概述
Choosing the right engineering partner is one of the most critical decisions in a custom software project. This page outlines the key criteria and red flags to evaluate when selecting a vendor or long-term technical partner.
What to Look For
1. Technical Depth and Architecture Focus
- Do they prioritize clean architecture, domain design and scalability?
- Can they explain trade-offs between monolith, modular and microservices approaches?
2. Team Stability and Long-Term Engagement
- Do they use dedicated product teams or rotating pools?
- How long do team members typically stay on a project?
- Are there delivery managers, QAs and designers in the loop?
3. QA and Delivery Process
- Do they practice CI/CD and automated testing?
- Is there a structured sprint process?
- How do they handle release safety and regression management?
4. Communication and Collaboration
- Are updates, demos and roadmap reviews regular?
- Is product ownership shared or purely outsourced?
- Do they provide access to repositories, documentation and progress metrics?
5. Strategic Fit
- Do they understand your domain and product goals?
- Are they a build-and-leave agency or a long-term engineering partner?
- Do they recommend scalable paths instead of shortcuts?
Red Flags
- No dedicated QA or testing process
- Excessive reliance on single developers
- No sprint planning or progress metrics
- Resistance to architectural or process transparency
Related Context