The 3 essentials for a Software Development project or a Website Development project which come up for discussion with our clients are
– Scope – what needs to be done
– Cost – what it will cost
– Time – how long it would take to achieve the objective
That being said, most clients think that it is just scope which falls within their domain. Most clients feel that it is the Software Solution Provider’s job to provide estimates on cost and time and therein lies the problem.
Given today’s wide range of approaches to software solutions it is almost always possible to complete a solution or even a minimum viable product(MVP) within a client’s cost and time frame.
Although we don’t disqualify clients who come to us with a clean slate we at Samvit most certainly appreciate those clients who have done their homework upfront.
Let’s look in a bit more detail how this plays out with the 3 essentials
Scope
At Samvit we follow the Agile mode of delivery. This means that we respond to changing priorities and situational realities. We embrace change. What does this mean for the client.
So let’s say you need features A, B and C and you want feature D.
We then go ahead and start on feature A and when it’s in shape we release it to the market. You heard it right we don’t wait until we have A, B and C done. Now as a client you start seeing value much more quickly. And then after a few days of being in the market you realize that B is no longer important but D is now absolutely essential.
Engineers at Samvit following Agile Software principles can take this feedback from you on board and change their plans to suit the current reality.
Contrast this with a provider who is not as Agile. You run the risk of paying for something which was yesterday’s trend or is no longer relevant.
Cost
As clients we all want to know what it is going to cost upfront. But how about clients telling solution providers what they see as a budget. Many clients feel that stating a budget upfront would entice the Software Solution provider to set the bar at that budget point. Not so in Samvit’s case.
Once we know your budget, we pick the approaches and tools which would best serve your interests. We then have a discussion with you where we lay out the options and almost always we do give you options to reduce your costs further. We also let you know when you are cutting too many corners.
We do not try to compete with off-shore providers on price but what sets us apart is our execution and the long term value we create for our clients. Further our Agile Software Development process has in the long run proved economically profitable for all our clients.
Time
There is only so much that can be done with Father time. Since this is one factor which humans cannot control we approach this realistically.
Our clients will know upfront if something they ask for is not going to materialize in the time frame they were expecting it to happen.
In other words we do not cut corners to deliver something half done. In our experience we have only known such short-sighted delivery to cause a lot of frustration to our clients.
Rest assured that we do all that is possible to realise a concept or feature and release it to the market in the time that it actually takes. Throwing in more money is something that we discourage clients from doing since you cannot stretch time and using costlier tools or more people to work on something is counter-productive.
That is why at Samvit, we are ardent supporters of the Minimum Viable Product(MVP) and iterative Software Development. We will work with our clients to prioritize features, release the MVP which will start bringing value to a client and from thereon we make periodic releases by adding to and refining the MVP.
So now you see why we would like to have our clients think a little more about not just what they want(scope) but also about what they plan to pay(cost) and how quickly(time) they need something in their hands.