoming with crystal clear advice and guidance to help steer your project in the right direction. This should include helping you identify the best business model, analysis of the market and reliable, honest feedback on how viable your product and its chance of success really is.
Take a minute to look at who makes up the team of any prospective technology partners, and be sure to ask questions about their experience and skills. For example, how big is the team? What are their skills? What do they specialise in? Ensuring the development team you choose has the skillset to see your project through from start to finish is vital.
It can be difficult to gauge what people are going to be like to work in the beginning, but initial meetings should give you a good early indication of the way the team works. And a good failsafe for checking how relevant a company is to look for what services they offer and any achievements in cutting-edge technology like FinTech, Blockchain, Cloud, Saas and AI.
2. Full stack services
As mentioned above, whichever technology partner you choose should be able to offer expertise and advice at every stage of product development. A great way to notice if there might be any gaps in your pipeline is to take a close look at the services offered, and make sure they fit your business needs. If a development company is offering a variety of services, your custom is almost certainly in good hands.
Here at Solidstudio , we offer a wealth of talent and expertise, with full-stack services in the areas of:
IT consulting - IT solutions should match industry demand, as well as specific organizational objectives, which is why this early discovery stage is so valuable. It’s at this point that a product’s viability is researched and the market analyzed thoroughly before the best software solution is identified.
Custom software development - Individual projects have individual needs, which is why a company with the skill to develop custom software is invaluable – it’s the best way of ensuring a software solution fits the business requirements perfectly.
Product development - Developing a digital product is a complex process. In order to do so successfully, you need an experienced technology partner to support you at every step of the way – from needs analysis and prototyping, through design and development, to launch and ongoing maintenance.
Digital transformation - If ever there was a time to embrace digital change, it’s now. Integrating technology into your business is a worthy investment if you want to help drive your business forward. A quality technology partner can help you identify areas of your business that would benefit from digital transformation, and offer the expertise to deliver the best possible software solutions.
Cloud applications development - The cloud's rapid rise in popularity means that it now exists in every area of IT. Cloud providers give us the opportunity to use multiple tools and mechanisms that can speed up the delivery process and give users a working product as soon as possible. Hosting an application in the cloud can also reduce operational costs, give an edge over competitors and allow instant scalability.
As a cloud application development company, all of SolidStudio’s products are hosted in different providers such as AWS , Heroku and Google Cloud. We utilize these providers to the maximum and build applications with a fantastic infrastructure, completely tailored to your needs.
FinTech software development - Financial technology is no longer just about supporting established financial institutions, it applies to any innovation in how people transact business. SolidStudio is a FinTech company, and are very aware that no company can afford financial or reputational losses, which is why we build our solutions to ensure your safety with the highest standards, quality and processes.
Serverless development - As technology changes, so does the way society interacts. More and more companies are looking for ways to reduce operational costs - cloud solutions are increasingly being adopted and their value cannot be underestimated. As a serverless development company, here at SolidStudio we can build a simple, scalable API or a data processing platform, with minimum configuration alongside automatic scaling and a pay-per-usage format.
SaaS development - Software as a Service (SaaS) is a term you are no doubt hear more and more these days. As businesses begin to realize the benefits of cloud-based software for streamlining and optimizing operations, Saas has become a very popular solution for many. SaaS provides organizations with significant advantages that make it one of the most sought-after software products today. At Solidstudio, we support companies in developing SaaS applications that are flexible, scalable, and provide all the features our clients need to achieve their business goals.
3. Transparency & supervision
No matter what your level of digital expertise, whichever company you decide to partner with should be open and honest from start to finish, providing explanations and reports that are both easy to understand and completely transparent. Trust in business is key, as is ensuring both parties are on the same page about product requirements, costs and goals.
The pre-development stage is key when it comes to transparency. A good technology partner will allow its clients access to every report and any project management tools related to the project at this time. If that’s not available, even on request, it would be worth looking at other services elsewhere.
Ownership and quality control
The ideal scenario is to pick a development team that can inject as much passion into an idea as you. After all, they will be working on it too, right? If your partners take ownership of your product, they are far more likely to go the extra mile when it comes to delivering the best possible solution within the specified timeline and budget.
But that should absolutely not compromise on quality. Every good development team fully understands the importance of quality and wants to deliver the best possible result. And that will require planning and quality control, including a clearly defined strategy and testing to ensure the right result.
Maintenance and support
Leaving your most precious ideas in the hands of strangers is an understandably daunting prospect. But it’s the job of a good technology partner to leave you feeling safe in the knowledge that they will not only help you bring these ideas to life but also be very present after they have been realized. At initial meetings, be sure to ask how they will support you in terms of maintenance, promotion, scalability, analytics, and any technical issues that might arise after launch.
A good technology partner will make sure you’re not going it alone, with services that include support before, during, and after a product launch.
After all the information in this article, you should now be able to confidently approach prospective technology partners with your ideas and questions on how they can help you make your digital dreams become a reality. Good development companies won’t hesitate to answer your queries and will do their best to help find clever business solutions, be loyal to your brand and assist you with ways to scale your business in this ever-evolving digital age. You will undoubtedly encounter different levels of technical complexity as your product evolves, so you need a competent, skilled team on hand to help with any eventuality.
If you need any further information on how our services can be of assistance or more information on how to choose the right technology partner for you, please contact us here.