Why do some IT outsource projects fail?
Many outsource services seem to tick all the boxes, but ultimately don’t deliver on their promises.
In the world of IT development, there is a dominant idea that there is a technical solution for everything. With enough time and effort, any challenge can be overcome, and the impossible can be made possible.
Outsourcing your project to a development team can indeed bring huge benefits to the potential, cost and quality of your project.
However, when it comes to managing teams of humans and client expectations, there are often some hidden elements and required steps that are ignored by both clients and developers.
Read on to find out what they are, and how to ensure you choose an IT service provider that can do what they say they can.
1. A Lack of Transparency
Transparency can mean a lot of things, but when it comes to interacting with an IT development provider, the most important point in which transparency should be enshrined is in the capabilities of the team, and the expectations of the client.
If a project is started where the client has not been transparent about their expectations, it makes disappointment very likely later on.
Similarly, if an IT provider has not been transparent about their capabilities, and their ability to realize the client’s objectives within the agreed time and cost parameters of the project, then this is a very easy way to lead to failure in the eyes of the client later on.
2. Not enough Communication
Following from the point above, communication is not only about managing and equalizing expectations, but also about ensuring that work is being executed in a way that is acceptable to all.
For example, a client might keep on delivering new designs or ideas for a website, even though the IT development team has already devised a production plan and integrated elements that have been previously agreed on.
The possibility of these updates occurring needs to be communicated beforehand, and factored into the working methodology and pricing of the project.
Conversely, a production team should be able to communicate the methodology of their own work to the client.
This will help ensure that the client is not unpleasantly surprised in the future, if certain changes need to be made to a digital product that are hard to implement after the coding architecture has been finalized.
3. Degree of Urgency of the Project
One of the most common areas of contention between IT development teams and their clients is when it comes to deadlines, and clients’ requests for solutions to be delivered as fast as possible.
This ties into the transparency and management of expectation point, but it deserves its own section as it is one of the areas where rifts often occur, to the ultimate detriment of a project.
It is perfectly reasonable for a client to want or require a website, app or digital feature to be delivered as fast as possible. However, just how fast needs to be clarified before a project starts, and an experienced IT development team will be able to give an accurate answer as to whether this will be possible or not.
The timeline for the delivery of key deliverables should also be accompanied by a specific outline of a timeframe for how long different kinds of fixes and adaptations will take to apply.
If a project is extremely urgent, it might make sense to pay extra for a permanent, 24/7 point of contact with a member of the IT service team.
For some companies, this can help establish greater peace of mind when it comes to realizing a successful IT project.
Conclusion
When it comes to realizing your IT project, outsourcing it to a team of experienced developers has enormous benefits that can’t be ignored.
However, when choosing your outsourcing partner, it’s equally important to partner with one that emphasizes transparency, and which can effectively communicate to you the possibilities and constraints of your proposed project.
Do you have a website, app or other IT development project you would like to discuss with us? Get in touch to find out how we can help you.