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Partnerships between companies are key to success in the global economy, and in the current digital world, they are based on technology as much as on strategy, products and services. You can sit for several days, weeks, or even months working on your idea, but as soon as you are done, the question arises of technological planning and its implementation.
In such cases, it quickly becomes clear that for a number of areas of activity your own knowledge is simply not enough, and certain tasks are too large to be completed fully and on time. And then you come to the conclusion that almost every startup owner at some point comes to: you need external experience and expertise in the form of a business technology partner. But if you've ever come across this, you probably know that finding the right business partner is not so easy. Moreover, startupers sometimes do not fully understand what exactly this concept means and what functions a technological partner should actually perform. In this article we will try to clarify this issue. Let’s go!
A technological partner is a team of technical specialists who will take care of all issues regarding the planning, development and maintenance of a project. Moreover, the team acts not just as a contractor, but as a full-fledged partner, showing maximum involvement in the process and taking into account all the needs of the business.
Distinctive features of this type of partnership are:
- the presence of an experienced team of professionals who comply with all terms, conditions and requirements;
- the team is not only contractors who are waiting for your instructions, but also partners who care about your business, offer solutions and take care of all technical issues: creating architecture, planning work, designing, scaling, monitoring, coding, support, etc.;
- prices in this type of cooperation are often more reasonable due to the complexity of the services provided (especially considering the financial and time risks).
In other words, a really good startup development partner is actively involved in all stages of the project’s creation. Now we will consider these stages in more detail.
Planning
The development of any software begins with the analysis stage, during which the startup owner and technology partner discuss the requirements for the final product. A really good startup development partner after the signing the contract will not only help develop the idea of a startup, but will also conduct extensive IT consulting, during which the strategy and tactics of the future project will be agreed. Your project will be planned to the smallest detail, the partner will offer ways to implement all functions and features, as well as analyze potential profits. Additionally, a good technological partner will not only advise you on how best to implement your idea, but also help to avoid unwanted risks and possible errors. The purpose of this stage is to determine the detailed requirements for the system, plan the entire development process, write down estimates, budget, eliminate possible errors, etc. In addition, you must make sure that all participants correctly understood the tasks and how exactly each requirement will be implemented in practice.
Often, leading developers also participate in the discussion, who already at the stage of developing requirements can make their own suggestions and, if necessary, adjust the process.
This stage involves the collection of requirements for the developed software, their systematization, documentation, analysis. In addition, at this stage, the technologies that will be used in the project, team loading, limitations, time frames and budget are determined. In accordance with the specified requirements, the most suitable design solutions are selected.
What does a startup development partner mean at the planning stage: development of a startup idea, extensive strategic and tactical IT consulting, planning of the development process, writing estimates, budget, elimination of possible errors.
Development
The development of the startup software, in fact, is one of the main responsibilities of a startup development partner. It is generally accepted practice to divide this stage into the following sub-steps.
Creating a project architecture
At this stage, developers and system architects, guided by the requirements, develop a high-level system design. A variety of technical issues that arise during the design process are discussed and then the approved design of the system determines the list of developed software components, interaction, functional characteristics of the program, the databases used, and much more.
Design
The goal of a good startup development partner is to build a convenient, comprehensible interface. The visual appearance of the product is the result of the UX/UI designers work. Together with them, system architects work while deciding what structure the finished product will have and how it should behave.
Development
The task of a good technical partner in this sub-step is to implement all the features agreed upon at earlier stages. This is where back-end developers write the program code in accordance with previously defined requirements. System administrators configure the software environment, front-end developers create the user interface of the program and the logic of its interaction with the server.
Developers typically follow one of the methodologies such as Agile or Waterfall.
Testing
One of the key tasks of a good partner is to provide a clean and ready-to-use product that is free from bugs and flaws. During the entire development process, testing specialists perform different types of testing: unit testing, interface testing, and others depending on the purpose. This category of specialists should come to the final conclusion that the product has no errors and is ready for release. After the project passes the final acceptance testing, the next stage begins.
Deployment
The final stage of development and one of the most important points for a good development partner. After all the previous steps have been completed, the product can be implemented and integrated with third-party software. The development process does not end there - it continues until improvements are made.
What does a startup development partner mean at the development stage: development of a system architecture, interface design, implementation of all agreed features, multi-level testing, implementation and integration with third-party software.
Maintenance
After the release, the finished product needs constant technical support and maintenance, and a good startup development partner knows about it. Whether it’s additional questions about the product’s work from customers, or the need to make changes to the functions that are already in place, the specialists of the startup development partner are always ready to help.
In case users detect certain post-release bugs, information about them is transmitted in the form of error reports to the development team, which fixes them. Some companies even provide certain guarantees for the code, implying that all detected bugs and shortcomings will be fixed at their expense. Good startup development partners usually carry out maintenance work according to a predetermined schedule, but if necessary, they can be carried out unscheduled, or even immediately if the situation requires it.
In addition, at this stage, the addition of new features and the introduction of new functionality can be implemented.
What does a startup development partner mean at the support stage: planned technical support, adding new features, troubleshooting, code warranty, collecting user experience.
Development of ideas and new iterations of the project
In fact, there is no time when work on software can be considered completely completed. Either new requests are received from the customer for expanding the functionality, or support is required for products users.
A good startup development partner is always ready to discuss potential ways to develop a project and, in the future, take up work on a new version.
What does a startup development partner mean at the stage of developing an idea: expanding functionality, helping develop an idea for a startup, developing new versions.
Exceeding the expectations
A really good startup development partner always offers more than what is required of him. For example, a distinctive feature of a good startup development team is their willingness to troubleshoot, that is, to systematically search for the source of a problem with a specific logic-mediated goal in order to solve it. The team of troubleshooters will quickly and efficiently solve the problem, acting not only as programmers, but also offering their own ways out of the situation.
Moreover, a start-up development partner called so in order to ensure the most dense communication and discussion, participating in brainstorms with the customer to solve problems, and also showing maximum involvement in the process. And this concerns both the problematic aspects of the project and the possible ways of its development.
What does a startup development partner which exceeds expectations means: troubleshooting, participation in brain storms, maximum involvement, communication.
It is almost impossible to build a business in the field of technology and take into account all the technical details without specific expertise. Finding a startup development partner who will be responsible and offer more than is expected from him is sometimes also a difficult task. However, if you manage to find the right company, the chances of developing a successful quality product are greatly increased. Choose a startup development partner wisely, and read about the benefits that this type of collaboration provides in this article.
