What Outsourced Software Development Can Do for You: Breaking Down Key Applications
In a previous blog post, we provided a high-level overview of outsourced software development. We discussed exactly what it is, why it’s popular, and interesting use cases by industry. Today, we want to drill down into real-world applications that outsourced software development is well-suited for. While this isn’t an exhaustive list, it does highlight common examples and illustrates how outsourcing can work. Let’s dive in below:
Outsourcing Custom Software & App Development
Companies may need a very specific software solution tailored to their exact requirements to maintain a competitive edge, but may not have, or have time to create, an internal IT team to deliver it. These builds can and do lend well to outsourced development.
An outside firm can provide the expertise they need to speed up delivery without overextending or hiring internal resources, while also serving as a cost-effective solution. These teams take the project from concept to launch, saving valuable time and money otherwise lost to onboarding team members.
Example:
A healthcare provider wants to create a patient portal where users can book appointments, retrieve records and results, and conduct telehealth appointments in an effort to reduce call volume and improve engagement. They may have looked at using an off-of-the-shelf software platform to execute some of these core functions (such as Epic My Chart,) but they really want the user experience to drive long-term patient relationships. This is a first for the company, and their internal IT department lacks the mobile development experience this project requires. Here an outside firm can own the app build from start-to-finish with no hiring delays, and deliver a fully-fleshed product in months to alleviate the provider’s customer service and experience pain points. Once the initial product is complete, the company may want its internal team to maintain it, or the outsourced team can stay on to manage it for maintenance or future features.
Outsourcing Legacy System Modernization
Outdated systems can create a major bottleneck for a company, which may require migrating to a cloud-based system, increasing security, eliminating old dependencies or creating the agility to integrate new features. This becomes a new layer of work onto itself, outside of the day-to-day activity of the existing IT team that will struggle to absorb it. Instead, the client can work with an outside development team to manage this transition, freeing up the internal team to stay on task with their core responsibilities without interruption internally, or externally to customers and partners.
Example:
An insurance provider wants to replace an aging desktop processing software with a web-based portal that has automated workflows to improve speed and remote access. While focused on routine IT activity, the internal team is also unfamiliar with the new underlying programs that will serve as the foundation for the portal. By bringing in an external team to manage this project, the company can forgo training its current staff, or eliminate time spent on finding talent with this particular experience. As a result, they get a modernized platform faster and at a lower cost that increases processing speeds and makes off-site access possible to agents regardless of location.
Outsourcing Software Maintenance & Support
With IT departments focused on system-wide functionality and long-term planning, the number of small bugs, feature enhancements or maintenance tickets can add up fast and drain bandwidth. Instead, a company can bundle these support-related items to an external team to keep their software running smoothly without burdening internal resources. This way, the company ensures reliable, ongoing performance without compromising special projects or exposing overlooked issues when the team is stretched too thin.
Example:
An e-learning SaaS startup needs to maintain and improve their existing learning management system following a launch, but wants their core team to focus on future iterations of the product. They contract an outsourced team to fix bugs, fine tune performance and begin development on new features, such as gamification or analytics, that ultimately improve uptime, support and user retention. On the backend, the internal team stays heads down on the product roadmap, keeping the business poised for ongoing growth.
Outsourcing Website Development & E-Commerce Platforms
A company’s most important real estate is online - which typically starts with its website. Whether that’s a static site about the company, or if it needs to incorporate an e-commerce layer, companies need experienced professionals that can bring them online fast and on budget. Working with an outsource firm gives them this flexibility, and access to experts in UX/UI design, backend development and payment integration to deliver a high-performance product tailored to their business goals.
Example:
A boutique fashion retailer has decided to expand into online sales and needs a web presence that incorporates e-commerce and inventory management with seamless UX. Given it’s their first foray into doing digital business, they don’t have an IT team in place to support the project. In this scenario, an outsourced firm can be a plug-and-play solution and build a responsive website with a Shopify backend and custom design that allows them to execute payments, manage product shipments, and gather customer emails for promotions. As a result, the client could see an increase in revenue by making their goods available to a wider audience, and the majority of their business shift from in-person to online purchases.
Outsourcing Data Analytics
One of the best ways to obtain valuable insights into performance, customer satisfaction and more is through a company’s own backend data. However, many organizations don’t have an effective solution for scraping and analyzing this data to make it actionable. They may want to work with an outsourced team to develop a system for exactly that, so they are constantly learning from and iterating on their internal data to improve operations over time.
Example:
A fintech startup conducts credit risk and financial health assessments for small businesses applying for loans, but needs a more sophisticated, automated modeling system to manage the amount of data from accounting software, bank feeds and tax filings to keep up with the customer expectations of a smooth application experience. With an outside team, the company can implement a centralized data warehouse that consolidates information from disparate sources into a single source of truth, establishing proper data governance and quality controls. This foundation enables the development of an automated system that processes real-time financial and transactional information from third parties, detects anomalies or indicators of financial distress, and gives visibility into risk scores, trends and compliance issues. The outsourced team also builds comprehensive BI reporting dashboards that provide executives and loan officers with intuitive visualizations of portfolio performance, risk concentration, and key lending metrics. These self-service analytics tools allow stakeholders to drill down into customer segments, compare cohort performance over time, and identify emerging patterns without waiting for ad-hoc reports. With these tools in place, the client is able to improve model accuracy, onboard customers faster, make more data-driven lending decisions, and better prepare for regulatory reviews with audit-ready reporting capabilities.
Outsourcing Emerging Tech: AI,IoT, Blockchain & More
The tech available to conduct and execute all manners of operations is constantly evolving and improving. So are user expectations, such as greater interactivity, security, response times and access depending on the business in question. It’s not often a company’s internal team readily has an expert experienced in new disciplines, whether that’s building a virtual assistant chatbot or migrating records to a blockchain, and instead of undergoing an exhaustive hiring and onboarding process, they can give the project to a team specifically tailored with the skills needed to complete it.
Example:
A manufacturing company wants to optimize its operations using real-time data derived from its equipment. However, to do that, they need an IoT-enabled monitoring system with predictive maintenance powered by AI. An outsourced team can help them accelerate this project, quickly delivering them valuable insights that reduce machine downtime and its downstream business impacts.
Outsourcing Software Development Key Applications In Summary
There is no limit to the type of work that outsourced software development teams can absorb. However, these use cases illustrate how outsourcing isn’t just about cutting costs, but that it’s also a smart way to access specialized skills, accelerate timelines, and deliver results when internal resources aren’t aligned with the technical scope. Whether you're tackling modernization, launching a new app, or experimenting with AI, a trusted outsourced partner can bridge the gap from idea to execution. To learn more about how Amplify Tech Labs approaches outsource software development projects, click here.
