7 REASONS YOU SHOULD HIRE A SOFTWARE CONSULTANT

A software consultant’s role in tech development has slowly become more integral for small businesses and large corporations alike. But is bringing on a consultant the right thing for your business? We’ll walk you through the top reasons why you should consider hiring a software consultant, the common signs indicating a need for one and what you can expect from a process standpoint.

WHAT IS A SOFTWARE CONSULTANT?

A software consultant helps audit a company’s current code and processes then develops a customized software solution based on a business’ unique set of goals and requirements. These goals and requirements are typically outlined during a discovery meeting between the consultant and the project stakeholders.

But developing an initial plan isn’t where their expertise ends. Software consultants can also work alongside software development teams to ensure the custom software is created to meet the business’ requirements. Training a company’s in-house team members and checking in on a newly deployed software are also tasks a consultant might perform. And depending on the scope of a project, a software consultant may extend their stay to oversee any continued maintenance.

WHEN TO HIRE A SOFTWARE CONSULTANT

There are three scenarios that might warrant the help of a software consultant:

1. Your company is running on an outdated system
2. You know that you need technology but you’re unsure what that looks like
3. Your development team lacks the skills needed to execute against your goals and requirements

If any of these ring true for your company, a software consultant can get you on the right track.

7 BENEFITS OF WORKING WITH A SOFTWARE CONSULTANT

If you’re still unsure, here are seven benefits to hiring a software consultant to help you make your decision:

1. REDUCES COMPLEXITY. A consultant can help your company streamline operations and increase efficiency by introducing new technologies.
2. HELPS YOU VALIDATE IDEAS. Consultants have methods for testing ideas and delivering proof of concepts to ensure you’re bringing the most successful ones to market.
3. INCREASES TEAM VELOCITY. Software consultants can help improve development times and resource management. They also have the expertise to swiftly handle any technical issues as they arise.
4. IMPLEMENTS BEST-IN-CLASS PRACTICES. Consultants will identify areas where we can deploy development and infrastructure best practices to create efficiencies and cost savings.
5. HELPS SECURE STAKEHOLDER BUY-IN. Their extensive experience and technical knowledge can be leveraged to earn the trust of your internal stakeholders.
6. PROVIDES OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVE. Many software consultants have experience working with an expansive number of applications across a wide range of industries nationwide.
7. ACCELERATES PRODUCTIVITY. Consultants often work as an extension of your team throughout the process.

SOFTWARE CONSULTING & DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Beyond the benefits just mentioned, software consulting services offer cleaner code, greater life cycle of development tools and more efficient ways of working.

When approaching consulting on software projects for our clients, Shift uses a formalized set of development best practices that allow us to scale with minimal changes to architecture and onboard software developers with minimal transition time:

• One codebase with version control, allowing us to see history of commits and deploys
• Pair programming, where one developer writes code while the other reviews in real time
• Test-driven development
• Continuous delivery by frequent releases to staging and production environments
• Continuous integration, ensuring every change doesn’t introduce regression
• Deployment processes using modern cloud platforms
• Enforcing environment parity by keeping development, staging and production as similar as possible

A software consultant is a great tool for meeting business requirements with measurable results. They’ll help you create custom-fit solutions and a successful technology strategy within your budget and timeline.

If you’re a company located in Iowa, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, Omaha, Nebraska — or elsewhere — who’s interested in software consulting services, contact us today.