Customer reach and visibility are two areas that startups have to pay close attention to from the beginning of their journey. Having the right tools and technological solutions to provide these services is equally important. Obviously, using the internet is a go-to strategy for all new and existing businesses. However, the mechanism and process for developing the right software for these startups are crucial for growth.

Approaching the software development process with best practices for a startup is important to develop useful software solutions for startups. The software should provide the visibility that startups need and be equally accessible by its customers from anywhere in the world via their smart technologies.

This article examines the software development process that startups should adopt. It buttresses the right approach to software development for startups from start to finish.

Startup Challenges in Software Development

Startups are bound to encounter some problems when developing software solutions to solve the problems of their customers. Understanding the problem that the software solution is supposed to be solving is important. Here are some of the challenges that may arise during software development for startups

1. Scaling

The scaling issue is one of the top reasons why startups fail. Trying to scale comes with problems of its own. The financial commitment for scaling the business is intensive. As the number of users and customers increase on your platform, the tougher it becomes to maintain and manage. Spinning up more compute resources and hiring new talents to supplement your current team come at its own cost.

However, scaling also includes the usual expansion of the focus of your startup. As customers begin to interact with the products and/or services you provide, they start to demand more. Your startup’s team structure begin to specialize to solve new problems while attending to the continuous growth of the organization.

2. Security

Startups and small enterprise businesses are the main targets of cyber-attacks. Why? Because hackers know that small businesses do not have the team power nor the architecture in place yet to guard against their attacks. In most cases, these security breaches occur in the application and infrastructure layer of small businesses.

3. Customers

Solving a problem that customers are having is the top priority of any business. Different startups will continue to fail because they are overlooking the problems their customers are facing. Primarily, solving the problems the customers are facing with the software under development is the key. 

Process for Software Development for Startup

From the very beginning, the following processes should get all the special attention they can get. This is to produce the best software solution for your startup.

1. Communication Channel

Communication within the software development team is very important. Explaining the task assignment for individuals is important. Designating different tools and framework that is useful for fulfilling requirements is also important. If in need, reiterate the role assignments until individuals undergoing these assignments are in full understanding.

2. Business Requirement Specification Definition

The next step is to define the best practice and the specification of the software solution. This stage requires some analysis of the specifications, best practices and possible problems that the team might encounter.

3. Select Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment System

Continuous integration is an important step in the software development process. Releasing new version should be available with minimum effort. Automation of this process becomes useful for the development team. Continuous deployment system comes hand in hand with continuous integrations.

4. Select tools and Frameworks

The tools and frameworks that the team choose to work with become the software for development throughout the software development lifecycle.  You should avoid using several tools that achieve the same purpose.

5. Versioning

Using version control system put you right at the helm of managing all software development milestone. To roll back to a previous version becomes easier with the version control system in place. To mitigate against unforeseen problems during the development stage, using version control protects your product.

6. Sandbox Environment

The sandbox for developing the solution is where the development team will carry out all the programming the software needs. This development environment is not a stable environment. It experiences inconsistent code change periodically.

7. Environment for Testing

The testing environment is the environment where quality assurance takes place. This environment is where the stable codes from the development sandbox get their review from the software testers. Software testers are in the mix to find possible boxes, test the software according to specifications and provide useful feedback according to the software needs.

8. Production Environment

This environment contains stable software codes. This environment contains software solutions that have undergone testing and are now stable enough for general use. Production sits on top of the environment hierarchy table in software development.

9. Documentation

Appropriate documentation helps to bring new people up to speed concerning the appropriate technicalities they need to know about for the project. Especially for new hires, documentation provides the stepwise approach to local project setup.

Outsourcing Software Development to I.T Service Agency

Outsourcing the development of your startup’s software is a business strategy you might want to consider. Outsourcing certain technical responsibilities such as software development make it easier for you to focus on other things that you are good at. It also provides the expertise and workforce to get the development done in the fastest time possible by the I.T service agency.

READ ALSO: The Impact of Remote Work on the Future of Work

Outsourcing leverages the skill and technical expertise of seasoned I.T professionals to deliver quality and secure software for your customers. Benefiting from the set of skills that the agency is providing, your startup becomes an equal contender with other companies in the same business as your startup. Other benefits of using an outsourcing agency to build your software solution include:

1: Shorter time from ideation to finished product
2: Cost saving on the training of staff to reach expertise level
3: Easier to scale up the service when needed
4: Deep knowledge and resource pool to spin up new projects and integrate complex ideas into software solutions
5: Better security architecture with little or no exposure