In-House App Development Accelerator Guide - Apple

Outsourcing Development
If you don’t have su∑ cient in-house resources, consider outsourcing all or part of the development
work. Outsourced developers can also present you with a portfolio of their work that could spark
new ideas.
Of course, to be successful, the outsourced team needs a thorough understanding of your project—
everything you’ve determined during the planning process—and regular interaction with you and
your in-house team. Discuss your needs and make sure they understand what your objectives are.
Review the application defi nition statement and carefully review your project details. And be sure
right from the start that you’ve established clear, two-way communication and a process for keeping
in touch.
You need to defi ne the role your outsourced provider will play, just as you would a member of your
internal team. Align their roles and responsibilities to the project plan and timeline so that you can
communicate clearly about which aspects of your project they’ll deliver.
In-house team responsibilities
Outsourced developer responsibilities
Requirements Release
Design Code Verification
Some outsourced partners can help you through all elements of the project, from initial requirements
to fi nal deployment. Others may focus only on writing code. It’s good to explore these capabilities and
services with your outsourced provider, whether or not you ultimately contract with them. It can help
you evaluate their strengths and also inform how you shape the relationship.
Planning • Design • Development • Deployment
Quick Tip: Selecting an Outside Vendor
• Meet multiple vendors.
• Review existing work, including apps on the App Store; note app ranking
and user comments.
• Evaluate skills and capabilities, for example, is all coding done in house?
• Ask for references.
• Disregard one-size-fi ts-all ethic or generic multiplatform approach.
• Focus on UI design, high-quality art, and the app “journey.”
• Discuss maintenance and life cycle of app beyond version 1.0.
• Ask about IT infrastructure experience.
“ We use outside contractors for several di∂ erent pieces.
And it depends really on the need of the app. If there’s a
very specifi c look and feel, we’ll go talk with contractors
who have made things that are similar because we
know that they have expertise in that already. In turn,
we can give a higher-quality product to our sta∂ or to
our customers.”
—Todd Schofi eld, Standard Chartered Bank
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