Outsourced software development from a UK company
For a business that wants software built or looked after without employing developers. We take responsibility for the outcome: a defined project at a fixed price, or an existing system under a monthly maintenance arrangement.
What outsourcing software development means
Outsourcing software development means paying another company to build or look after software, so that you do not have to employ developers yourself. It takes three common forms.
A project handed to a supplier. You describe what the software must do. The supplier designs it, builds it and is responsible for the result.
A managed service for an existing system. The supplier takes on software already in use and keeps it running, secure and on supported versions for a regular fee.
Staff augmentation. The supplier provides individual developers who join your team and work under your direction. You manage them, and you are responsible for what they produce.
We do the first two. New systems are built as bespoke software at a fixed price, and existing ones are looked after under a monthly maintenance arrangement. We do not supply individual contractors to sit in your team, and we do not offer a “hire a developer” service.
What to hand over and what to keep
Hand over the work itself: design, programming, testing, releases and the day-to-day care of the system. Most businesses have no reason to keep those skills on the payroll.
Keep three things.
- Ownership of the code. The contract should say the source code is yours, and a current copy should sit in a repository your organisation controls.
- The accounts. Hosting, domain names and third-party services should be in your organisation’s name, with the supplier given access.
- Decisions about priorities. The supplier advises. You decide what is built next and what can wait.
A business that keeps these can change supplier when it needs to. One that gives them away will find leaving slow and expensive.
Where outsourcing goes wrong
The usual failures are few, and each has a known remedy.
Vague scope. The client and the supplier each believe something different was agreed. The remedy is a written scope, with assumptions and exclusions, produced before any price is given.
No acceptance checks. Without an agreed test of what finished means, a project drifts and ends in argument. We agree the checks the work must pass at the same time as the price.
Code and accounts held by the supplier. This leaves the client unable to leave. We set new systems up under your ownership from the start. When we take over an existing system, bringing everything into your name is one of the first jobs.
Communication through layers. When every question travels through intermediaries, detail is lost on the way. The remedy is contact with the people responsible for the work, and regular sight of working software, which shows progress more reliably than a status report.
A UK contract and one accountable company
CodeFirst Limited is a UK company, founded in 2012, and your contract is with it. One company answers for the scope, the price and the result. If something is wrong, there is no doubt about who has to put it right.
We work mainly with Microsoft technology, including .NET and SQL Server, and we maintain and modernise business software as well as building it, including systems built by others.
Start small
You do not have to outsource everything at once. If you have an existing system, a code audit gives you a written assessment of its condition at a fixed price. If you need something new, choose one defined piece of work and have it built at a fixed price.
Either way you find out what working with us is like for a known cost, and what was produced is yours to keep.
Talk to us
Describe the system and what you need. You will hear back from someone who can answer technical questions.
Discuss your project 0800 433 7990What you get when we take the work on
- One accountable supplier
- Your contract is with CodeFirst Limited, a UK company. We answer for the result, whether that is a finished system or one kept in good order.
- A fixed price for defined work
- New software is built to a written scope, for a price agreed before work starts.
- A monthly arrangement for existing systems
- Software already in service is looked after under a maintenance agreement, with the scope set out in writing.
- Ownership stays with you
- The code, the accounts and the documentation are held in your organisation's name.
- Working software you can see
- During a build you review working software at regular points, so you judge progress by what exists.
- Systems built by others
- We take on software written by a previous supplier or an in-house developer, starting with an assessment of its condition.
How to start
Tell us what you need
Describe the software you want built, or the system you need looked after, and what prompted the enquiry.
Begin with one small piece
For an existing system that is usually a code audit. For new software it is one defined piece of work that can be priced on its own.
Agree scope, price and acceptance checks
You receive a written scope with assumptions and exclusions, a fixed price and the checks the finished work has to pass.
We do the work and you review it
You see working software during the build, or a report and a first release for a system we are taking over.
Accept, then decide what comes next
When the agreed checks pass, the work is complete. You choose whether to commission more or move to a monthly maintenance arrangement.
A good fit when
- You need software built or maintained and do not want to employ developers.
- You want one supplier accountable for the result under a contract with a UK company.
- You have an existing system whose developer or supplier is no longer the right one.
- You need to know the cost before you commit.
Probably not for you if
- You want individual developers placed in your team and managed by you. We do not supply contractors or staff augmentation.
- You want to buy days at the lowest rate and direct the work yourself.
- Nobody can yet describe what the software should do. Fixed-price work needs a scope, so that has to be settled first.
Questions we are asked
Who owns the code?
You do, once the work is paid for. The source code, the accounts it runs under and the documentation are held in your organisation's name, so another team could take the system on.
How do we stay in control of an outsourced project?
By keeping ownership of the code and the accounts, by making the decisions about priorities yourself, and by accepting the work only against checks agreed at the start. Seeing working software during the build lets you judge progress for yourself.
Can you take over a project another outsourcer started?
Yes. We start by assessing what exists: whether the code can be built, what works and what is missing. Then we tell you what it would take to finish or support it, and whether that is worth doing.
Fixed price or time and materials?
Fixed price for work whose outcome can be described, because the risk of an overrun then sits with us. Ongoing maintenance is a monthly arrangement with an agreed scope. Where the outcome cannot be described yet, we say so before quoting.
What does outsourced software development cost?
It depends on how much the software does, what it connects to and, for an existing system, its size and condition. Our fixed-price packages show typical figures for common pieces of work and our cost calculator gives a range for a new project. Anything larger is quoted once we have looked at the detail.
Tell us about your system
Say what it does, what it is built on and what is worrying you. We will reply with what we would look at first and whether we are the right people to help.