How to choose a software development partner
· 7 min read
We are a software development firm writing about how to choose a software development firm, so read this with appropriate suspicion. It is written to be useful even where it is unflattering to us, because a client who chose us for the wrong reasons is a problem for both of us.
Ask who will actually do the work
In a great many firms the people in the sales meeting are not the people who write the code, and you will never meet the latter. That is not automatically disqualifying, but you should know it, and you should know how many layers sit between your explanation of the problem and the person implementing it. Every layer is somewhere meaning gets lost.
Ask how they price, and what happens when it changes
Time and materials, fixed price, or retainer — each is legitimate, and each puts the risk somewhere different. What matters is that the answer is specific, and that you understand who absorbs the cost if the estimate was wrong.
Be wary of a fixed price quoted before anyone has understood the problem. That is not a firm taking on risk; it is a number that will be revisited through change requests once you are committed.
Ask who owns what at the end
- Who owns the source code, in writing, in the contract?
- Whose accounts is the infrastructure in — yours or theirs?
- What happens to the code if the relationship ends badly?
- Are there licence fees for anything they reuse across clients?
Any hesitation here is worth taking seriously. A firm whose commercial model depends on being difficult to leave will behave accordingly for the whole engagement.
Ask what they would not build
A developer who has never talked a client out of something is either very lucky or not listening. Ask for an example of a project they declined or reduced, and why. The answer tells you whether you are buying advice or an order-taker.
Warning signs
| Sign | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| A price before understanding the problem | The number will change later, on their terms |
| No questions about your existing process | You will get software that fits a template |
| Vague about who writes the code | Subcontracted, possibly several layers deep |
| Pressure to sign quickly | Their pipeline problem is becoming your decision |
| Every answer is yes | Either not listening, or will discover the problems after you have paid |
| Cannot explain a past failure | Either inexperienced or not candid |
On credentials and case studies
Case studies are useful and worth asking for, with the caveat that they are marketing — you are reading the wins. More telling is whether a firm will put you in touch with a client whose project went sideways and was recovered.
Certifications such as SOC 2 or ISO 27001 matter genuinely if your procurement requires them, and not much otherwise for a small engagement. A new firm will not have them. Whether that disqualifies them depends entirely on what you are building and what data it touches.
The cheapest quote and the most expensive are both information. The cheapest often excludes things you will need; the most expensive sometimes includes people you will never meet. Ask what is in each, not which number is smaller.
Start small if you can
A short, well-defined first piece of work tells you more about how a firm operates than any amount of evaluation. You learn how they communicate, whether they hit dates, and what happens when something goes wrong — all before committing to the larger project.
For what it is worth, our own answers to most of these questions are written down rather than left to a sales conversation, including the parts where the honest answer is "not yet".
Working on something like this?
If any of the above describes your situation, describe it to us — no specification needed, and no obligation to proceed.
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