The first impression says a great deal about a firm, especially about software development companies in a time like this when thousands of offshore firms fiercely compete against each other, and where professionalism is becoming a trade off for low prices.

Whenever you first contact a prospective software development provider, ask yourself how they present themselves; how long does it take for the firm to get back to you on emailed questions? Does each representative have their cell phone number shown in their email signatures? Does the company smartphone you up to discuss your requirements? Does the company appear to grasp your requirements and is verbal communication flawless?

In today's world of outsourcing, freelancers commonly employ a company name of their own to lure their prospective clients into believing that they have more experience than what they really have. In reality they may very well be one man shows who perhaps will not be able to present you with sufficiently fast turn around times, nor a broad selection of expertise. Always speak to a representative of your prospective partners and probe them on their own company's track record, location and number of employees. A company that refrains from having a telephone conversation with you is a clear warning sign that something fishy is going on.

Software development companies should be able to present a lot of information on their own operations and prior projects. Ask for case studies, coding conventions, testimonials, résumés of the staff that will be able to work on your project and all the other information that can be used to judge the professionalism of your future software development partner.

As soon as you feel that the company evaluated has presented itself well in the first stage of evaluation software, go ahead and ask for references and proof of prior experience for example case studies or maybe even demos of applications similar to that you are going to develop. Once you've asserted that the company has the expertise necessary to take on your project you can proceed with asking for and analyzing the company's proposal.

Within the company's proposal, cost and milestones should be clearly specified together with terms of payment. Other aspects worth noticing is regardless of whether the proposal stresses the benefits that the application will bring with it for your organization and if it includes suggestions concerning how to go above the initial goals outlined. What will the turn around time be for finishing the application, and a lot more importantly what will happen should the deadline is not met?

In the final agreement you sign with your software development partner, ensure that a requirements specification is included and signed. The prerequisites specification should be as detailed as possible and all possible functionality that you require should be printed onto that specification. Without a clear requirements specification a software development agreement shall do no good in the event that your partner decides to deliver an incomplete product.

Your project's success or failure will be fully contingent on the selection of software development partner. Read on to find out about the most critical aspects in regards to analyzing a prospective software development partner and their software development proposal.