How to Manage Outsourced Software Development Projects with Kanban

For companies that do not have internal IT resources but want to serve changing market needs, outsourcing software development projects is the only solution. While some are up for partnering with the external vendor, others may feel stressed about it. After all, entrusting product development to another company is challenging. But it is definitely worth a try.

What’s Good About Software Development Outsourcing?

Implementing the right framework ensures an effective and smooth collaboration with a custom software development company. It helps you maintain visibility, productivity, and communication across a distributed team as the project grows more complex. 

This is where Kanban comes to the rescue. Kanban provides an organizing outlook for outsourcing software development projects and helps you to track progress, anticipate potential bottlenecks, and get your project delivered smoothly. In this guide, we’ll take you through how Kanban helps you streamline collaboration with outsourcing partners with practical examples, smart strategies, and essential techniques to get the most out of your project outcomes.

The Value of Kanban in Outsourcing

Kanban is rooted in Lean methodology, prioritizing efficiency, adaptability, and continuous improvement. It is an ideal system to use if you want to manage an entire software development company’s workflow since it allows you to see project details, receive updates in real time, and avoid tasks overlapping or delays.

Kanban serves several critical purposes when collaborating with outsourcing teams:

• Transparency — Having visual boards on tasks helps with clarity of task progress both with internal and external teams.
• Flexibility — With Kanban, tasks can be re-prioritized as seamlessly as possible and the whole project doesn’t get disrupted when changing requirements.
• Predictability — Setting Work in Progress (WIP) limits helps teams predict accurate deadlines and manage capacity appropriately.

This win-win combo guarantees that Kanban’s workflow will be streamlined and that coordination between internal and outsourced teams is going to stay on track.

Key Approaches in Software Development for Outsourcing

A certain development approach should be adopted for outsourcing partnerships to ensure efficiency and alignment. These methodologies aid in collaboration, project flexibility, and shared communication between all teams that are part of it. Below are some key approaches that can help in tremendous ways in outsourced software development.

1. Agile and Scrum Methodologies

It is typical for many custom software development companies to manage outsourcing with Agile and Scrum, but also Kanban. Agile principles are mature in outsourced projects. Sprints are defined work blocks within Scrum for smooth work tracking, while Kanban avoids Sprint constraints and opts for continuous flow. While Agile and Scrum methodologies offer good structure to outsourced software development projects, visual tracking of Kanban mitigates flexibility lacking in an Agile project. With Agile, companies can stay in touch with their outsourcing teams at intervals, work the project outline to its completion, and provide value at each stage. 

2. DevOps Practices

It is by the use of DevOps practices that one brings dev and ops together into the project lifecycle. Usually customized for DevOps, a Kanban board visually tracks all the way down to code updates to deployment tasks to the outsourced team acting solutably with in-house DevOps staff. Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) is an automated tool to test and deploy fast, achieving speedy product cycles and boosting delivery reliability.

When CI/CD is implemented within Kanban, the (outsourced) team has the confidence to push updates. For instance, code moves to the “Testing” column, and automated tests can go off triggering relevant operators and stated holders of progress. This way, coordination is improved and manual checks are avoided. As a result, it is possible to reduce delays in projects that might normally occur.

3. Cross-functional Teams

As a rule, a top custom software development company assists cross-functional teams to work on a project. They merge development, design, testing, and project management skill sets to deliver a solution. In Kanban, each function or role has different lanes, and their responsibilities are well defined so that they can transition from task to task very well. By not creating silos and getting rid of siloed teams, this approach improves team dynamics because every team member can actually see what impact they’re making on the project as a whole.

Let’s say you use separate lanes for QA testing and code review. Thus, you can quickly assign team members by task type and experience, saving on overlap and improving collaboration. This separation of roles allows outsourcing teams to easily “fit in” with the overall workflow.

Essential Kanban Techniques 

It is way easier to deliver projects if your team adheres to the core agile practices and recommendations. Here are a few important Kanban strategies that can help you manage your outsourced team successfully.

1. Visualisation of Workflow

The visual Kanban boards allow for easy task management in real-time as these boards represent all the project stages visually. Kanban allows you to create/adjust your custom workflows. The idea is to see where you are currently at, and what you still have to do. This structure makes it easy to understand where the project is at the moment and exactly where our attention needs to be placed immediately.

2. WIP Limits

There are WIP limits in Kanban to reduce the risk of bottlenecks. Take for instance having a WIP limit on 3 tasks in “In Progress” to prevent the team from being overwhelmed and keep it focused on quality over quantity. Kanban also limits WIPs so that it doesn’t overburden the outsourcing team or progress inconsistently. The introduction of WIP limits helps custom software development companies focus on the team and product quality.

3. Continuous Improvement 

The Kaizen philosophy is a part of the Lean methodology. It focuses on continuous improvement and is integral to Kanban. This approach allows custom software development companies and their outsourcing partners to assess what’s been completed, spot issues, and adjust processes. Through continuous refinement, long-term productivity and quality can be maintained in outsourced projects.

4. Managing Dependencies with Swimlanes

Tasks can be grouped by swimlanes that represent the type or priority with which they are to be managed. In a custom software development project, using the swimlane of “Urgent” vs “Standard” helps identify the task which needs to be done in priority. Swimlanes can be used to differentiate projects that are outsourced so that tasks are organized between front- and back-end, helping one team continue and not wait for another to complete.

Task categorization helps manage dependencies better. Let’s imagine the backend updates are with the backend developer in an outsourced team, and they’re blocking the frontend in the overriding team. With Kanban, these dependencies are easy to spot, and it is easier to find the solution.

Practical Examples of Kanban for Outsourcing

In order to better understand how Kanban might be deployed, let’s take a closer look at some practical examples. With these cases, we are able to see the methodology simplifying processes:

• Quality Assurance (QA). Kanban allows companies to set up a dedicated QA board where you can move issues and bugs through stages such as “Reported,” “In Review,” “Testing” and “Resolved.” This transparency ensures quick identification of unresolved issues and efficient collaboration between development and QA teams.
• Feature Development. For large projects, especially custom software development companies outsource a few of the most critical feature sets. Depending on whether in-house or outsourced, they provide complete tracking of feature development from “Planning” to “Integration,” using Kanban. Thus, teams have a way to synchronize progress and address issues in real-time.
• Testing and Release Management. A Kanban board for testing and release management can also be used to track a task from one stage of testing and deployment to another. The clear visual cues of Kanban make it easier for teams behind departments delegated deployment work to coordinate with project schedules.

Each of these examples shows how Kanban can be used to structure and simplify the outsourcing workflow in a way that efficiently manages projects and provides high-quality output.

Tools for Kanban-Driven Outsourcing Management

For Kanban to be effective in outsourcing, you must use the right tools. Some of the most widely used instruments for Kanban-driven outsourcing are as follows:

• Kanban Zone.  Kanban Zone offers various zones (e.g., My Zone, Table, Portfolio, Calendar) to focus on different aspects of project management, ensuring that critical tasks are prioritized and visible. The tool has the most flexible Kanban board designer and it allows users to automate repetitive tasks, streamlining processes and reducing manual effort. 
• Jira. Jira is known to provide flexibility where the custom software development companies can build customizable Kanban boards as well as track the project metrics. It also seamlessly integrates with CI/CD tools for less complex projects that are in development.
• Asana. Asana lets teams set WIP limits, track tasks visually, and manage workflows — all on its easy-to-use interface. Asana’s real-time collaboration also makes it ideal for offshoring due to updates instantaneously available to the distributed team.
• Trello. Kanban boards are simple and easy to use in Trello and are great for small projects or pieces of a much larger project that you outsource to a third party. Trello is simple and makes it easy for outsourcing teams to adapt quickly.

By selecting the right tool, companies are then able to use Kanban metrics like lead time and cycle time to gauge productivity. These help identify which phases are causing delays, allowing teams to make targeted improvements.

Bring Software Development to a New Level

For custom software development companies, managing outsourced projects efficiently is key. Without the right approach, it will hardly be possible to maintain a competitive advantage and deliver high-quality solutions. If that’s what you are aiming for, then it is the right time to arm yourself (and your team) with Kanban. This framework fosters transparency, collaboration, and accountability across distributed teams, bridging the gap between in-house and outsourced contributors. 

By visualizing workflows, setting WIP limits, focusing on continuous improvement, and managing dependencies, companies can ensure timely, efficient, and quality project delivery. Thus, custom software development companies can elevate their outsourcing relationships and transform them into assets rather than potential bottlenecks.