Developing a software can be the task of one or many programmers. It depends on the complexity of the app that is being developed. For some apps, a programmer can write the code and make also the design himself but he can also let a designer make it better. For some software, many developers are required because they have to finish with some specified time. It is the case of software like games or game engines. Indeed a game engine can be built with more than one thousand people who are not hardly physically connected. It is the case of Epic Games Unreal Engine 4 which required many studios to be built.
But all these developers were not physically connected. They didn’t need to be. They were working from different locations in the world. In this case, they say they develop remotely. That is what we call remote software development.
Usually remote software development is chosen by new software development studios that don’t have a physical location for their beginning. It appears to be simple and more efficient. It has been the same case for Razor Theory. They have developed a lot of apps for their clients remotely.
Pros of remote software development
Remote software development is very efficient for a lot of people because they can simply work at home. That’s the main advantage if they are in the same city or country. But when it is not the case and they are from different locations, it is even better. Indeed they can have members of their staff everywhere in the world and work with them without needing to travel.
It is also a good way for those who want to build a team for making a software. They can just contact freelancers and pay them to work. So if I want to make an app and I am not able to do it alone, I can hire freelancers on internet and work with them remotely.
The simple thing you do is just taking advantage from the power of internet to achieve what you want. It reduces development cost. If you had to contact developers across the world and make them come in your country or city it would make you spend a lot of money for their accommodation and other details.
They are many software that can help you for remote software development. The best are TeamViewer and VNC. You can use it to work just like your team mates are in the same room with you.
Cons of remote software development
It is quite good and efficient to choose remote software development for projects but it is not always what you expect. Indeed, there is not any discipline if some people don’t feel the presence of a boss making some pressure. They need it to work efficiently. For those people remote work is not suitable. So the best thing to do is to be sure that you know all your team mates very well and only choose the serious ones.
If you are starting with freelancers on internet and you don’t know them if can be very difficult. They can delay the development process because of their lack of discipline.
Do you have to do it remotely?
Working remotely is a good thing for sure. But it depends on you and what you want to achieve. You have to take your time and really think about the kind of app you are going to make and its complexity. Try to see if you can do it alone or not. It is good if it is possible to do it alone. But in the second case, you have to be careful of the people you will hire to do it with you. Everybody can’t be serious and well-motivated about your project exactly the way you are.