Develop from Home: How to Maintain Software Project Continuity during COVID-19
The COVID-19 outbreak has completely derailed crucial software projects for several companies.
In the San Francisco Bay area, 6.7 million residents have been ordered to stay at home, posing a massive challenge to their employers. Recently, Google announced that it will stop upgrading the Chrome browser and its Chrome operating system as the company had to make major adjustments to its work schedules.
Already, flagship events like Apple’s annual product launch have been postponed owing to curbs on international travel.
Meanwhile, you cannot afford to push back certain upgrades and feature updates — particularly the ones dealing with cybersecurity. Malicious parties could be taking advantage of vulnerabilities that crop up due to the growing use of home devices to target companies. A recent poll found that 40% of companies have seen a jump in the number of cyber attacks as they enable remote working. I will cover in my next blog on Cyber security controls and its challenges during Work From Home during Covid-19.
In this complex environment, software developers must push out timely releases to secure the application landscape, protecting both the business and their customers.
So, how do you make this move towards “develop from home”? In my experience, there are certain application development enablers available in the market that can ease this transition. I’d recommend Fiverr, Freelancer.com, Crowdsourcer.io, and of course, GitHub for any company looking to maintain software project continuity during COVID-19.
1. Fiverr — a freelance services marketplace for businesses
As your workforce starts working from home, it is likely that a huge chunk will opt for leave as they try to balance their professional and personal obligations. A freelance services marketplace like Fiverr can help you make up for this talent gap.
Fiverr has an impressive variety of programming and technical skill sets, including web-based programming, database management, chatbot design, and the newly introduced cybersecurity and data protection services. It can support you across the entire software development lifecycle, including the testing phase. Fiverr hosts thousands of quality assurance (QA) experts as well as specialized professionals for user acceptance testing (UAT).
But best of all, Fiverr is available to companies across the world, and businesses can browse through developer profiles based on their budgets and the delivery timelines at hand.
2. Freelancer.com — hire from a repository of millions of developers
Freelancer.com is among the top gig working marketplaces out there, covering the entire spectrum of business services across technical, professional, and creative fields. What I like most about this platform is its project showcase, where you can browse a selection of previously designed applications along with a suggested rate card.
Getting started is as simple as posting your application needs as a “project.” Developers from around the world can place their bids — or proposals — and you can select the one most in-line with your timeline and budgetary needs. For smaller projects (let’s say a quick user test for a website), you can leverage Freelancers’ Services library. These are predefined, pre-priced services that can help you to meet deadlines with zero hassles.
For instance, Freelancer.com can connect you to a developer who will conduct a user test for a website in 2 days for $15.
3. Crowdsourcer.io — a collaboration and profit-sharing platform
While the last two recommendations are geared for businesses looking to maintain software project continuity during the pandemic, Crowdsourcer.io targets independent developers. You can create a project on the platform, listing the contributions you need from your peers who might be situated on the other side of the globe.
The idea is to break down the barriers to collaboration arising from COVID-19, and maintain business as usual, as much as possible. Crowdsurcer.io has a host of collaboration tools, like built-in chat, activity monitoring dashboard, task prioritization, polls, etc. You could virtually connect with anyone you require to get an application off the ground and into the market.
Each task is assigned a specific number of contribution points, based on which the total profits are shared.
4. GitHub — a cloud-based software development community
GitHub could prove to be an invaluable resource for developers, as they pursue innovation from the confines of their homes.
It is a global community of developers who create applications on the platform, share code, obtain feedback, and make real-time changes. GitHub has an exemplary version control feature that I found extremely useful. It can help developers contain their technical debt right at the roots, with GitHub merging different code versions while the project manager tracks the changes.
This version control capability, combined with its vast developer community (40 million and counting), makes GitHub a popular choice for both independent developers and business organizations.
There is also the potential to hire top talent using GitHub. Let’s say that an organization open sources a bit of code to invite collaboration from a consultant during the COVID-19 pandemic. If the partnership is successful, and the consultant has an “available for hire” badge, the company might hire them full time once the pandemic has plateaued.
A note of hope on the way forward
These are indeed difficult times for companies, employees — and humanity as a whole. In many ways, it is also a time for businesses to rethink their strategies, reinforce contingency plans, and leverage the immense possibilities of the gig & collaborative economy.
I believe by using any of these four tools (or others like these in the market) you can maintain a semblance of business continuity, regardless of the crisis at hand. Interestingly, this will also lead you to a whole new path — accessing a bright, multifaceted reservoir of talent spread across diverse geographies, reachable now through the mere click of a mouse. Once you develop from home it will be important to see review code & IP plagiarism besides maintaining & securing data, I will try to address such and more areas around Cyber security.
Stay safe, stay connected, and if you’d like to discuss these tools in more detail with me, let’s talk at <arvind@am-pmassociates.com>>
