Client-Developer Communication
To Ask Your Developer Before Start of a Project
Client-Developer Communication
The latest business trend in the world of IT, is the full or part-time hiring of developers to work on your project from a third-world country where IT talent is abundant and cost of living low, making their services considerably cheaper than your local talent. While this may seem like a shrewd business proposition to most any businessman, and it no doubt is, problems may arise if you don’t completely comprehend the pros and cons of the situation.
Client-Developer Communication
We, at Konstant Infosolutions, have several years of experience and in that time have had the pleasure of serving multitudes of clients. Like any other IT solutions provider, we have had our fair share of troubles (but thankfully not a lot) due to miscommunication with clients and decided to create a list of questions that business owners can ask developers prior to awarding a project in order to ensure things go as smoothly as possible and they are satisfied with the outcome.
What a nice portfolio you have! How exactly did you participate in the outcome of the project?
If someone is going to take the trouble of putting up their portfolio for public viewing, they will no doubt put up their best work. Unfortunately, the best of their work may sometimes not be their work at all. Its possible that your developer may have only participated in a very minor way and is simply taking some other person’s credit. Ask for specifics in regard to the project like the developers contribution to the coding, programming, maintenance and designing.
You sure do have a lot of testimonials! Can I talk to some of them?
The best way to get information about developers, is to call people who have worked with them before. Do not hesitate to ask for a reference and make sure to ask them questions regarding any communication problems, timely delivery and information handling.
Your business plan is impressive, but what about a contract?
This may seem like a redundant point to make, as you will no doubt ask for a contract to be drawn up. However, the important thing is, what will the contract clauses consist of ? Make sure to agree upon things like payment summary and delivery expectations. You may also want to set down clauses insuring you against untimely delivery and unsatisfactory deliverable.
You must be maintaining coding documentation. Will I be receiving the documentation upon project completion?
By their very nature, IT projects are susceptible to future upgrades and improvements. While it ’s always best to have the same developer work on these upgrades, that may not always be possible. This is where the project coding documentation comes in handy. Ask your developer to hand in the documentation upon project completion to ensure future work on the project is hassle-free.
Internet Marketing! Do you know it?
Irrespective of how brilliant and talented your developer is, he may or may not have the right marketing skills required for your project. You are after all a business owner and looking for exposure and traf fic. Ask the developer for his take on E-Marketing and see if he talks about SEO and lead generation. If he does, you made the right choice.
How will you ensure my site is responsive? What browsers will support it?
The standard developer response to this question is – all major browsers. Don’t let that fool you, ask for specif ics! Ask if your site will be compatible for Chrome, Firefox, Safari and IE. Yes, even Internet Explorer. While you may no longer use Window’s default browser, a portion of your target demographic may use it.
Security, security and more security. How do you plan to make my website and server secure?
Ask the developer for his security framework implementation procedure. If your project consists of a simple website, robot.txt files, redirects and no follow will ensure a good amount of security. If your project is large scale or susceptible to attacks, think encrypted database and SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) in case of sites featuring payment options.
Resource load and traffic spikes. How much of it can my site handle?
If you plan on showcasing clever promotions or time based of fers on your site, it needs to be equipped to handle the spikes in traf fic. Furnish your developer with information on traf f ic projections and ask him your sites breaking point. You’re here to do business and that will not happen if your site is slow or denies access to customers due to traf f ic load.
Time is money. How will you make sure my site loads as fast as possible?
In today’s world, patience is no longer a wide-spread virtue. Customer’s want things done quickly, smoothly and economically. Ask your developer for his caching methods. Typically he should be using APC caching provided your resource pool is on the cloud. Also consider a content distribution network if you’re expecting considerable traf fic from other countries.
Alright, we’ve hashed out all the details prior to starting work. What about QA?
QA is quality assurance, and that alone can make the dif ference between a successful project or a failed one. Ask your developer regarding their QA and Usability framework. Make sure that they cover all the key platforms on your demographics. Also set down a clause in your contract insuring you against unsatisfactory QA tests.
Conclusion Client-Developer Communication
Now you know exactly what to ask a developer before the start of a project. The next time you undertake an IT venture, make sure you ask your solutions provider the above mentioned questions for a successful and satisfactory venture.
Thank You!
Are you looking for a developer? Get in touch with us and discuss the needs and requirements of your project. We would love to hear from you.
India: +91-141-2291398, 4028078, US: +1-310-933-5465 UK: +44-020-3239-SALE mail@konstantinfo.com