Businesses are constantly readjusting themselves to become more agile and innovative while maximizing their opportunity in today’s digital economy. This is especially true for up-and-coming businesses with limited budgets that need to think ahead of the curve to find additional resources to fuel their digital transformation. Software outsourcing is no longer perceived as a choice or a strategic decision to be made, but rather an operational duty of the IT leaders trying to transform their organizations.
Software outsourcing businesses often adapt better to the evolving digital landscape. Why? Because they aren’t afraid to look outside an organization to fulfill all the requirements needed to run a thriving business and cater to customer’s needs. Software outsourcing is seen by business leaders as an effective means of finding a balance between constant budgetary constraints and the need for a digital transformation. But what are some of the more prevalent outsourcing trends and how can they help empower your business’ digital transformation?
Emerging Technologies
The widespread adoption of emerging technologies adds another dimension to our everyday lives—artificial intelligence and machine learning, blockchain and IoT, automated SIEM software and the advancements in cloud computing capabilities. These technologies are skewing the already-blurred lines between our digital and physical worlds and are helping companies bring highly advanced solutions to the fields of business automation, customer management, risk and security orchestration, to name a few.
Keeping an eye on such trends is one thing, but incorporating them into an existing business structure often requires outside expertise. Software outsourcing companies are, by definition, businesses that help other businesses with the development, design, maintenance and testing of their software application and solutions. As such, leading providers in software outsourcing are constantly looking out for the latest tech advancements the market has to offer and craft their much-needed expertise accordingly.
Outsourcing providers represent the important link between the customer’s growing demand for technologically driven solutions and services and the companies trying to provide them. It seems that every business nowadays wants and AI or machine learning-powered answers to their problems. Instead of having to hire a full-time specialist to help them execute a specific task, companies can simply outsource the needed expertise and use their resources on core competencies.
Data Privacy and Security
Advanced software solutions such as AI and machine learning require massive amounts of user data to prove effective. Collecting user data is one thing, but guaranteeing data privacy and security is a whole different ballgame. As the number of cybersecurity breaches increases over time, so does the demand for data loss prevention, data security automation and advanced threat intelligence. The only way for software outsourcing companies to satisfy this demand is to fully comply with security regulations and industry standards.
The General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, has standardized the data protection law in the EU, imposing strict rules in regards to the collection, control and processing of personally identifiable information. Outsourcing vendors are now obligated to conduct their security audits regularly and use that information to update their security strategies and meet the new security requirements.
Doing this allows them to determine the most effective policies for data protection and guarantee availability, responsibility and quality of their service-level agreements.
A successful outsourcing agreement cannot be made if your potential partner doesn’t follow the latest security standards or doesn’t have a clearly defined security policy. The best way to protect your business against potentially hazardous data breaches is as simple as looking for outsourcing providers that have security testing in their service offerings. Agency listings and repositories are an excellent place to start, as they tend to provide the much-needed reviews and rankings of potential providers.
Increasing Talent Shortage
Labor markets are having a hard time keeping up with the rapid pace of tech development. Talent shortage continues to be the No. 1 challenge even in the booming areas of the world such as the UK and the United States. A large number of tech-oriented startups enter the market each and every day and staying above the competition requires expert help with highly specialized skill sets.
To combat the increasing difficulties of finding expert help locally, businesses are turning toward less dynamic regions for their software outsourcing needs. Eastern Europe, for example, is far less saturated with tech startups when compared to the United States, yet manages to provide a sizable talent pool, as well as a large number of outsourcing providers to choose from.
Digital Transformation and the Benefits of Software Outsourcing
Businesses outsource expert help when dealing with parts of the digital transformation process for which they have little to no expertise whatsoever. This allows them to close any gap they might have had regarding their digital capabilities and focus their efforts on core transformation objectives. Collaboration is a vital part of outsourcing and, as such, provides valuable information regarding the latest business insights and disruptive technologies.
Outsourcing software leads to a successful DevOps journey. It allows businesses to find providers specialized in the digital transformation process. Some providers offer a multidisciplinary expertise that encompasses AI and machine learning, big data tools, digital mobility applications, scalable cloud solutions and more. Working with distributed engineering teams who already have the necessary domain-specific expertise can result in a faster time-to-market and increased customer satisfaction.
Digital transformation comes with many challenges and software development outsourcing should not be viewed as the go-to solution for every problem. It is one of many crucial parts found in the larger digital transformation framework. Business automation, emerging technologies, the latest security practices and value-added services—these are the cogs in the software outsourcing-fueled machine that is digital transformation.