10 Tips for Working With Your Financial Software Development Company
As McKinsey Quarterly puts it, “Every company is a software company now.” Even those in traditional industries must now consider software to be successful. That lesson is being hammered into markets, even in industries that have historically floated in more analog waters.
As more and more companies now require fintech solutions, business processes must align to this new reality. Effective leaders see the wisdom of partnering with a financial software development company to manage transitions, protect revenue, and create new pathways to growth.
Although each company has specific constraints and opportunities, there are some broad responsibilities for both the client and the financial software developer as they build a relationship that’s seamlessly collaborative and maximally productive.
The Kickoff: What Good Fintech Software Companies Should Do
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Maximizes Initial Engagement
Beware the magic vendor with a pre-built solution, especially if they’re proposing large-scale changes before asking detailed questions. Fintech software companies with broad experience understand that your business is unique, with a set of pain points that can’t be fully understood without an upfront, detailed conversation.
In short, anyone trying to trade their solutions for your money has a baseline responsibility to discover the nuances of your problems before attempting to solve them.
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Communicates Often and Clearly
There’s a tightrope to walk here; you don’t want to drown in detail. (“Is this font okay? Do you want this button here or there?”) However, you also don’t want to waste time in an uncommunicative void. (“I thought I was getting mockups last week!”) At the initial meeting, or soon after, both parties should agree to a regular schedule of updates; how often that is will depend on the project’s scope and details. As the client, feel free to require updates in whatever form best suits your workflow — onsite, Zoom, Slack channel — but it is wise to insist on synchronous meetings to ensure you’re able to raise issues as you see them, rather than risking wasted effort before a dev sees your message to kill or change a proposed feature.
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Educates Clients
Your financial software development company should provide specs for the technology backbone of your project, thorough ReadMe docs that explain how it was built, and basic training on fundamental troubleshooting. If you choose later to take the final product to another development company, hire a manager internally, or add integrations, this documentation will be essential. Additionally, this creates symbiosis between client and vendor: As they gain deep understanding of your company and industry, you learn to communicate confidently in techspeak, which makes both parties more efficient as the partnership progresses.
Confident companies won’t lock you into their ecosystem by handing you a black box that only they can maintain. The message they send when they do this is clear: “We will provide tools that enable you to walk away after this project — but you won’t. We’re that good.”
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Sets Realistic Timelines
It would be awesome to snap new tech into existence like a reverse Thanos. However, that’s impossible — and beware of any company suggesting a timeline that seems too good to be true.
A financial software development company with experience should have a process of initial estimation, followed by more detailed analysis identifying all work required for the build. Each step should be discrete, with its own estimated time cost, so that if one runs over (or completes early), the effect on the chain can be quantified.
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Manages Expectations Transparently
Adults understand that entropy is real and projects hit snags. A company’s response to these hiccups reveals much, and should impact future business decisions involving them. The importance of transparency in initial communication and regular updates is described above — but just as important is a fintech software company’s response when something goes wrong and expectations aren’t met.
You should expect clear communication of any issue likely to impact budget, schedule, or final product as soon as the vendor knows about it. No one benefits when a developer starts scrambling behind the scenes to correct a problem in week three, but doesn’t let you know until week seven that the attempt failed. That’s a month lost, and a trust broken.
Navigating Challenges: What to Expect from a Financial Software Developer
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Handles Changes Well
There are really only two things that change on any fintech software development project: budget and scope. As in everything, communication and transparency are key. If you’re requesting additions to the scope of the project, the development of those new items has to be funded by increased cost or trimming elsewhere.
Likewise, if a revenue issue necessitates scaling back the project, your developer deserves to know as soon as possible. This gives them the opportunity to explore what can be re-imagined or re-allocated to bring the project home as near the original design as possible. If the initial meeting was handled transparently, you should have your developer’s rate card, which means you can at least spitball the estimated cost on your own.
One red flag: a vendor who agrees to a budget or scope change quickly, without taking time to discuss consequences with the development team. All engineers have horror stories of salespeople who agreed to a change without realizing the inevitable costs in money, time, or functionality.
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Produces Quality Under Tight Deadlines
As deadlines approach, tensions rise — especially when fintech software companies haven’t tracked project management effectively. To minimize friction and maximize communication, a project management tool should be open and available to all stakeholders, along with the results of QA processes that have been deployed throughout the build. This is another important point to discuss in that initial meeting. Ask these questions: How will I know the project is on track? If we’re going to miss a milestone, when will you tell me?
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Provides Great Collaboration
We often think of developers as loners isolated in their multi-screen coding dungeons. In reality, effective fintech software companies are just that: companies — and companies do things together. Although the PM should be your primary point of contact, your internal stakeholders should still have access to developers. This transparency ensures that the right questions get asked, the right features get developed, and missteps are identified quickly.
Additionally, your fintech developer should love feedback loops. With transparency comes a virtuous feedback loop: New code gets deployed for comment, changes are discussed proactively, and regular meetings ensure that things are moving on budget, on schedule, and as designed.
Post-Launch Review and Reflection: Look for These Traits
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No Vanishing Acts
A confident company doesn’t pull “a Steve Miller” and take the money and run. If they’re realistic, they expect post-launch tweaks, and if the project went well, they’d much rather continue working with an onboarded client than find a new one from scratch. They may suggest a recurring retainer, which should be billed monthly and priced annually at a specific percentage of the total build.
If they’ve done good work, it’s wise to retain them for maintenance. New versions of your tech stack will inevitably drop, and keeping them updated is likely to cause some bugs. It’s usually far less expensive and frustrating to be proactive here; you don’t want to find yourself calling them for an emergency fix at midnight on a holiday weekend, when the cost is likely to be substantial.
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Continuous Improvement
Every new problem solved is one you can now solve in the future. If you experience transparent communication between stakeholders and developers and active engagement in the process, even a project with unexpected obstacles can be the foundation of future success. Again, it’s about feedback loops: The financial software development company you just worked with now better understands both your company and your industry, so the next project will likely have a shorter runway and smoother takeoff.
Working with DBA
DBA can speak confidently of the ten truths outlined above, because they undergird every step of the relationship with each client: transparency, consistency, realism, and continuous improvement. We take a consultative, open-minded approach to fintech software development, founded on mutual understanding and a shared commitment to the project’s success. If you’re looking for a fintech development partner that can pave the way for a productive long-term partnership to maximize your investment and achieve your desired outcomes, we should talk. To learn more about our approach book a meeting.
