Crowdsourcing is a popular term that means sourcing jobs and objectives through an open call to the community. The community represents the “crowd” in crowdsourcing. In terms of software development, this is a valuable way to approach projects as an open call to software developers leads to tapping a wide range of talents and skills. Fresh ideas and varying degrees of talent in software development competitions can lead to surprisingly relevant and useful results.
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How Crowdsourcing Works
When an open call is made to software developers to assist in the development of a new technology, they can create, fine tune, and analyze data in large numbers because a “crowd” is working on the project together. Responses to open calls, especially when software development competitions are involved, bring large “crowds” to shorten the time it would take to develop projects that would be done under traditional circumstances.
How Your Company Benefits
Custom software development is now open to many businesses that otherwise could not or would not spend the money to develop these solutions. Companies can formulate open calls and invite developers to submit solutions according to project objectives and specifications. As the crowd develops and formulates solutions and disregards those that are not workable, a set of solutions is submitted to the company that put out the open call. The company then owns the solutions that are submitted and those of the crowd who submitted the winning solutions are rewarded.
The brilliant part in this scenario for software development is the company that put out the open call and the compensation for success in meeting the needs of the project can be determined ahead of time. Compensation is given only to those who turn in great solutions that fit the problem. Software development competitions are a perfect way for businesses to develop custom software for their use, at a fraction of the traditional costs. The best part is that these solutions are custom made, to the last detail, due to their open call and only workable solutions accepted are compensated.
Software Development Through Crowdsourcing Benefits:
The benefits of crowdsourcing begin with solutions that are obtained quickly at little cost.
Payment is by results or may not be offered at all.
Recognition can be considered compensation in many cases.
The business has access to a wider range of talent outside of its own company.
Feedback from the crowd gains first-hand knowledge on what their customers’ want.
The crowd or community feels a closeness with the brand they are building which results in a sense of ownership because of their help in the project.
The demands for custom software are increasing at a rapid pace. SAP companies would do well to consider crowdsourcing to meet the rising demand of businesses seeking custom solutions. Increasingly, businesses are seeking customization of their systems to streamline their business processes and be more profitable. As the demand rises, companies that develop these solutions will need wider access to answers that are developed quickly and within budget. Crowdsourcing is a way to develop custom solutions that are precise and robust within any budget. Software development competitions that build brand awareness, kinship and reward accepted solutions to problems, through crowdsourcing, is an excellent way to meet all these needs.