What means human resources in SaaS project?

With the help of bespoke software development services anyone can now create their own SaaS product if there is a budget. Dig a little deeper. Be careful. Make sure you get quality work thanks to the human resources for SaaS at every stage. This is the best way to respect the idea you want to share with the world.

Someone has a great idea for an app or digital product. The cost of building a development team is daunting, so they find a cheaper solution. Maybe this is a group of freelancers or a design agency that also deals with programming.Six, nine or twelve months pass, and they can hardly show anything. It's horrible. Smart people spend their honestly earned money (their own or someone else's) trying to create a viable product. They put their trust in a team that was doomed to fail.

We understand their desire to save money. Even if you have the money, we all love bargains, and the cost of a development team can be quite high. But working with a qualified team, you will sleep soundly.

Disappearing Developers in SaaS: for HR team is just a regular day

Freelancers, online contracts, foreign sweatshops, and other on-demand developers represent one end of the spectrum. They often work extremely cheaply and promise to release your product in record time.

We have nothing against freelancers, but weird outsourcers defame the principle. Many times I've seen freelancers just disappear. You cannot contact a person either by Skype, or by email, or by phone. This is a major issue if you have set launch dates and have already made a decent advance. 

You might think that we are pumping, but this happens all the time. Maybe a member of your remote team has business or school affairs, but such delays threaten your business. It's not worth it. To create a user-friendly SaaS, human resources have to be reliable.

Doubtful agile development team

A completely different problem arises with development firms for $ 5-10. Usually these are companies located abroad, in which the code is kept on glue, crutches and low-paid labor. How can you develop software for $ 5 an hour? Answer: you must be a very beginner developer.

They hire recent college graduates and pay them $ 200-500 a month. These unskilled developers do dozens of projects at the same time and often combine code from different applications to create FrankenCode.

Security, performance, code quality, and scalability are thrown out of the window. You will get a bad product that matches its value.

These young developers can be exploited on a personal level. They can keep their passports, and pay out of time or not all of their salaries. The term "sweatshop" is used for a reason, it is not a model to support.

Hybrid agencies, brokerage firms and semi-developers

One such development firm got recently closed in Melbourne. Nobody wants to see a startup crash. Like many of the hybrid companies, they had their own project managers, and the company looked like a full-time professional firm, but they outsourced development work to freelancers and low-cost companies. This model is becoming more common in the tech community, where “expert” firms and consultants only pretend to have development teams.

The hybrid model has the same problems as hiring a freelancer: the risk of a programmer disappearing, poor quality, missed deadlines, unreliability, and a host of other obstacles. It's good to have your own project manager. But if this person is just an intermediary between you and a foreign company, your situation is no better than the one in which you would hire this company yourself.

Working with a design agency that is unprofessional in programming is also not a path to success. You are putting the entire project at risk.

What's at stake with budget cuts

We can assure you that none of the top 100 apps were created by a small development company, design agency, or overseas firm. Today's market sets high standards that these players cannot meet. I’m not saying whether it’s good or bad - it’s just reality.

It is disappointing to hear people invest 10-15 thousand dollars to create a small application and end up with a terrible product. It happens even worse - intermediary firms with a representative office in Australia, Europe or North America receive 50-60 thousand dollars for the work and give their client a spaghetti code.

Before we talk about what you should look for in a development firm, let's take a look at what's at stake if you take the low-cost route:

1. The product is poorly designed. It looks cheap and unpredictable. Users don't trust the interface, so they don't download the app or spend their money on it.
2. The creators missed every deadline. Nothing was finished on time. Opportunities closed, profits dwindled.
3.  The low price increases due to constant change requests. In the absence of a clear scope of work and detailed assignment, each changed function (and elements that should have been originally) are flagged as a change request. Some companies even build their business model on the fact that they increase the contract value by 200% for the so-called "add-ons".
4. The application cannot be scaled. New users overload the system. The best growth scenario becomes a hindrance when the product is faced with growing traffic.
5. Poor quality. No testing has been done, and no one has verified performance or security. User data is at risk, and your source code may be in the public domain at any time.
6. Another developer cannot use your code. Even if you go to a reliable company, they will have to start over. It can be compared to building a house on a crumbling foundation and rotten beams.

Paying for the best talent

Smart, skilled engineers are motivated to solve problems. Finding a developer who can solve your problem is difficult. They are incredibly valuable. And given the demand for the best talent, will they work for $ 5 an hour? Not.

A professional firm pays big bucks for these people, and with hundreds of projects in the works, they can afford to find, hire and retain the best in the business.

Talented developers and designers create scalable systems. They raise the bar. They create memorable interfaces. Why are Google and Facebook spending so much money on their teams? They know the value of critical thinking and creative problem solving.

A SaaS product development is more than an application. This is a business that requires a complete ecosystem of support. The dubious firm will build the app even if the assignment is meaningless. Professionals will test assumptions, pinpoint holes, and find problems before they appear. This is how you create great things.

Many people get frustrated when they realize that stores won't accept their lopsided game or broken billing service that will lose thousands of dollars in potential transactions. A full-service firm will work on all the details necessary to support your business.

There is a great advantage to working with expert designers in certain geo areas - and this is not about global arrogance.

Design is a mixture of science and art, and there are many differences in how people interact with products. If you're targeting users from a certain country, it makes sense to work with designers who are culturally aware. If you're building an app for a different market, you need people who have experience creating different versions or an international strategy that suits your potential clients.

Harsh standards and legal options

Applications require strict standards in code, design, functionality, privacy, and more. A professional firm will go through all the procedures to make sure you get a great product. They base their reputation on these standards.

Legally speaking, if you have a disagreement with a professional firm, you will have a contract on hand with certain standards and results. Want to solve a problem with an overseas company? We wish you a lot of luck, but it probably won't end well. Business should always be based on guarantees, contracts and liability. Protect yourself and your investment.

Buyer warning: managing offshore development teams

Finding a developer is difficult, but let's say you did it. But before signing a contract and transferring money, there are a few steps to take to get the best product for your money.

Check out the LinkedIn company

The company might claim to have offices around the world and 300 developers in its software development team, but check how many people with real profiles work for the company. If you only find one employee, that's a huge red flag.

Talk to the project manager

You should be able to speak with a person who will represent you for the rest of the project. Ask:

• Who will develop it? Are the same people or will they change?
• What are the software development team roles?
• Where do developers, designers and other team members work?
• To whom do they report?
• What's your experience?
• Are employees working full-time?
• How often will we contact? How will the daily or weekly meetings go?

Look for additional costs

Ask how change requests are paid. What does change imply? How much do they cost? What's included? What happens if there is a disagreement?

Development is changing rapidly. This industry often baffles people outside the code. Don't let this fact shield you from questions and research. Low prices mean cheap products. A professional company can explain the high cost and cost allocation.

Software development team goals

Building an effective development team is not an easy task. Where to find and how to choose good specialists, how to organize them into a team, how to measure the performance of each employee and the result of interaction - these are just some of the questions that a client may face.

For a company with many years of experience, it will not be a problem to answer all these questions. If you are looking for the perfect dedicated team structure for your SaaS product, then we are ready to help you in this matter.