Every business can face a situation when the technical expertise available does not suffice the project requirements. There are multiple ways of solving this challenge, but the most popular one is outsourcing to a reliable DevOps company. How to choose it among the competitors? IT Svit, a provider of DevOps services (https://itsvit.com/services/devops/) answers this question based on 5+ years of expertise and 800+ successful DevOps projects.
The main challenge when looking for a remote R&D team is not finding the technical background — the main challenge lies within finding a team with relevant experience, who have done similar projects before and will not make costly blunders or reinvent the wheel at your expense. Unfortunately, there is no way to know for certain until you bulge into a rock amidst the project. Or is there?
IT outsourcing companies value something more than money, and it is their reputation. If you fail but make up for it — you are in the green. But if you fail and start making excuses — you are dead already. Bad news flies faster than a rocket, and removing the stain will take quite a lot of time. IT outsourcing market in every country is actually quite small, and if your company becomes known for sloppy project management or mistreating the customers — you can forget about future contracts and new employees.
Thus said, all IT outsourcing companies are very diligent when it comes to managing their reputation. There are portals like Upwork or TopTal that rate talents and agencies based on customer satisfaction. There are independent global business rating agencies like Clutch, Capterra or GoodFirms, where a Managed DevOps company has to maintain a positive image. There are niche forums and news portals like DevOps, Medium and DZone, where we must showcase our expertise. There are social media and our own websites, where any dissatisfied customer can leave inflammatory feedback. And yes, there are customer review sections of various rating agencies, and being blacklisted or negatively mentioned there is quite a volatile experience for the company reputation.
Thus said, when you are looking for a DevOps company, how to choose a trustworthy one?
- Google for the skills you need. If the company does not provide the required services – it will not be listed for them. IT Svit is actually listed on the first page of SERPs for DevOps services, along with giants like Azure, Accenture and Infopulse.
- Look for the completed cases to see if the company did anything similar to your project. Some companies offer multiple cases on their websites, some have a multitude of positive customer reviews on Clutch or GoodFirms — you will be able to get a gist of their technical background.
- Contact their previous customers and ask for references. If a company stood up to its obligations and delivered everything as promised — its customers will be glad to share the story and provide feedback.
- Contact the company directly and ask for estimates for your project. Some companies can charge much less then the competition while providing the same level of services — maybe because they don’t have as many accolades and awards yet, or because of their DevOps engineers not yet having 20 certifications each.
- Conduct a technical call. Talk with the team directly, describe your project requirements and ask for their suggestions. A reliable DevOps company will be able to provide ready solutions for typical challenges, based on its previous experience.
By following this simple framework of 5 questions, you will not have any issues in choosing a reliable DevOps company for your project.