Before starting a collaboration with a software company, ask questions about their development process, communication approach, costs, and scalability. The right questions help you quickly determine whether a party truly aligns with your project, or whether you’ll run into unpleasant surprises later on. In this article, we cover the most important questions to ask before you sign on the dotted line.
How do you know if a software company truly fits your project?
A software company fits your project if they have demonstrable experience in your domain, follow a working method that aligns with your organization, and are willing to show concrete examples of previous work. Always ask for references or past projects that are comparable to what you want to build.
Beyond portfolio and experience, the connection with the team is equally relevant. Ask yourself: do they understand what I want to achieve, or do they immediately translate my question into technical solutions without taking my business context into account? A good software development partner asks questions back, because they want to understand what your customers need.
Also check whether the company works with a fixed point of contact. With larger teams or offshore arrangements, it’s not always clear who is responsible for your project. Explicitly ask who your contact person is and how decisions are made. This gives you direct insight into how professionally the collaboration is organized.
What technical questions should you ask about the development process?
The technical questions you ask about the development process focus on methodology, quality control, and technology choices. Ask which working method they use (such as Scrum or Kanban), how they review code, and whether they work with automated tests. This tells you how structured and reliable the software development process is.
Concrete technical questions to ask:
- Which programming languages and frameworks do you use, and why? This shows whether their choices align with your needs or whether they work from their own preference.
- How do you handle version control? Professional teams always work with Git or a comparable system.
- What does the testing process look like? Ask whether unit tests, integration tests, and acceptance tests are carried out before delivery.
- Who manages the code after delivery? Make sure you always have access to your own source code and repositories.
Also ask about their experience with the technologies relevant to your project, such as cloud environments (AWS or Azure), mobile frameworks (Flutter, Swift, Kotlin), or specific back-end technologies such as NodeJS or .NET. A party with broad capabilities gives you more flexibility as your project grows or changes.
How do you discuss budget and costs with a software developer?
Budget and costs are best discussed directly and transparently. Ask about the hourly rate or project price, what is and isn’t included, and how additional work is calculated. Hidden costs often arise from unclear agreements about scope, revisions, or extra functionality added later.
Ask specifically about the following cost items:
- Hourly rate per type of developer (junior, mid-level, senior)
- Costs for project management and communication
- How additional work is approved and invoiced
- Whether fixed or variable rates apply for long-term collaboration
In software development, a fixed price for a complete project is rarely realistic, unless the scope has been defined in detail. If you work with an hourly rate, it’s smart to agree on a maximum budget per sprint or phase. This keeps you in control of costs without losing the flexibility that custom software requires.
What are the most important questions about communication and management?
The most important questions about communication concern who you contact, how often you consult, and which tools are used. Good communication prevents misunderstandings and ensures the project stays on track. Explicitly ask who your daily point of contact is and how quickly you can expect a response to questions or issues.
Also ask questions about time zones and availability, especially if you’re working with an international team. A team working in a different time zone doesn’t have to be a problem, as long as there are clear agreements about overlapping working hours and response times. Ask how they handle this in practice.
Other useful communication questions:
- In which language does communication take place? Especially with international teams, it’s relevant whether you can work in Dutch or English.
- Which tools do you use? Think of Slack, Jira, Confluence, or similar platforms.
- How are progress and milestones tracked? Ask about reports or dashboards that give you insight into the status of the project.
- Who makes decisions on technical choices? Do you want to be involved yourself, or do you delegate this entirely?
Which questions about scalability and maintenance should you not skip?
Questions about scalability and maintenance are important because software continues to evolve after delivery. Ask how the architecture is set up to support future expansion, who handles maintenance after go-live, and what happens if a bug or outage occurs. This determines the long-term value of your investment.
Concrete questions to ask about scalability:
- Is the architecture set up to scale? Ask whether they work with microservices, cloud-native solutions, or monolithic structures, and what the pros and cons are for your situation.
- How is the software maintained after delivery? Ask whether there is a maintenance contract and what the response time is for issues.
- How are updates and security patches handled? Software becomes outdated quickly; ask how they keep up with this.
- Can you scale the team up or down during the project? Flexibility in team size is useful if your project scope changes.
Also ask about documentation. Good documentation ensures you don’t remain dependent on a single party. If a developer leaves or the collaboration ends, another team must be able to understand the code and continue developing it. This is a sign of professional software development.
How we help you as a software development partner
At 3Bird, we combine more than 25 years of ICT experience with a team of experienced developers in Nepal, managed by Dutch fractional CTOs. This means you always have a Dutch-speaking point of contact who understands your project, while you benefit from rates that are considerably lower than local alternatives.
What we concretely offer:
- Developers available from €25 to €30 per hour, from junior to senior level
- Support in technologies such as React, Angular, Flutter, .NET, NodeJS, AWS, and Azure
- Flexible scaling of your team up or down based on project needs
- Communication in Dutch, with short lines and fixed points of contact
- Custom software development that meets your specific business needs
Want to know if we are the right software development partner for your project? Contact us at +(31)75-7993038 or send an email to contact@3bird.nl. We’d be happy to think along with you about the possibilities.