If the estimate for your software project exceeds your budget or you feel the team is spending too many resources, you might be considering ways to cut costs to stay within budget. 

Based on our experience, this can be achieved by:

  • developing only the most essential functions
  • optimizing team management
  • improving quality control

Let's explore each point in detail.

How you can cut costs

Keep only the essentials

If you're facing a development estimate that exceeds your budget, consider prioritizing essential features to swiftly launch a basic version.

To determine which tasks take precedence, we use the MoSCoW method, which categorizes priorities into four types: 

  • Priority 1 - Must Have: crucial features for product launch (e.g., user registration)
  • Priority 2 - Should Have: important features that can be postponed (e.g., search filters)
  • Priority 3 - Could Have: additional features that enhance the product (e.g., social media authorization)
  • Priority 4 - Would Like: nice-to-have features for future versions (e.g., multilanguage support)

For the initial product version, we prioritize completing tasks with Must Have priority.

When presenting estimates to our clients, we break down costs according to these priorities. This allows the customer to easily see resource requirements for each priority and the entire system. This approach also ensures transparency and helps in effective budget planning for the entire development process.‍

Set up competent team management

If you notice that developers are misaligned and consuming excessive resources, it's essential to streamline team management. 

This requires an experienced project manager to oversee the process.  Specifically, a project manager:

  1. oversees the entire project, planning tasks and allocating time for all team members based on this comprehensive view
  2. manages risks proactively to minimize and eliminate potential problems
  3. monitors teamwork and provides feedback
  4. serves as a liaison between the team and the customer, ensuring requirements and tasks are accurately translated between business and development language for consistency

A project manager helps reduce costs by efficiently assigning tasks, and increasing team productivity. Each team member focuses on their strengths, optimizing time and resources.

You can learn more about how project managers contribute to resource savings here.

Establish quality control

A well-established quality assurance (QA) plays a key role in reducing development costs. 

When a tester identifies a problem, it's reported to the developer right away, preventing the accumulation of bugs and reducing the time and costs associated with fixing them.

Moreover, a well-established QA simplifies the documentation process. Having comprehensive documentation streamlines system understanding and management. 

With clear documentation in place, the team can avoid spending unnecessary time deciphering individual components, thereby enhancing efficiency and cutting down on development costs.

We at Fora Soft have all the specialists needed for a software development team, including QAs. Though if you only need QA and nobody else, there are companies specializing just on that, like viTesters, for example.

You can learn more about our testing practices here

To sum up

Optimizing current project processes is the most effective approach to cutting costs without compromising quality.

This includes careful prioritization, efficient team management, and establishing quality control measures. By implementing these strategies, you can effectively reduce expenses while maintaining high standards.

If you're looking for a way to cut costs on your software project – we offer you a free system audit with a detailed report and recommendations on how to do it in the most efficient way.

Contact us or book a quick call to get started

You can learn more about the system audit in detail here

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