Choosing a software partner is one of the most expensive decisions a growing business makes — and one of the hardest to judge from the outside. Every agency website promises quality, agility and on-time delivery. The difference shows up only in how they answer specific questions.
We are a software company ourselves, so this list is written from the inside. These are the questions we would ask if we were hiring.
1. “Can you show me something similar you have built?”
Not a logo wall — a walkthrough. Ask them to show a comparable product and explain what was hard about it. Teams with real experience talk about specific problems: payment reconciliation, offline sync, a migration that went wrong. If client work is under NDA, they should still be able to describe the problem and architecture without naming the client.
2. “Who exactly will work on my project?”
The senior people in the sales meeting are not always the people writing the code. Ask for the roles and experience of the actual team, who the technical lead is, and whether you can speak with them before signing.
3. “Will any of the work be subcontracted?”
Some agencies resell work to freelancers or smaller firms. That is not automatically bad, but you should know. Subcontracting adds a communication layer and makes accountability blurry when something breaks.
4. “Who owns the source code, and where will it live?”
The answer should be: you own everything, and the code lives in a Git repository under your organisation’s account from day one. The same applies to cloud accounts, domains, app-store accounts and design files. Be cautious if the vendor wants to host everything on their own accounts “for convenience”.
5. “How do you estimate, and what happens when scope changes?”
A credible estimate comes after understanding the work — usually through a short discovery phase — not after a single call. Ask how change requests are priced and approved. A good answer involves written change control, not surprise invoices at the end.
6. “Fixed price or time and materials — which do you recommend for us?”
Fixed price suits well-defined projects; a monthly dedicated team suits evolving products. A vendor who recommends one without asking about your situation is selling, not advising.
7. “How will I see progress?”
Look for short iterations (one to two weeks) with a working build you can click through at the end of each — on a staging site or as a test app on your phone. Status reports are not progress; working software is.
8. “How do you test and review code?”
Ask whether they write automated tests, whether every change is code-reviewed, and whether there is a CI pipeline. Ask who does QA and on which devices. Teams that skip this deliver faster for the first month and slower forever after.
9. “How do you handle security and our data?”
Expect concrete answers: role-based access, encrypted passwords and secrets, dependency scanning, backups, and who on their side has access to production data. If you are in a regulated sector — finance, healthcare, gaming — ask what compliance work they have done before.
10. “What happens after launch?”
Software needs updates: OS releases, security patches, bug fixes and small improvements. Ask what a support plan includes, the response times, and the monthly cost. Also ask how a handover to your own team would work if you later hire in-house.
11. “Can I speak to a current client?”
A reference call with someone who has worked with the team for more than a year tells you more than any case study. Ask that client what went wrong and how it was handled.
12. “What would you not build for us?”
This is our favourite. A good partner pushes back: they will suggest using an off-the-shelf tool for part of the problem, cutting a feature from version one, or not building a mobile app until the web version proves demand. A vendor who agrees with everything is optimising for the size of the contract.
Red flags
- A firm quote after one short call, with no discovery.
- A price far below everyone else’s — the difference is usually paid later in rework.
- Reluctance to put code in your repository or give you admin access.
- No written contract covering IP ownership, confidentiality and payment milestones.
- “Clone scripts” presented as custom development.
Why India — and why location still matters
India has one of the deepest software talent pools in the world, and cities like Hyderabad and Bengaluru have mature engineering ecosystems. For international clients the cost advantage is real, and time-zone overlap with Europe, the Middle East and Australia is workable. For Indian businesses, a team in the same city makes workshops, training and go-live support much easier.
Whoever you choose, use these questions. And if you would like to put them to us, we are happy to answer every one.