Top 10 Tips for Selecting an Offshore SharePoint Consultant

Seeking the help of a SharePoint consultant is a wise move for any organization that wishes to maximize the potential of the platform for their company. However, before you embark on your search for a good firm to work with, it is critical that you first evaluate the needs, goals, and priorities of your business. This way, you can make better decisions when it comes to SharePoint development and management of your business' web and IT assets. Here are some things you should remember when outsourcing SharePoint services:

• Examine the company's SharePoint consulting experience. An experienced company will bring you the expertise and introduce you to the best practices you need to know about, based on years of experience in implementing SharePoint across different industries.
• Know the types of clients they cater to. Make sure that they have experience and ample expertise in your niche or have worked with similar clients to ensure domain experience.
• Take a look at case studies by visiting their previous project sites. Look into project profiles to assess their capabilities and the types of work they have successfully handled in the past.
• Choose a company that values quality assurance and ensures close collaboration to ensure compliance with standards and IT policies.
• Delve into their delivery model to make sure you can rely on deliverables when you need them.
• Find a company that is certified Microsoft Technology Partners to ensure expertise, experience, and competency in developing SharePoint sites and applications.
• Make sure that the country you outsource to has favorable IT policies and stringent standards.
• Opt for a company that maintains open lines of communication to ensure smooth transitions through different stages of the project.
• Check out reviews and ratings to ensure the quality of their work; and
• Evaluate the pilot phase of the project before deciding to invest more on their services.

How to Find an Offshore Outsourcing Software Development Company

There are two approaches you can choose from when it comes to finding a reliable offshore software development vendor and your decision should largely be based on the type of services you need. Out tasking is a good option when you need to assign certain aspects of development (sans management) to a group of outsourced programmers. This means project management is entirely up to you. This approach, however, is only suitable for short-term projects and not so much for software programs or applications that require scalability, unless you stay in touch with the service provider and are able to recruit them once more to rewrite or make changes in the original code—something that is rarely the case.

Outsourcing, on the other hand, is a more holistic solution that transfers the responsibility of management to the outsourced company. This guarantees continued development and better scalability for larger projects. When seeking out a software development company, it is important that you get your expectations about your vendor down to make sure that you are recruiting people who can very well provide you the kind and quality of service you need.

Take into account the types of technologies and industries that the outsourcing provider specializes in and whether or not they can effectively work on your project. Consider their knowledge of your industry as well as their scalability offerings to make sure that they can take care of your future needs. Ask whether they subcontract any part of the development process and take time to decide for or against it, depending on your preference. Do they work for some of your competitors in the market? Will this be a conflict of interest? What size of development team do you need? These are just some of the most important questions you need to ask before you shortlist your candidates.

Data Warehouse Consulting Companies for Sure Optimum Growth

Not all data warehousing consultants are equally skilled, equipped or even dedicated to performing their supposed function in your company. This is why it is important that you set good standards to follow to make sure that you are getting the service you deserve. Here are some things you should look for when recruiting a data warehousing consulting company to work with:

•    A successful track record is an important quality to look for when outsourcing data warehousing. Find a company with a clean and reliable track record in terms of data warehouse implementations via different types of technologies.

•    Choose a company that offers good insight into the direction of new data warehousing technologies and architectures as they relate and apply to your specific business issues. Avoid companies that push canned solutions which may not be a good fit for your business.

•    Look for a committed company that has the success of your business or project in mind. A good data warehouse consulting company takes full responsibility of every aspect of your implementation instead of merely offering you an army of technologists who are unwilling to assume the responsibility of the management and direction of the project.

Data warehousing needs vary widely between companies and so do consulting services. Remember that a consultant specializing in a particular type of data environment may not necessarily be a good fit for your needs. Depending on the way you wish to proceed with data warehousing, choose a company that will serve your needs right and well and has the proper expertise to help you manage the implementation model that your company is pursuing. The key to avoiding failed relationships with data warehouse consultants is to know exactly what you need and the type of warehousing model you are likely pursuing, which will help you determine the right company with the right technical capabilities and cultural fit for your needs.

Pros of Microsoft Business Intelligence Development

Business Intelligence (BI) Development Studio is designed to develop data analysis and BI or business intelligence solutions using Microsoft SQL’s server analysis, reporting and integration services. It is was based on the development environment of Microsoft Visual Studio, but was customized with SQL server extensions that are services-specific, including controls, projects, and tools, for reports, OLAP cubes, data mining structure, and ETL data flows.

Summary

Supporters of Microsoft BI laud it for tightly integrating data storage, processing, presentation, and manipulation. Many experts also like it for its cost effectiveness, as all the necessary tools are already included with the purchase of Microsoft SharePoint, Office, and SQL Server. However, critics found the ‘power view’ tool to be inferior, and Office 365 to have size limitations. A company that requires a high performance, full-featured platform for data analytics and storage can rely on the Microsoft BI stack. That said, organizations that are using another RDBMS system (because of applications like Oracle EBS or SAP) may find it a bit challenging to integrate the Microsoft BI stack.

Pros of Microsoft BI

·         One stop solution – There is no need to purchase an RDBMS from one provider, presentation tools from another vendor, and data processing tools from yet another vendor because the complete application stack is already provided by Microsoft.

·         High performance - Enjoy a high quality, mature data management solution with a lot of performance monitoring options. The newest Power BI tools have been much improved with stability and usability features.

Recommendation

The Microsoft BI stack is one of the most well-rounded, comprehensive, and robust data management systems. Used correctly, it can help companies make data-driven decisions intelligently.

Advantages of Outsourced Software Product Development

Flexibility in skill sets and staffing levels is among the greatest advantages of using outsourced companies for software development. Recruiting candidates with the right skills and experience or bringing existing staff up to speed with the advancing technology can be a daunting, time consuming, and costly proposition, which diverts resources from the business' core mission.  This is where outsourcing software product development becomes a more practical route, allowing you to acquire the expertise you need and transform your IT budget to a variable cost (from a fixed one). Here are major advantages of outsourcing software development:

• You have access to the kind of expertise you need, ranging from technically skilled professionals to those with great experience in project management, and business analytics. This not only gives you technical advantage, but also offers you an edge in creating a product with the understanding of how your business works, and one that can be completed and delivered to you on time and within your budget.

• You delegate IT budget more efficiently. Hiring offshore companies helps you keep development costs down. Significant cost savings are also in line when you choose to outsource software product development instead of hiring in-house developers that you have to include in your payroll, in the long-term.

• Off-shore development companies offer the advantage of independence, which means they can objectively provide comparative analyses of competitor's products, so you can obtain edge in your own performance. Not only do you gain access to the most talented pool of developers, you also gain intelligence on the market and how you can do better in order to reach your goals and outplay your competitors.

How to Hire the Best Offshore Software Development Company

Hiring an off-shore development company is a good way to keep development costs down and ensure focused project management that leads to timely product delivery. With the great number of off-shore companies vying for your business, here are some things you should remember to ensure the success of your software development project:

• Don't be blind folded by names of big brands or companies. While they do have a good track record, they also tend to charge higher. A better approach would be to find a firm that has a decent portfolio of consumers, including similar types of businesses as yours. This will give you a good knowledge of the kind of service they can provide you. 

• Choose a developer with experience and expertize in various programming languages and platforms. Try to find a firm that has expertize in innovations and technologies that you want your application to be established with.

• Find a firm with ample developers to handle your software requirements. One of the greatest benefits of hiring an offshore firm to handle software development for your organization is the fact that they have access not only to the best technologies, but the best skill set to ensure the success of your project. However, you should make sure that the company you choose to work with has the right staffing size for the type of project you have on hand.

• Ask for project tracking tools that will help you make sure that the software company is putting in the right hours and amount of work into your project development. The best off shore companies provide their clients with this kind of liberty, thus building stronger relationships with their clients.

• Ask about product ownership. Ideally, you should own the created/resulting source code and other related developments that emerge from establishing the final product. Ask for a complimentary royalty license that will enable you to use the code and continue development even with a different developer.