With almost every company wanting to produce quality product faster and cheaper than their competitors, outsourced product development is the answer. Outsourced Product Development (OPD) has become an integral part of Software Product Engineering for more a while. OPD business has high potential as well as challenges and is a target market for those companies who want to manage their lifecycle as a solution to a demand. A large percentage of companies are already utilizing outsourced product development or considering doing it soon. Outsourced product development advisory services focus on the routine mechanics like selecting a country, selecting a provider, drawing up appropriate legal documents, monitoring, benchmarking performance, etc. Although these steps are vital and necessary in outsourced product development, they are certainly not sufficient to guarantee its success.
How to make your outsourced product development a success
Ensuring the success of any outsourced product development is possible when the goals and the capabilities of the partner are understood. The first step to ensure compatibility is to understand what your short and long term goals are. Once these are agreed upon, the next thing is to select the development partner who will help you meet those goals.
Although often neglected, communication is of vital importance. It is therefore essential to focus considerable effort on the quality interaction with the vendor. The outsourced product development partner must fundamentally be able to communicate clearly and articulately, through both written and verbal means.
It is also a good idea to look for companies with the specialized expertise and experience that your project requires in computer software solutions. Similarly, make certain that they have the necessary resources such computer software solutions and project-management tools. It is of course risky to hire companies without the proper software licenses and other infrastructure. Ensure outsourcing partners have the financial resources and history that make you comfortable in conducting business with them.
As product development is complex and unpredictable, it is necessary to be realistic. Activities like supplier delivery times, etc. cannot be directly controlled, it is therefore not reasonable to expect an outsourced service to control them any better than you can.
By outsourcing Product R& D Services, companies are able to shorten time-to-market, increase number of releases, obtain additional expertise and put together additional resources. Choosing the right outsourcing partner will lead you on the road to success by reducing development costs and above all boost bottom lines by focusing on new competencies.
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The mobile phone has become more than a necessity today. It has multiple utilities than just simple calling and texting. The internet boom and the growth of mobile technologies have added to the development of mobile application development. This means, today mobile workers are able to work from their mobile phones or smart phones when they are moving from one place to the other. Not only that, the online gaming industry depends on innovative mobile application technologies and makes business on the maximum download percentage.
Most consumers look out for high –end mobiles than just a basic model. They want a phone that would help them in computing when they are not in front of their desktops or laptops. This has resulted in several MNC’s to foray into mobile application development solutions. The scope to create better solutions and applications is increasing each day, as any software that is discovered today needs to be updated after a span of time. As you venture into the market, you will come across several mobile operating platforms for instance Java, Symbian, Android, Windows, Blackberry and the like. The process of mobile application development works toward increasing the productivity level of a mobile.
Top software product development brands nowadays are equipped with the methodologies, tools and the required experience and knowledge that enabled them to establish mobile applications faster and in a cost-effective way. The focus areas are listed below-
- Location-Based Services (LBS)
- Mobile Media Streaming
- Presence & Social Networking
- Messaging & Syncing
- Mobile Advertisement & Ad Engines
- Mobile VoIP
- Gaming
Apart from these, the service providers also have the skill and experience of working with Level A companies and assist them with effective product lifecycle management solutions. Some of the selected mobile application support and development facilities provided by them are listed below-
- Developing mobile applications in J2ME, BREW, Android, iPhone, Symbian, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry
- Conceptualizing mobile applications and eliciting requirements, for instance UI design, prototype, wireframes, user stories
- Designing, developing and testing applications
- Porting mobile applications between platforms and devices
- Developing server-side and infrastructure, including for location & mapping services
- Integrating third-party components on the server side, for instance SMS/MMS, billing, feeds, ads, content and many others
- Integrating carrier, SMSC and billing systems, for instance LBS platform for location determination
- Coordinating with carriers and device manufacturers for mobile application testing and certification, for instance NSTL, Java Verified
- Launching and distributing mobile applications
- Carrier Catalogs and Storefronts
- Providing maintenance and support services
Today the mobile application development industry is a million dollar industry and is only expected to flourish and expand in the coming days, which will serve as a platform fort other companies to make profits.
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