Software Outsourcing Company: What to Buy and What to Keep

A software outsourcing company builds and often runs software for businesses that do not want a development payroll. GBCORP is one, and it takes outsourced work in one shape only: a scoping week, then fixed-price releases with dates, everything in the client’s name, and a support plan afterwards. The shape matters more than the location, because the failures of outsourcing, paying for time, losing ownership and nobody being accountable, are failures of shape.

What to buy from an outsourcing company

What to keep in house

The decision-maker and their response time to a build. The accounts: cloud, domain, stores, payments. The content and the brand. The number the software should move, and the person who reads it. Everything else is the outsourcing company’s job, and most businesses are better off for it.

Ownership and exit, in writing

Code in a repository the client controls. Cloud project, domain, store developer accounts and payment account in the client’s name from week one. Documentation with every release. No credentials retained after a hand-over unless a support contract requires them. A hand-over period in the plan. A business that reads these clauses before the price avoids most of the stories about outsourcing.

The rhythm that replaces proximity

A named contact. A build every two weeks. Decisions in writing. A written scope everyone can point to. A partner that ships every fortnight from another continent is easier to work with than one nearby that ships when it is done. GBCORP works this way across 17 countries on 4 continents.

Checklist before choosing an outsourcing company

• Ask for a fixed price per release and a scoping week priced on its own.
• Install two of the company’s own apps and use them.
• Read the ownership and exit clauses before the price.
• Ask for the support plan in writing with response times.
• Ask who your contact is and how fast they answer.
• Agree the number that defines success.

The numbers to expect

Scoping in one week. A first release in eight to twelve weeks at a fixed price; a configured app within days. Releases every two weeks. Support at a known monthly figure. Customised or more complex functionality is quoted separately before any work starts.

A worked example

A wholesale business outsourced its ordering system to a team paid by the month. Two years on, the system worked but nobody could change it, and the developer who knew it had left. GBCORP’s scoping week mapped the system and its data; the rebuild shipped in twelve weeks on the shared engine in three fixed-price releases, with the data imported and the accounts moved into the business’s name. The business now receives a build every fortnight when it wants changes and pays a known monthly figure when it does not. It has never employed a developer and no longer needs to know one by name.

The first month of an outsourced project

Week one, the scoping week: workshops, screens, scope, quotation, dates. Week two, the foundation: cloud project and accounts in the client’s name, brand applied, sign-in working. From week four, releases with a test build on the client’s phone every two weeks. The client’s job in the first month is to attend the workshops, supply brand and content, authorise the accounts, and answer within days.

Warning signs to act on

A price in days rather than per release. No scoping week, or one folded in for free. Accounts opened in the supplier’s name for convenience. A first build promised at the end rather than every fortnight. Questions answered by phone with no record. Each is fixable in the first month and expensive after it.

Testing the company cheaply

Buy the scoping week on its own and judge the documents. Install two of the company’s own apps and use them. Ask for a release note from a live client. Read the ownership and exit clauses. An afternoon and one week’s fee tell a business most of what a year would, and the documents are the business’s to keep.

What the support plan should include

Monitoring, so the company knows about a failure before the client does. Patches for libraries and platforms. Operating-system and store updates. Hours each month for small changes. Response times by severity, in writing. A quarterly review of the number the software was built to move.

Ownership terms in one paragraph

Code in a repository the client controls, documented with every release. Cloud project, domain, store and payment accounts in the client’s name. Data exportable at any time. No commission on sales, and no credentials retained after a hand-over unless a support contract requires them.

Questions we hear first

Is outsourcing cheaper than hiring?

For most businesses, yes: no payroll, no idle time, a fixed price per release. Hiring makes sense with a year of continuous work and someone to lead it.

How do we know the code is good?

It ships every two weeks and runs in the stores; the support plan is the guarantee, because the company maintains what it built.

Can we bring it in house later?

Yes. Everything is in your name and documented; a hand-over period is part of the plan.

What if we already have an outsourced system?

A scoping week maps it; the rebuild or extension is quoted per release, and the data is imported.

Where to start

The GBCORP software development hub sets out the method; the GBCORP Custom App Development product is the priced starting point. For the app-specific view, read app development outsourcing without regret.

GBCORP operates across 17 countries on 4 continents through six pillars: AI & IT, Innovation, Sustainability, Infrastructure, Premium Business, and EV's & Solutions.