We all have worked on a project at some point in our life. Be it a small project in a school or a large-scale project in an organization, a few parameters need to be taken care of to be a “successful project.”
Not all projects become successful. Although completed, the project may not necessarily be successful. So, what does it take for a completed project to be successful? There are numerous elements to take care of in this process. But, to cut it short, here are two essential parameters you might want to keep in mind when implementing:
- A planned and step-wise approach to solving the problem.
- Collecting the right and sufficient resources required for the project.
To understand this better, learning about agile and outsourcing is essential. Here is a guide to understanding what agile and outsourcing are and how they can go hand-in-hand to help benefit the organization.
What is Agile?
The word Agile means the ability to move quickly or easily. As its meaning suggests, Agile methodology is the practice of project management that makes it easy and quick. Agile practices involve the breaking up of a project into several phases.
It is a continuous cycle of planning, running, evaluating, and improvising. These phases help make the project more efficient and equally crucial in project management. Planning helps an individual or a group of people understand the skills required, the problems, the challenges, the resources needed, the time required, and the division of tasks for the completion of the project.
Planning helps gain an understanding of the practicality of the project and whether the solution is working or not. Evaluation helps get a deeper understanding of whether the project will meet the consumer's requirement and if any alternatives can be implemented to improve it. Followed by improvising all the areas that can be better and more efficient.
Besides being used for project management, the agile methodology is also used for software development. Software development is a complex and time-consuming process. But, with the help of agile, it can be broken into smaller tasks. This makes working on it more effortless and comparatively faster as there is continuous monitoring of the progress made.
What is Outsourcing?
Outsourcing is usually practiced as a cost-cutting measure. The word outsourcing means to obtain goods or services externally by a contract. Similarly, in business, outsourcing is practiced for hiring external parties to produce goods or provide services.
It is a practice that can help a business or an organization reduce labor costs. When an organization uses outsourcing, it assigns particular tasks to people outside the organization. The external suppliers usually set various compensation rate structures with their employees than the outsourcing company, which ensures that they get the work done at a comparatively lesser cost. Which eventually helps the outsourcing company reduce labor costs.
Apart from acting as a cost-saving measure, it also helps focus on the key aspects of the business. An organization can use outsourcing for the non-core tasks or areas of work so that the employees from the organization can work on the core areas better. This would ensure that the company focuses on its concerned areas taking care of the other areas of work. Which will, in turn, help increase the efficiency and productivity of the organization.
Suggested Read: How to Build the Best IT Outsourcing Strategy for your Business?
How Can Agile And Outsourcing Be Better Together?
Agile and outsourcing are two different terms and have almost no means of similarities in them. Which is why bridging the gap between them is a difficult task. But, when combined or brought together, agile outsourcing helps an organization improve efficiency, and productivity, and reduce the cost and time required for completing the project.
Here are a few steps to make agile and outsourcing work better together:
1. Strategize:
One of the most commonly faced challenges by an agile team is deciding what tasks to outsource and what to insource when bringing vendors into the picture. Hence proper planning and strategizing on the division of tasks is essential. The task allocation can be strategized depending on the skills, capabilities, and priorities. This is the first step to bridging the gap between agile and outsourcing.
2. Assess:
The next step is to assess which strategy works best for the project. Evaluating if the allocation of tasks is done rightly and effectively is an important step. Understanding if the in-house employees take on the core tasks is crucial as they require more focus. At the same time, the outsourced employees can take care of the non-core tasks as these tasks come as secondary.
3. Distribute:
Correct distribution is another crucial step to bridging the gap between the two fields. While making decisions related to distribution, we must consider the agile maturity of both parties, i.e., the organization and the vendor. We must also consider other factors like skills, costs, talent, availability, and innovation.
4. Select:
Once the most efficient strategy is finalized and the distribution of tasks is also confirmed, selecting the right vendor is essential. Reliable vendors that meet the criteria of the requirement for the project with flexibility, availability, and affordable cost should be chosen.
5. Negotiate:
Proper negotiation between both parties and forming a mutual contract that is unbiased and fulfills the needs and wants of both parties is a must. Most outsourcing projects fail due to miscommunication or communication gaps. Hence having clear and concise communication is essential.
6. Evaluate:
Continuous progress monitoring and evaluation are vital to understanding where the project stands and what measures can be taken to improve it. Constant evaluation helps an organization get the best outcomes as there is a continuous goal for improvement in productivity and efficiency.
Also, Read: How Does Agile Work With UX Design?
How Can Startup Consulting Services Help?
A startup is a small-scale business that is started freshly. Startups usually have limited resources and are constantly in search of ways how they can grow. When a small-scale business is freshly formulated, various challenges come forth. Some include limited resources, constant uncertainty, and seeking product-market fit.
With so many challenges and a limited amount of resources and manpower, growing a startup can become difficult. This is where startup consulting services come into the picture. Startup consulting services help in the following ways:
1. Strategizing and Planning:
The consulting services help the clients get a better understanding through deep analysis, statistics, and steps of designing. This detailed study helps create a suitable plan.
2. Formation of the Legal Business:
All organizations worldwide are bound to laws. Law is a vast field, and only some fully know it. The consulting service units help startups and other organizations with their legal structure for the business.
3. Development of the Structure:
Startups go through the problem of having to deal with multiple tasks at the same time due to manpower constraints. Consulting service units can help clients complete critical tasks in the early stages of business formation.
4. Selection of Vendors:
Freshly started businesses need vendors to build the company's key components. Consulting units can help clients by providing them with various reliable vendors and helping them choose the best vendor from them.
Also, Read: Why should you hire IT-Managed Services for Business?
Conclusion:
Agile facilitates project management and software development. Agile approach is a process that can be used to break a project into smaller tasks that can be completed in phases. The phases include planning, running, reviewing, and improvising, all of which are equally important in making project management or software development easier.
Outsourcing is the cost-cutting measure practiced by organizations that involve hiring external suppliers to get the tasks of the organization done at a comparatively lesser cost. It also helps improve the efficiency and productivity of the company as it allows the in-house employees to focus on critical areas of work. In contrast, the outsourced employees focus on the non-key regions of work.
When we bridge the gap between agile and outsourcing, we benefit in numerous ways, including increased productivity, efficiency, reduced cost, and time required to complete it. Bringing agile and outsourcing together can be difficult, but if an organization follows the six steps of strategize, assess, distribute, select, negotiate and evaluate properly, it becomes easier.
If you are looking for software development outsourcing services, Schedule a call with us today!
