How to Outsource Full Cycle Software Development?
The full-cycle software development process is a daunting undertaking that requires time, effort, and expertise. Many companies lack some or all of these factors when developing in-house products, so they outsource.
In this article, we will discuss how to outsource the full-cycle software development project to a third-party service and the benefits of doing so.
What is full-cycle software development outsourcing?
Full-cycle software development covers all processes and stages from start to finish. This includes planning, idea validation, design, development, testing, launch, and maintenance.
Often, companies outsource only part of the operation, such as product development, while the in-house operations team manages and controls the process. Although this option gives the in-house team much control over the project lifecycle, it still takes a lot of time and effort to manage and control it.
With full-cycle software development outscoring, you outsource all of the software development. This requires total trust in the full cycle software development services you hire.
It is also a popular option today, marking a notable market shift—the evolution of outsourcing, staff augmentation companies into managed services, and the rise of value-oriented outsourcing.
What are the outsourcing trends in 2025?
According to Deloitte’s yearly outsourcing report, 2024 showed a rising trend in the growth of managed service providers and value-based outsourcing. Here are a couple of words about these and some other trends, and what they mean for full-cycle software development outsourcing:
Outsourcing delivery models continue to mature, with a growing emphasis on value-based relationships
According to the report, 67% of executives today adopt outcome-based services. Outcome-based services present a business model where clients pay based on the actual results achieved from a product, focusing on value delivery.
If we apply this to app development, a client now places responsibility for the product idea and competitiveness on the software development vendor. For example, if a business subscribes to a SaaS platform, the SaaS provider is responsible for adding features to the product that will make that business more competitive.
What it means to hire full-cycle development outsourcing: With most outsourcing companies maturing to offer strategic advantages of the product they develop, businesses can trust the outsourcing outcomes more.
Mastering the complexity of talent sourcing is imperative for future-ready organizations.
More and more organizations realize that outsourcing is no longer a cost-saving means but a means of pursuing new talent and expertise.
As technology matures at an unprecedented pace, it becomes harder for companies to upskill and retrain their in-house staff to develop products that meet current market demand.
On the contrary, outsourcing companies are keen on attracting and hiring the top technical talent in their domain.
For example, once hired by an online retailer, a software developer will be tied to the support and development of one product. Once hired by an outsourcing company, the same person takes part in multiple projects like this and acquires new skills. Thus, outsourcing teams are more technologically savvy.
What it means to hire full-cycle development outsourcing: If you hire the outsourcing team, they will have the leading-edge expertise in developing projects you need.
Digital workforce outsourcing provides a glimpse of the future
Today’s workforce has turned into a digital workforce, which means a combination of human talent and automated processes. The digital workforce is evolving into an independent talent pool combining autonomous software, "digital workers," and human talent.
A great example of this trend is serverless computing or software development. Previously, if the software development company paid for cloud storage, it also needed in-house infrastructure managers who would request additional storage space or computing power when needed.
Today, serverless computing services are equipped with machines that automatically scale based on the load of tasks. While they take over the infrastructure management, developers can concentrate on other tasks, making cloud software development more effective.
What it means if you hire full-cycle development outsourcing: Equipped with modern tools and trained in cost- and time-effective development methodologies, the outsourcing development teams will be more capable of bringing value for the time spent.
How do you outsource full-cycle software development?
Although the outsourcing method offers excellent benefits, the risk of failure is still possible if you don’t build a working approach to fail-proof future collaboration.
Consider different software development providers
In the first step of future outsourcing management, you must select between different market players and evaluate their strong and weak sides. This way, you can shortlist the most promising ones and pass them to interviews.
Learn about their previous experience
It is very important to make sure that the developers you hire have already worked on a similar task. This way, you can be sure of shorter development paths and more effective troubleshooting.
Discuss their project organization methodologies.
The team must incorporate lean development methodologies into their project organization. Suppose you want to develop a modern, scalable app with limited in-house resources. In that case, consider cloud or hybrid development, where a part of the software infrastructure is stored in-house for privacy purposes, and the other part is on the cloud. By the way, as of 2024, 73% of organizations utilized services from hybrid cloud providers.
Sign contracts and start!
It is also important to pay attention to the legal side of software development, such as an NDA and other agreements. It is also important to check what legal representatives the outsourcing vendor has. When everything is ready, you are all set to start.
Summing up
Successful full-cycle software development outsourcing is possible if you find a reputable and professional software development vendor. By opting for this method, you will benefit from faster time-to-market, lower cost, and a high level of specialized expertise.