What does a software development company do? Nowadays, this type of business has increased its importance, especially for startups that are in search of accelerated growth. Moreover, with the constant increase in the use of applications and systems by the population, countries are even putting the discipline of programming in their schools.
Because of our experience in the market, startups that are looking for a software development company are in the moment to hire professionals for their team or want to better understand how a development company works to work with one in the near future.
Thinking of helping you in this moment, we have produced an article that better details how software development companies work in the market. Check it out below.
What is a software development company?
To begin with, let’s understand what a software development company is. This kind of company, as the name says, develops software on demand for other businesses. To illustrate better, imagine that you own a bakery and need to control all the finance and inventory of your business.
You have two options, hire a software ready from a startup, for example, or hire a company to develop a software on demand for your company. Both solutions have their pros and cons. In the case of customized software, it will probably cost more than a ready-made product, however, you will be sure that it will contemplate all the functionalities your business needs to function properly.
The point here is for you to understand that software development is not an exact science. To think that you know exactly what you want as an end result can be a shot in the foot. Because of this, it is extremely important to have an open project scope so that you and your team can make changes when you need them, without wasting too much time on it.
Professionals involved in a software development company
Project Manager
He is responsible for controlling all the bureaucratic issues of a software project, he is the one who takes care of the product roadmap and which activities will be prioritized. Currently, this professional is very related to agile methodologies, and these managers take on PO’s or PM’s roles and ensure that the process and the product are moving and evolving to the right direction.
There are companies that leave this discipline in charge of one of the team’s developers, the so-called “Tech Lead”. This can also be a good option for smaller projects that do not need so much management.
Designer
Another key professional in a software development company is the designer. It’s a mistake to think that a designer can only make an application beautiful. Designers are responsible for making the tool that is being built, easy to use.
Today the area is divided into UX and UI, one focusing more on the usability of the product while the other on the visual aspect. UI Design is responsible for how the application will behave visually, in other words, it is who actually designs the screens of the application thinking mainly on aesthetics. UX Design takes care of the experience as a whole, besides the interface, it thinks about aspects such as ease of use and accessibility.
QA
Essential in developing good software, QA is also important. The so-called test analyst is responsible for ensuring the functionality of that project. Every technology project has a bug, even Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp that is maintained by thousands of engineers have their problems, it is natural.
The job of QA is to minimize all possible problems that a software can have, either through manual or automated testing.
Types of software development company
With the advancement of the market, today there are some ways for a company to provide a customized software development service. Each one of them has its own characteristics, so it’s up to the client to decide the best option for their reality.
Software Factory
More common nowadays, a software factory is a company that delivers software on demand, as the name says, as if it were a factory. So, theoretically there is a production line so that in the end the product that you ordered comes out.
Unlike developer allocation, hiring a software factory means that the company will have full control of the project that needs to be executed, taking care of all steps, from the beginning to the moment of delivery to the client. However, while it may seem like a good solution for companies, this business model can be complicated for medium to long term projects.
This happens because all decisions related to technology are made by the software factory, leaving the client totally out of which stacks are being used and what maximum performance your product can offer your company. Also, as startups are constantly changing and evolving, not having professionals allocated can limit the real-time evolution of the product as different demands arise.
Outsourcing allocated presentially and remotely
This type of service is ideal when you already have a technology team. Here you hire a complete person or team to join your main team, thus increasing the flow of new features. The downside is that you need a physical space and managers to manage this team. What if you have started a company now, is not the best option.
The remote hiring is practically the same as the one mentioned above, however, in this case, this hired team is allocated remotely. The big difference in this case is that you have access to talents from all over the world, increasing the ease of hiring and technical quality of your team.
Customization of ready-made products
In this case, you hire a software development company to customize ready-made products, but of course, the product needs to allow this kind of approach.
We have several examples of large corporations living on top of this type of service, such as Salesforce, SAP and TOTV products. You buy a ready-made solution and hire services (either from the company that created the product or not) to modify the software according to your needs.
