Blog - Harptec Private Limited

“Anybody can make a software!” This is what we commonly hear these days. So when you need help who will you turn to for transforming your ideas into high quality websites/web applications?

This article focusses on the key features that a software company should have and what you as customers should expect from them.

Some key features that you should look for before assigning a project to an IT company are as under:

1. Expertise in both front end and backend development: There is a separation between web designing and web development but a good developer has to be good at both front and backend programming. A good developer has to be familiar with entire software development cycle right from the very beginning.
2. Make sure they have expertise in multiple backend technologies: There are various good backend technologies that are frequently used like PHP, ASP .Net, Ruby On Rails, with many architectures like MVC, N-tier. Each technology has its own pros and cons and no technology is perfect in itself. An ideal IT company should not restrict itself to one technology. It should be flexible while choosing a technology and adopt one that best suits client requirements.
3. Follow best practices: Just knowing the latest technologies does not make you a good developer. Technologies come and go at a fast pace but what stays is the way a developer follows the coding standards and practices. If a developer has good grasp over how things are done, he can get used to the changing technologies much easily.
4. Think about the bigger picture: Sometimes customers may come to you with some unrealistic expectations or sometimes your client may have a good idea but may not have proper direction. It is the responsibility of the software developer to understand the client requirements and suggest them certain ways in which their ideas can be casted into a web solution. A developer is not a true developer if he blindly follows what the client says.
5. Performs research and development: Whenever a client comes with a requirement, it is the responsibility of the IT Company to engage in research activities. They should refer to competitor sites and see what trends are being followed by everyone in the market. They should try and incorporate the latest practices and designs in their work.
6. Has a team of rigorous testers: Nobody wants a product that has errors in them. A team of rigorous testers is necessary because they are professionals who can detect all defects and flaws and make their product as efficient as possible.
7. Flexible: An IT Company should be flexible to any changes that come in the middle of the development process. Clients may have forgotten some point at the time of requirement gathering phase and may come up with a few additions after the development has begun. Good developers will not complain about it but he will behave professionally and handle client requests. These days they develop products and report weekly progress to the clients. After each sprint the client may approve it or may add some changes. They should be flexible to make changes.

These are some points that I feel make a good software company. If you have any other opinion you may let us know in the comment section. Please do let us know how you liked this article.

Soft skills are certain attributes that a person possesses that enables him to communicate effectively. Soft skills revolve around an individual’s personal qualities. Soft skills are very important in the corporate world prominently for people working in the IT sector.

Having strong technical skills never gets overlooked, but if an IT executive has some soft skills to complement his hard skills, it is an icing on the cake.

Why are soft skills important for IT professionals?

IT field is expanding exponentially with time. It has spread to almost all functional areas of all business processes. With the growth of IT department in each field, the need for competent professionals who have the ability to communicate is increasing. Strong interpersonal skills and good reasoning were considered more important while appointing candidates.

Soft skills that each IT professional should have are as follows:

1. Effective communication - Communication is very important in an IT company. Many projects in IT reflect other domains. So it is very important that these IT functionalities are conveyed properly to the respective departments. Apart from this, there should be effective communication between the members of the team to ensure successful development of software.
2. Work ethics - In an IT company often there are deadlines to be met. When there are exhaustive deadlines, critical decisions need to be made and work has to be prioritized. An IT professional should work hard on things that are of utmost importance.
3. Compassion - The main role of people working in IT fields is to understand the problems of each functional area to come up with innovative solutions that will benefit everyone.
4. Maintain relationships - Strong working relationships if maintained with different managers and other employees, the workplace becomes a better place to be in.
5. Being able to mentor - When new employees come in an IT company, it is the responsibility of an IT professional to train them to develop them to their level.
6. Problem solving - When you are in an IT firm, it is essential that you have good presence of mind when it comes to solving problems. You should be able to react to a given problem immediately to solve problems that come your way.
7. Patience - Staying calm in frustrating situations is very essential because being in an IT industry you will be facing deadline problems. In order to succeed, you need to be patient while handling problems.

Quality:

Quality the term itself defines the development of the project in best manner which satisfies the users.

In other words the goal of quality management is to meet the standards and regulations the customer needs from the software.

Importance of team for attaining quality:

“Perfection is attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence” - Vince Lombardi.

Harptec offers a team which always believes that moving quickly is always an advantage but we are not going to sacrifice quality for speed.

"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." - Henry Ford.

Quality can be defined in two ways:

External Quality: External Quality refers the quality the user experiences while using the software.

Characteristics of External Quality are: Genuinely Useful, Easy to use, Correct, Robust, Fast, Efficient, Compatible, Adaptable, Secure and Consistent.

Internal Quality: Internal Quality refers to the code-dependent aspects that are not visible to the users and are meaningful to the developers only.

Characteristics of Internal Quality are:Code should be easy to understand, Extensible, Modular, Loosely Coupled, Highly Cohesive, Complaint, Consistent, Reusable, Portable and Documented.

There are three aspects of software quality:

Functional Quality: Means the software correctly performs the tasks according to the requirement of the users.

Structural Quality: Means the code should be well structured.

Process Quality: Means being consistent from one project to another i.e. meeting delivery dates, meeting budget, etc.

For any software company to be successful, the main goal is to understand the needs of the clients and get their feedback. Through this we can get innovative ideas for developing the software.

In short, software developing is the process of implementing the ideas of the customers.

Harptec team believes that quality is a tool and not a goal or a way to describe things. There are no limits in achieving quality or making our work better.

The important aspect in achieving quality work in any field is planning. Every organization should adopt a working methodology so that the team members get clear idea on how they should work to get best results.

For every organization quality of the software should be the main priority as “Good Software leads to Good Business”.

Software does not meet quality aspects on its own, it’s the mixture of developer’s sincere effort, skillful execution, perfect direction and high level of intentions.

“Harptec has no limit to success”.

Outsourcing saves millions globally in IT costs. Using developers in less expensive markets can obviously be more productive but it’s not as simple as that. Why?

Agility and speed are now more essential to a business than ever, and teams needs to be custom fit. Harptec is offering bespoke software teams, at cost efficiencies and therefore achieving better results for business.

The need for speed

Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and Silicon Valley strategist counts speed as his first principle. His famous line is that ‘If you aren’t embarrassed by the first version of your product, you shipped too late.”

To be at the sharp edge of innovation, to get to market first or to steal a march on your competitors, software needs to be developed fast. It can be rolled out and then iterated afterwards where necessary.

There’s also a cost benefit to pace. By releasing fast, agile iterations of software, the cost of change is kept low. Rather than cumbersome, process heavy monolithic software, you have dynamic and nimble apps and platforms that can easily be changed and developed according to market demands.

Leading enterprises are already focusing on pace. Vodafone recently built an intelligent maps app in three weeks. Daimler built its Mercedes Me app with Pivotal to focus on minimal development cycles. Apple’s operating systems are built fast and then updated regularly and Amazon updates its retail platform every 11 seconds.

To achieve this speed Harptec has invested in fast clean interfaces that means clients have a close, agile and flexible fit with the development team.  With a focus on speed, the business case for getting offshore development is more compelling then ever.

A close-knit team is now vital

The world is standardising faster than ever.  Working with a global focus point for software solutions means you benefit from knowledge derived across many hot emerging industries and countries.

Effective collaboration is borne out of the constituent parts of a team working closely, instantly and reactively. This happens with understanding that comes with quick iterative cycles of development.  Once established the key is to maintain the components working, and not to seek economies of scale.

Harptec teams are kept tight.  With his ‘two pizza’ theory, Jeff Bezos claims teams should not be bigger than a number which could be fed by two pizzas. This helps to stay decentralised, move fast, and encourage high autonomy and innovation.

Finally, a development team that is servicing a global community has objectivity that can be both unique and insightful for all its customers.  It’s being fed the latest ideas and thinking from around the globe.  This provides a greater skills repository available to any single client.  Quite simply, the client and can more.

Efficiency is Crucial to Business

Productivity achieved from outsourcing is simply unparalleled.  Through efficient experience resources one can achieve the same output at a more efficient price point.  How can you compete with a competitor who has a 30% saving on his cost base that he passes onto clients?

What is the solution?

To create software that can be built fast, adapted quickly to the market, and iterated at low cost, software has to be built through effective remote teams. Like all things the market is discerning.

Finding an outsourcing partner is easy, finding the right one is a bit more work.  Focus on teams that have:

• Proven experience with major organisations

• Small and dedicated units

• A focus on communication

Harptec Software can offer this package to you, amazing productivity and high quality output.