Software applications have an immense influence on our lives, and it is continuously empowering us to do things effortlessly. From booking an air ticket to streaming live music and ordering food online, it has allowed us to do numerous things that were nearly impossible a decade ago. For entrepreneurs and business owners, web and mobile applications are turning out as digital assets to generate revenues and create business value. Integrated with advanced technologies like AI, IoT, and cloud computing, software applications have double-folded their efficiency. But building these applications involves highly skilled developers, sophisticated tools, and IT infrastructure. Fortunately, software development tools and approaches have also evolved along the way. The modern software development process is more agile and lean.
For building next-generation software products, developers see Python as the most preferred programming language. Unlike traditional programming languages, Python is more flexible, and it does not require you to compile code before executing it. Tiobe has rated Python as the most popular programming language. Rich libraries and great visualization tools make this open-source software development language - an ideal choice for building data science and machine learning apps.
However, from product development to delivery, executing the Python project is a daunting task. It is not feasible for many companies to develop Python applications in-house, and because of this, businesses seek to hire or outsource to Python development companies. There could be multiple reasons for hiring a Python development agency, like app development costs, lack of skilled programmers, long hiring period, continuous monitoring of industry regulations, internal team busy with existing work, and project complexity.
While your entire project depends on an external Python development agency, it is imperative that you make the right choice. If you are not meticulous in hiring the right and the best Python development agency, your project can turn into a nightmare. This article outlines a few facts about Python, and hints on the key questions to ask a Python development agency before you hire them.
Why Python Programming Language?
- Flexible
- Open Source
- Customizable
- Easy-to-read, Easy-to-executable codes
- Quick development
- Huge community and libraries
- Friendly data architecture
- Object-oriented
- Easily embeddable
What can you accomplish with Python?
Python is a programming language widely used by developers across the community due to its wide array of libraries, frameworks and flexibility. Some of the top usage of Python includes;
- Web Development
- Data Analysis
- Automation
- Desktop Applications,
- Artificial Intelligence
- Game Development
- DevOps and Infrastructure
- Internet of Things (IoT)
A few notable examples of websites developed with the help of Python:
Instagram: Python is used for backend services and infrastructure.
Pinterest: Python is used for image processing, recommendations, and data analytics.
Dropbox: Python is used for its backend and automation purposes.
Netflix: Python is used for algorithms to generate content recommendations, data analytics, and infrastructure management.
Reddit: Python is used to manage backend services and task scheduling.
Spotify: Python is employed for data analysis, machine learning, backend services, and infrastructure management.
YouTube: For transcoding, data analysis, and algorithms to generate content recommendations.
Facebook: 21% of Facebook’s codebase infrastructure is written in Python. Facebook uses Python for infrastructure management, backend development and machine learning, operational automation, so on.
Paypal, Google, Uber are other notable names that use Python.
DID YOU KNOW?
What Are the Benefits of Hiring an External Python Development Agency?
The benefits of hiring a Python development agency are far-reaching, and here are a few of them.
- Experienced Python developers: By hiring an external Python development agency, you can get access to experienced Python developers. They have a dedicated team that understands the nitty-gritty of Python programming and delivers quality products.
- Cost-saving: Cost-saving is undoubtedly the biggest benefit of outsourcing Python projects to an external company. You don’t have to spend money on hiring developers, training the in-house developers, or purchasing additional resources to develop Python apps.
- Customer-focused: Professional Python development agencies develop products that fit in the current market and meet customer satisfaction. They use cutting-edge technologies and adopt a customer-centric approach to add value to the product.
- Transparency: Hiring an external agency for a Python project can bring great benefits, including transparency. All the team members and resources working from a single place make the software development process transparent. The external agency promotes transparent team structure and workflow that helps you to track project progress at every phase of software development.
- Access to latest tools and technologies: An experienced Python development agency uses the latest tools and technologies to get an edge in the market. It eventually helps them to optimize their overall efficiency and accuracy.
- Better risk management: Developers with hands-on experience in Python can quickly identify risks and proactively mitigate them before they go out of control.
- Scalability and faster development: Usually, when a Python project is developed in-house, it demands expanding the internal team and scaling IT infrastructure. It is time-consuming and delays the project. By hiring an external Python agency, the client can save time in hiring team members or upscaling resources.
10 Key Questions To Ask a Python Development Agency Before You Hire Them?
1) Can you share your team’s experience in Python development?
It is critical for you to understand the expertise and experience that the vendor’s team has in Python development. You should be able to get an idea about the trends and innovations that they use, and the frameworks, libraries that they are specialized in. Python is a versatile language that is capable of building a range of applications and requires developers to have a deeper knowledge of Python core concepts like OOPs, data structures, iterators, etc. The best way to evaluate the external agency’s efficiency in Python development is to ask them about the team’s expertise and skills.
2) Will it be possible for you to share a few of your completed projects based on Python?
By looking into the type, and challenges of the projects handled by the vendor’s team, it gets easier for you to understand and evaluate the level of optimization that you can go with your project. Even though the external team has all resources and experience in Python projects, it cannot be the ultimate criteria to zero in the external agency. The complexity and scope of software differ from project to project. Unless you have similar projects to compare, there is no way to find out whether the Python agency can handle your Python project successfully. You can make a better decision on hiring a Python agency by asking them about their previously completed projects or similar projects like yours.
3) How do you manage your development processes?
It is necessary for you to understand how the vendor’s team is managing the development process, methodologies, planning, communication, collaboration, coordination, deadlines, budget, and much more. You can also ask about the team size, any specific help needed from your end, and the developers involved in the project( full-time Python developers or freelancers). A well-experienced team can also fail if they are not organized and choose the wrong software development model. Right from planning to software release, everything should be accurate and simplified.
4) What are your testing practices?
Once a project is completed, it is necessary to test and iterate. So, it is necessary for you to find out their testing practices, their documentation processes, and much more that will ensure the codes are clean and error-free. You can also enquire them about the testing infrastructure, latest technologies, contingency plans, and testing methods. Every QA team has to communicate with developers on a regular basis, so they should have a clear understanding of Python core concepts. So you can ask a few questions on Python programming to the QA team to check their skills and knowledge. You can also ask about the challenges they face while testing and how they overcome them.
5) What about security, reliability, and data protection?
Security is crucial for any software development project. Ask about their approach to data protection, secure coding practices, and measures taken to prevent security vulnerabilities and breaches. Strong legal contracts can give a sense of security that your data is well guarded. Ensure that vendors have all the legal agreements in place and outline all the clauses, liabilities, and security measures in the contract. It is a good practice to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with vendors to protect your confidential information and IP (Intellectual Property) rights. Besides these, you can ask about the incident management plan, data backup, security audit, data access control, etc.
6) Who is your point of contact?
It is vital to have clear and clean communication with the right team leader for all project-related discussions. Usually, the vendor appoints one person that oversees the entire software development project communication. It can be a project manager, team lead, or product owner. For your project, try and take their point of contact and try to investigate as to how they handle the requests. When hiring an external agency, especially when it is located off-shore, communication is a challenge. Asynchronous communication can help in such scenarios therefore, it is recommended to discuss the communication modes and how frequently they would like to communicate with you. If you have any preferences for a specific tool or mode of communication, you can always ask them. Clear communication (about Python project requirements) between you and the vendor ensures that the project stays on track and it is delivered at the right time.
7) What is your pricing structure and payment terms?
Discuss the vendor's pricing structure and payment guidelines. Find out their billing cycle, and any hidden costs. Often while outsourcing Python projects clients forget to discuss the hidden costs associated with it. Many external agency prefer charging for their services like hiring technical consultants, writing technical documentation, server management costs, software license, travelling costs, software maintenance, local tax and legal contracts, etc. These factors can shoot up software development costs exponentially and exceed the actual budget. It is ideal for both you and the external agency to clarify on the hidden costs. Also, you should outline the pricing structure and payment terms in your contracts to avoid confusion later on. Some prefer paying upfront, while others prefer paying as milestones are released. Based on your project requirements and budget, you should define the payment terms in the contract.
8) Is it possible to share a few client references or testimonials?
Client references and testimonials can help in generating information about the reputation of the vendor. Proof of previous projects through clients’ testimonials and company portfolios assures you about the company’s potential to deliver the project. It helps clients to gauge the developers’ skills and the technology stack they have used for their projects. In case you want to gather more information about the company’s clients or services, you can always visit their websites and social media handlers or even take the help of review and rating websites.
9) What are the support and maintenance services you provide?
It is ideal to ask the agency what support and maintenance they will provide to run the Python app smoothly. If you are hiring an off-shore agency, then possibly they would be working in a different time zone. Make sure that their support and maintenance are available 24X7 and that their representatives are technically sound to resolve your issue. Some vendors offer free maintenance support for basic services and charge for their technical support. Clarify all the terms and conditions for customer support before making a decision on hiring them.
10) Do you work with businesses of any size?
This question helps you to evaluate the vendor’s capabilities and align them with your project needs. Vendors that only work with small businesses may have limited resources and budgets, which can be challenging for fast-growing companies looking to scale their business or product rapidly. Vendors that offer their services to both small and medium-sized organizations have enough experience, resources, and expertise to pull the Python project, but there is a chance that it may face issues like quality, scalability, and stability. Vendors that show readiness to work with businesses of any size, including large enterprises, are financially stable and consist of a wide pool of developers efficient to complete a Python project of any complexity. However, they might be less flexible in their policies.
Some additional questions to ask the Python Development Agency
- How much of your involvement will be required throughout the product development process?
- How will you track the project milestone, and what if you fail to meet deadlines?
- What makes your agency different from others?
- What are your plans for risk management?
- Do you have training and education programs for your engineers?
Steps to Find the Right Python Development Agency
Step 1) Analyze your project requirements like project type, budget, time frame, flexibility, project deadline, and expertise required for the project. This information could help clarify your expectations to prospects and bid for the project. Eventually, it helps you to find the best candidate for the project.
Step 2) Scan and shortlist the best Python development agency by reviewing customers’ testimonials and references on reputed B2B rating and review sites like GoodFirms.
Step 3) Most Python development agencies offer free consultation for their customers. You can connect with them and gather information like technical expertise, team size, delivery time, etc. You can review developers’ profiles to find candidates most relevant to your project.
Step 4) Select the vendor that can offer Python custom development, that fits your project criteria and connects with company culture. To check that, you can always ask for a demo, case studies, or sample codes. The best Python development agency not only aligns with your project but also acts as a true partner.
Step 5) Once the vendor is shortlisted, you can proceed with all the necessary documentation, legal paperwork, and signing the contract.
Conclusion
In recent times, rapid progress has been observed in software development models and programming languages to build market-fit products. Without any denial, Python is the most popular programming language that permits developers to keep pace with the latest technology and develop software solutions that resonate with current trends. Many experts and business leaders see hiring the best Python agency as a viable solution. Finding the right Python development agency is a cumbersome task, and to simplify this, shoot a couple of questions (mentioned in this article) before you hire a Python development agency.
