What can you do to make web projects less risky? (based on true stories)

In today’s digital age, having a solid online presence is essential for any business to thrive. Whether a small-scale startup or a large corporation, every organization needs a website to showcase its products and services to potential customers.

However, creating a website is not easy, especially if you need an in-house team of IT professionals. In such cases, outsourcing the web project to an external IT team can be a viable option. It’s essential to understand that outsourcing comes with its own set of risks.

In this article, we’ll discuss what you can do to make your web project less risky when working with an external IT team. In addition, I asked our Product Owner, Anna, for comments based on real-life risky situations in our collaborations. Enjoy!

Define Your Goals Clearly

It is a hackneyed phrase, but as an IT company, we still need a more specific understanding of the goals you want to achieve in your business and how the software and website can help you achieve them.

Before you start your web project, clearly defining your goals is crucial. You need to understand what you want to achieve with your website and what features and functionalities you want it to have. You should also clearly understand your target audience and their expectations from your website. Such issues can be drafted in your marketing strategy, or we can arrange them during the Discovery phase, which is required when working with our team.

By defining your goals clearly, you can communicate them effectively to your external IT team, which will help them to deliver the desired results.

Technology companies that have a Product Owner on their team can make it easier for you to simplify or generally hint at technical solutions tailored to your needs.

By defining your goals clearly, you can communicate them effectively to your external IT team, which will help them to deliver the desired results. It’s easier to collaborate knowing what the project will consist of. The other issue is changes and amendments, which deserve a separate article, but a little teaser here:

“The worst case? Failure to specify how the function is supposed to work, what it is supposed to serve, what data it is supposed to accept, and all the variants of possible data and modes of operation — a simple recipe for wasted time and costs. Because either we implement a simplified solution (because it follows from the client’s information that it is entirely sufficient) or we implement an answer much more complex than the client needs, which is also not good because if it was possible to make it simpler, it is also faster and cheaper.” — Anna Szałkiewicz, Product Owner

Choose the Right IT Team

Choosing the right external IT team is vital for the success of your web project. You must research and find a team with the right experience and expertise to handle your project. Both forward-looking and developmentally for your project, because during this selection, it is worth looking more broadly at the future of the digital product. In short, you should look for a team with a proven track record of delivering high-quality web projects within the specified timeline and budget.

You can also ask for references and check their previous clients’ reviews to understand their work ethics. Remember, platforms with reviews can be an invaluable source of knowledge.

If you want to see how to detect all the red flags before working with a development team, look at this article.

Set Realistic Deadlines and Budget

One of the main reasons why web projects fail is unrealistic deadlines and budgets. Yes, that’s the reason for your stress, too.

You must set realistic deadlines and budgets when outsourcing your project to an external IT team. You must understand that creating a website involves multiple stages, such as planning, designing, development, testing, and deployment.

“Release deadline ≠ the deadline for the customer to provide issues for UAT(User Acceptance Testing) — if the customer does not offer comments or materials in an adequately prearranged time, we will not be able to make the last-minute changes they request. The release will have to be postponed or released without these changes.” — Anna Szałkiewicz, Product Owner

Each step requires time and resources; rushing through any of them can result in a substandard website. Setting realistic deadlines and budgets will help your external IT team to plan their work efficiently and deliver a high-quality website within the specified timeline and budget. A good team will flag this initially so you can plan your agenda accordingly.

Also, reserve the time for QA. It’s an essential but overlooked step often just because of the budget, and the only one that will give you confidence that the released project is as intended — but more on that later.

Communicate Effectively

Communication is crucial to the success of any project, and it’s imperative when working with an external IT team. We perform differently — transparent, well-described processes and tasks are our fodder to streamline work.

“After all, at various stages of the project, further questions arise. There is a need for the client to clarify specific issues that occurred only after reviewing the design, after getting acquainted with the scoping, after the start of development, or even at its end. So we need constant contact to solve such issues on an ongoing basis. Ask and be open to questions.” — Anna Szałkiewicz, Product Owner

You must establish clear communication channels with your IT team and ensure they understand your requirements and expectations. You should schedule regular meetings with your IT team to discuss the progress of your project and provide feedback.

Do you know these types of meetings that could have been emailed? Nobody likes them.

It’s also rare that you talk to your entire team during the development stages of your software. More often than not, you are in contact with their representative, who is more attuned to communicating with non-tech people. Maintain a good relationship with the representative, and don’t be afraid to ask questions, even ones that seem trivial to you.

You should also be open to feedback from your IT team and be willing to make changes if required. They are specialists, and their experience developing projects like yours back their solutions.

Test Your Website Thoroughly

Testing is a crucial stage in web development, and it’s essential to test your website thoroughly before launching it. It would be best if you worked closely with your IT team to create a testing plan that covers all the functionalities of your website.

Due to a lack of time and a looming deadline, are they silent on QA testing? That doesn’t sound good.

You should test your website on multiple devices and browsers to ensure it’s compatible with different platforms. You should also conduct user testing to get feedback from your target audience and make changes accordingly. A technology project cannot be written with a stick in the air. Its value shines when users actually uses the product. What can we say? Forewarned is forearmed!

Secure Your Website

Website security is a significant concern for businesses today, and it’s vital to secure your website against cyber threats. It would help if you worked with your external IT team to implement security measures such as SSL certificates, firewalls, hardening, and encryption to protect your website and user data. It’s a must if your company’s and customers’ sensitive data are collected and processed through your site. You should also update your website with the latest security patches and conduct regular security audits to identify and fix any vulnerabilities.

And most importantly, on this point, have you established the availability of IT teams for site maintenance or in case of any fires? Your external team should refrain from taking balls and going straight home.

Keep this in mind and establish it at the beginning of the cooperation. Even a perfectly executed project may require corrections, maintenance, or meaningful changes due to market or requirement changes.

In conclusion, outsourcing a web project to an external IT team can effectively create a high-quality website. Still, it’s essential to understand the risks involved and take steps to mitigate them. Defining goals clearly, choosing the right IT team, setting realistic deadlines and budgets, effective communication, thorough testing, and ensuring website security are some of the essential steps that can help to make the web project less risky.

And last but not least, trust the expertise of the external team you work with. They have experience and know their job, so you, as the client, don’t have to worry about many things anymore.

By following these guidelines, businesses can ensure a successful web project that meets their expectations and delivers the desired results.