Being the platform of choice for web developers worldwide to develop dynamic and custom–built web applications, PHP has taken centre stage in today’s web technology arena. Its popularity can be judged by the fact that almost two out of three websites developed nowadays use PHP in some form or the other.
When it comes to selecting a vendor for outsourcing your PHP development tasks, you will find that numerous vendors exist at every price point. Quite a few of them would try and compete on price. But care should be taken not to be carried away by the low price offered but instead find a vendor who can cater to your specific web development needs. Price alone cannot be the deciding factor in such business-critical PHP development projects, instead the reputation and track record of the vendor assumes significance. For the benefit of users who are concerned about the success of their PHP Project, we have enlisted a few pointers that will help fellow readers to make an informed decision regarding the choice of a PHP Vendor.
If you are about to spend money for your PHP web development needs, then you should perform an analysis and examine the vendor on the following parameters:
1) Technology Strengths
2) Domain & Ecosystem Expertise
3) Community Strengths
4) Project and Quality Management
5) Business and Legal
Let’s examine each of the above parameters in greater detail:
Technology Strengths
The first and foremost thing that you should do is to check the technical expertise of the service providers whom you have short-listed based on references obtained. Whether you require a PHP vendor for standard day-to-day support or for a specific product that needs to be developed, you need to ensure that vendor has the technical expertise to deliver results within the constraints of time to avoid costly delays. Typically a PHP Development project requires some of these skill sets:
1) Native PHP (Version 5 and above)
2) Framework-Expertise in PHP Frameworks like Zend Framework, Symfony, Codeigniter, CakePHP etc
3) Database – It entirely depends on your preference. Some of the databases that are used in PHP application development are MySQL, DB2, PostgreSQL, MSSQL and Oracle
4) System Administration: Knowledge of Server OS typically a Linux Box or Windows coupled with knowledge of Cloud Hosting (if required)
5) Some specific projects also require extensive knowledge of Front End (UI) Development technology frameworks like JQuery, Prototype, EXT JS, and DOJO etc.
If your application is based on an existing PHP based product / solution then extensive expertise on the same is required. Asking the right questions to vendors is important as it will help you to elicit answers that will help you in taking informed decisions. You may like to ask the following:
1) Team Strength
2) Number of application architects on board
3) Number of engineers on board with Zend Certification
4) Number of PHP Engineers in the team who have worked with PHP products that you use (like SugarCRM Developer, Magento, Drupal, Process Maker )
5) Number of database experts in the team who have expertise in the database relevant to your project and their roles in
6) PHP development projects
7) Request for some sample projects done in your chosen framework to know whether the vendor has expertise in your chosen framework.
8) Take a look at the internal training calendar to know about the training programs conducted internally in the recent past
9) Ask about the induction process of a PHP engineer as it will help you to know whether the vendor invests in training or not.
10) Request for details about PHP/QA practices.
I hope the above points will surely help you in choosing the right vendor for your PHP web development needs. And I will be more than happy to answer your any queries and await your valuable comments and feedback.
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