The skill of a software engineering team is vital for optimizing the economics of a software product over commercial time scales. With the evolution of new coding tools and training, there are many companies that have developers that can write code and develop a functional product. Fewer companies can deliver on high-quality software engineering, especially for what is required for a medical device. Managing complexity is an overarching skill that separates strong software engineers from common coders. Software engineers are educated in and have expertise in object-oriented design, separation of concerns, design patterns, unit testing, decoupling systems, maintainability and much more. The reason software engineers manage complexity is economic. Here are some considerations when hiring a software product development company:
- Strong software engineering backgrounds
- Modern and relevant domain and technical experience
- Constantly considers increasing value over time
- Strives to lower the total cost of development of software projects
- Structured to allow software to be developed with continuous speed
- Adopts Agile software engineering practices
- Ensures code remains forever malleable
- Able to adapt to changing markets, changing business strategies and changing operating conditions
- Has practices in place that mitigate business and regulatory risk
- Has practices in place that mitigate patient safety