Choosing an engineering partner is among the most high-stakes decisions a business leader makes. A bad partner burns budget and sets your timeline back by months. A great partner operates like an internal SWAT team.
Red Flags to Watch For
Guaranteed impossible timelines: Agencies promising full Uber-like ecosystems in 3 weeks.
No direct engineer communication: Forcing all conversations through non-technical account managers.
Vague intellectual property terms: Any ambiguity regarding who owns the source code upon delivery.
Over-promising on fixed price with zero discovery: Legitimate engineering requires detailed scoping.
The Essential Evaluation Checklist:
1. Verified Technical Proof: Ask to see real code structure, architecture diagrams, and deployed case studies.
2. IP Ownership: Ensure the contract explicitly grants 100% intellectual property ownership to your company.
3. Sprint Cadence: Demand bi-weekly sprint demos and direct access to GitHub repositories.
4. Post-Launch Support: Ensure the partner provides structured SLA maintenance and long-term support.
Put This Into Practice
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