Mariel Desailly

A quote that comes back within a day should be treated as a bad sign. An experienced provider returns clarifying questions before any number: about users and volumes. A provider that quotes without asking anything is pricing a guess, and hire go developers a guess resurfaces as a change order — and you will pay for it.

Look out for a gap between the team in the pitch and the people who will code. Insist on the names and CVs of the actual team in the statement of work, outsource php development with a provision that requires notice before anyone is swapped. A vendor dedicated team vs freelancers that talks only about abstract roles and will not commit to people is reserving the right to assign anyone it likes.

Require the source repository from day one. A team that shows code only at milestones is asking you to trust a black box. Daily commits show you who is really on the project far better than any status report. The same applies to the build and deployment setup: if nothing runs automatically, quality claims remain just talk.

Ambiguous wording in the contract around code ownership is never an accident. The contract should state in plain terms that all deliverables become the property of your company as they are paid for. Also check the jurisdiction and how payments are structured: heavy prepayment with nothing due in return for weeks takes away your only leverage.

Last, look at communication. Ask how many hours there will be with your timezone, which named person is expected to answer questions and within what time and materials contract. A few hours of overlap is normally sufficient; none at all turns each small question into a lost day. Careless writing in the proposal will not improve under delivery pressure.