The time to market is critical for the success of a software product. To avoid delays and generate revenue, all companies must deliver their products on time. This is a real challenge in an industry where it is difficult to predict future changes, and more new paradigms are emerging than ever before.
What else can you do to speed up the delivery of your software product?
1. Work Closely With Customers
This is probably the number one requirement to achieve speed in software development. Many companies are afraid or at least very cautious when sharing their roadmap early on. Many customers ask for obscure features that they will never use, but this does not mean that they do not want them. Sometimes the features are not important enough for them to pay for it, but they might become interested in purchasing other products if you make these features available. The idea is to get feedback early on and keep your customers engaged throughout the development process.
2. Use Open-Source Technology
This point may sound counter-intuitive, but it can make sense in some circumstances. It may seem like locking yourself behind walls, but sometimes the benefits outweigh the risks.
3. Prioritize features
You cannot develop everything at once, so you should prioritize your roadmap. This requires good knowledge of your customers and market. You should also consider that some features will become obsolete faster than others to prioritize accordingly.
4. Make The Best Use Of Pre-Release Software
This applies to final releases and alpha and beta versions that are released prior to the official release date. You should encourage customers to try out these early versions to get feedback as soon as possible. The main idea is to give them a chance to engage more in the development process.
5. Integrate with your existing software
You can bundle some of your pre-release software and services with another product already available on the market or offer it for free to increase visibility and credibility. If you make sure that this co-operation is mutually beneficial, you will see that it also speeds up the software development process.
6. Engage In Open Innovation
This can reduce time-to-market for small components of your product while allowing you to focus on developing the core features. You can use technology developed by external partners or customers and make them available as open-source.
7. Get Access To Affordable Resources
Time to market depends on many factors, but using the right resources is always important. You should consider outsourcing software development or renting additional resources (for example, cloud computing). This may be a good option to get closer to your customers.
8. Use Containers And Plugins
The containerization technique is prevalent in software development, including the Java environment. A plugin allows you to add new code to a web application without touching the source code written by others. It means that you can modify a product without having access to its core files which makes it a handy tool for speed in software development.
Conclusion:
There is no magic recipe for success, but some ideas can help you get started. This article offered some examples of what tools are available today and how they can be used to increase speed in software development. If you are wondering how to outsource software development, you can find all the information you need on this topic on our website.
Furthermore, you can also look at some examples of successful Software Development Outsourcing projects that our experts have completed with outstanding results. They are real stories with tangible outcomes, and they might be an inspiration for your business.
