Top 10 Tips to Speed up the Software Development Process

All of us have heard the proverb, "Time is money." It holds true for every industry, specifically software development. A little delay can cost you millions and push you behind your competitors. No business can afford to waste time on re-work and delay the software development process. Enterprises looking to take first-mover advantage must introduce software solutions before others, especially if they want to retain their market share and grow the business.

Moreover, if you are into software development, you must speed up the development process to meet the dynamic requirements of your clients and the current market demands. As businesses have gone digital and embraced new technologies, software development companies are facing pressure for timely delivery. The overwhelming task loads and tight deadlines cause burnout. Unfortunately, it has become a norm for many software companies.

However, there is a better way to speed up the process without leading the team to exhaustion. In this article, we discuss how to speed up the software development process and share the most effective tips that will make a difference for your team. Before that, let's understand the factors that affect the development speed.

Software development speed depends on various factors, and understanding them will help you streamline the process.

The complexity of the development process

• Code quality
• Size of the team
• Developers' skill
• Availability of resources

Let's discuss them one by one.

Software development is complex; developers face multiple challenges that can delay the process. Some of the challenges include:

• The technical aspects of the project such as software architecture, innovation, integrations with third parties, etc.
• The objective of the project is not defined well.
• Unrealistic deadlines. Setting a deadline without estimating the project length and the time it may take to complete.
• Internal issues within the development team and the company.
• Client requirement changes midway.

The software production process takes more time when the team has to deal with multiple issues simultaneously.

Developing an excellent application requires high-quality code, which takes time. You can either choose to develop it fast or develop it well. However, one thing is obvious, the deadline will remain the same, and you can't compromise the code quality. Doing so will further increase the development time. Eventually, you have to fix the errors. Moreover, it will increase the project cost as well.

Team size significantly affects the time for the software development process. It does not mean that a large team will help reduce the time. When the group consists of more than seven people, it becomes difficult to reach an agreement. Moreover, a large team will impact effective internal communication, which is essential for every software project. If the project is too large, divide it into various components and assign five to seven people to each.

Each member of the team has to contribute to complete a project successfully. Skilled, efficient, and self-motivated members can work independently and complete their tasks on time. However, that does not mean you should avoid the new developers. Provide them the opportunity to work with experienced developers and learn how to work on a complex project. They may become a valuable asset to the organization down the lane.

Resources are another crucial factor in the software development process. It can be people, materials, tools, and frameworks. Knowing the essential resources is critical to starting the project; you can't pause the work midway. Skilled developers equipped with the right tools can accelerate the process and complete the project on time.

However, being tight with staffing might help you reduce the cost, but it can delay the project. You never know if a developer may not be available during the project due to various reasons. So, having a backup for developers is a must to speed up software development.

Determining the exact time to complete a software project is impossible as it depends on several factors discussed above. However, you can take a better approach to reduce the development time and ensure quality. Here are ten tips to increase the software development speed.

Understanding the customers' requirements helps in speeding up the software development process. If your team is clear about the project and knows what to do, you will save a lot of time. The next step is to discuss with the development team and create a project roadmap. It includes choosing the language or framework, dividing the projects into several parts, and assigning the right people for each component. However, some challenges will still come your way, but your team won't have to rewrite code for the entire project.

The software development process is always time-bound, and businesses need the projects on time. Setting the right expectation significantly improves efficiency. Moreover, reviewing the projects helps to eliminate any blockers and ensures everything goes according to the plan.

Project complexities and deadlines have to match with your human resources. It becomes challenging to meet the deadline for some projects with the number of developers you might currently have. The solution is to include more developers in the project. If you have a limited number of engineers, you can quickly hire top-class remote developers within 3-5 days with platforms like Turing.

Turing is a leader in sourcing the best developers from across the globe. Many fortune 500 companies have associated with the company to hire pre-vetted and experienced remote software engineers. Turing takes charge of the entire recruitment process while you can focus on the software development.

Splitting a large and complex software project into smaller chunks and assigning a small team is an effective way to meet deadlines. For example, assigning the complex part of the project to the most experienced developers and simple tasks to the less experienced ones will enhance efficiency and reduce the overall turnaround time. It will also ensure every team member can utilize their skills more effectively.

Besides, some tasks need to be completed before taking on others. Make sure to complete high-priority tasks before starting with other low-priority ones. Creating smaller teams ensures better collaboration between the members.

Limiting the amount of work in progress makes the software development process more efficient. A higher number of ongoing tasks can be overwhelming to any developer, no matter how experienced they are. Multitasking may save time, but it has a flip side as well. As the number of open tasks goes up, it puts extra pressure on the developers, affecting quality and productivity. The best way is to assign only a limited number of tasks at a time, to reduce the pending tasks. It helps in proper planning and reviewing, which ensures high quality.

A complex software project may require multiple alterations as the work progresses. Too many changes during the development process can significantly affect the project completion time. Sometimes, you may think it could be a small change, but it can be a complete mess and cripple the whole system. It is impossible to avoid changes as the work progresses; however, documenting all the modules, scenarios, and factors before starting the project will reduce the number of alterations and accelerate the development process.

It is not possible to automate everything in the software development process. However, you can still reduce the load on your developers by automating a few things. Testing is something that you can automate to decrease the development time. Repeating scripts allows anyone to run tests without the need to repeat the same steps manually.

Continuous Integration (CI) is a software development approach that allows every developer to merge the changes in a central repository through automation. Implementing a CI pipeline significantly increases the development speed. Another way to speed up the work is using automation tools such as Zapier for task management, workflow discussions, and project meetings.

Software development is a specialized job that requires skilled human resources and infrastructure. Outsourcing software development work is the best way to attain high-quality work. Unless your core business is software development, it is wise to outsource the job to a software development company, which will allow you to concentrate on your business growth.

For example, if you are into the banking business, you can hire a software development firm while you focus on disbursing more loans or increasing the deposit amount. However, it does not mean you shouldn’t build your in-house development team. Outsourcing is a way to speed up the software development process. You can choose either option that suits your organization.

Time is one of the major constraints in the software development process, and sometimes you may have to go for a not-so-great solution to speed up the process. Technical debt is a consequence of taking shortcuts instead of implementing a better approach. Development companies usually do it strategically to save time but correct it later. However, the best approach is not to compromise the code quality unless there is no alternative and if you do so, make sure to make up for it at the earliest.

Software development is creative work; writing high-quality code requires concentration and a fresh mind. Long working hours can affect productivity; engineers need regular intervals to refresh themselves and restore their creative skills. Shorter working hours enable developers to give their best on the first go and speed up the development process.

In today's competitive time, software development speed is a deciding factor in gaining an edge over competitors. Every organization strives to achieve that to attract more customers. However, managing the development speed is a complex process, and there is no shortcut. We have discussed the most effective ways to speed up the software development process. Besides that, hiring skilled and experienced developers is a great way to build your dream development team.

Turing.com is a developer sourcing platform that helps companies to hire the best software developers remotely. Its AI-driven Intelligent Talent Cloud helps in sourcing, vetting, and matching top developers within 3-5 days. Start your 14-day risk-free trial now!