Like any project, software delivery is vulnerable to risks. Whether we’re talking about security issues or quality concerns, risk is risk, and it could prevent the timely delivery of quality, requirement-meeting software.
If you struggle with software delivery risk management, there are several approaches you can take to increase your project’s likelihood of success. By engaging a specialized software delivery team provided by an expert partner, you’ll find that a little prevention is well worth it.
What Issues Does Software Delivery Risk Management Mitigate?
Your development project has enough to contend with. There’s staffing issues, budget constraints, and all the rest of the company is waiting for their software. On top of these concerns, the cost of software errors is an ever-present threat. According to the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), software errors cost the U.S. economy an estimated $59.5 billion annually.
A good software delivery risk management approach works to lower a variety of risks, both in the finished product and in the development process itself:
- Security issues: As applications become more complex development security becomes harder. Unqualified developers can introduce security vulnerabilities to code by mistake. Threats like logic bombs, Trojan horses, worms, or agents can work their way in through networks, systems, or applications that are under attack. The outsourcing partner you choose should be fully aware of these threats and highly experienced in reinforcing and protecting the development environment—or else your software may be infected or compromised.
- Poor communication: Any time there’s a communication breakdown, mistakes are sure to arise. And even a simple miscommunication can open the door to risk. So make sure there are as few communication barriers between you and your outsourced team as possible. Keeping them nearshore removes many of these barriers as everyone involved is fluent in the same language.
- Project delays: Whenever one area of a workflow experiences a delay it impacts every other part of the chain. And when people sit around waiting for progress to resume they can get distracted, making mistakes that lead to risk.
- Problematic inter-time zone workflows: When a workflow spans vastly different time zones, it can complicate the development process and leaves room for errors and risk. This is especially true when working with an offshore team that’s located on the other side of the world. When time zones are similar, there’s less room for variables and risk exposure because your team can always connect with each other easily.
- Lack of quality control: Your code and the steps taken to write it must be scrutinized by quality control experts who know how to avoid risk. Quality control experts are often the final set of eyes on the software, and they must have a sharp eye for errors—before they turn into liabilities.
- Unqualified staff: Unqualified staff make mistakes that lead to a variety of risks. You need properly-trained developers lead by experienced project managers to ensure no risk-inducing shortcut is taken. But hiring quality staff members directly can be expensive, as you’ll have to provide benefits and manage them yourself.
Five Tips for Building a High-Quality Risk Management Team
By identifying where risk comes from you can take action to prevent it. This means engaging the right people who have the most up-to-date knowledge and use risk management best practices. Effective software delivery risk management strategies you should be using include:
Tip #1: Keep your outsourcing partners nearshore.
Offshore outsourcing partners are a common resource for businesses but can come with significant risks. They operate in countries located far from North America which often have strong language barriers and lack the contiguous legal protections necessary to protect you from copyright infringement down the road. Contracting with nearshore outsourcing partners who are close by and highly accountable is a safer and smarter option.
Tip #2: Work with project managers who take responsibility.
With good project managers, the buck stops here. A good PM is accountable, covers all their bases, and documents the team’s work progress, creating visibility. And when they encounter problems they take ownership of the situation, raising red flags early and giving you the chance to respond.
Tip #3: Concentrate team members within close time zones.
Hire staff who work within similar time zones to your headquarters’. That way team members will always be available when you need them or if problems arise.
Tip #4: Enable immediate, responsive feedback.
To fully respond to problems as they arise, you’ll need a system for unencumbered two-way communication. This means being able to give directives and having a team that responds as quickly as possible.
Tip #5: Engage a variety of different technologies and methodologies.
When your development team uses many different technologies and methodologies, they can cover their bases and ensure they have all the tools and abilities needed to prevent risk. So if one tool isn’t going to work, there’s always another option to fall back on.
When your organization has a primary business model to devote its resources to, development risk can be hard to handle. But allowing a qualified and expert nearshore partner to manage your development project for you enables them to monitor and control risk for you, freeing your business to focus on the objectives of your choice.
Software Delivery Without the Risk
There’s a lot of variables to control for during software development, but a nearshore software development partner can help you reduce risk. By allowing a nearshore team to handle all aspects of development or by adding highly-qualified nearshore developers to your staff you can preempt risk from many sources before it arises. Because an expert partner can spot potential risks before they ever have a chance to hinder your project.
If you’ve ordered custom-built software, get what you’ve paid for. Engage a nearshore technology solutions partner experienced in reducing development risk to ensure your software runs correctly and is delivered on time.
BairesDev has helped many clients manage a variety of risks. Our wealth of experience enables us to provide comprehensive software delivery risk management. We hire the top 1% tech talent in Latin America, meaning you can be sure any staff member we provide will be adept at lowering risk during project development. To learn more, contact our team.
