1. Is your software/website developer promising you an unrealistic project end date? If you make your plans around that date, what will it cost YOU if they do not deliver?
2. What is the project end date based on and what are the major time constraints? How many people will be assigned to the project?
3. Has your software/website developer set aside time for gathering detailed project specifications? If not, you are building a house without building plans – don’t be suprised if your bedroom does not have a window you wanted.
4. Has your software/website developer set aside enough time for testing by quality assurance team?
5. Has your software/website developer set aside enough time for LIVE testing by small group of actual live users?
6. Will your software/website be tested by INDEPENDENT quality assurance specialist(s)? If the same programmer/programming team is also testing their own work you will end up with a software/website full of bugs. Will you be ok with delaying the launch of your project for months while waiting for bugs to be fixed?
7. Will your software/website developer be willing to fix these bugs after completion?
8. How quickly will they be willing to fix these bugs? Is it spelled out in the agreement? Don’t get stuck waiting for 6 months waiting for a fix while they are working on another project. How much will this cost your business?
9. How long have they been in business? You may get stuck with a software/website that needs fixing or updates and your software developer is nowhere to be found.
10. Will your software/website developer provide training? If so, have it spelled out in the agreement exactly how many hours of training will be provided and where.
11. Will your software/website developer provide help files, tutorials or manuals?

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 27th, 2008 at 7:03 pm and is filed under Software and Web Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a trackback from your own site.