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Choose a custom software development company by defining the outcome, constraints, and acceptance conditions first, then asking every candidate for comparable evidence about its proposed team, delivery approach, security, accessibility, ongoing costs, and ownership terms. Select the provider whose documented capabilities and contract fit your project—not simply the firm with the most polished proposal or lowest initial estimate.
What should you decide before contacting companies?
Write a brief that describes the problem the software must solve and how you will know the work is acceptable. A shared brief gives candidates the same basis for proposals and makes their differences easier to assess.
Define the work and its boundaries
- Business outcome: State what needs to improve or become possible, rather than prescribing a solution before the need is clear.
- Users and capabilities: Identify who will use the system and the functions it must support.
- Integrations and constraints: List systems it must connect to, technical or operational limits, and any relevant deadlines.
- Data and risk: Describe the types of information involved, its sensitivity, and the access a supplier may need.
- Acceptance conditions: Specify the evidence or tests that will show each important deliverable meets the requirement.
Separate mandatory requirements from preferences. For each requirement, decide how important it is and what proof would demonstrate that a proposal meets it.
Set an evaluation method in advance
Use the same questions and criteria for every company. Define what counts as strong, partial, or weak evidence before reviewing proposals; record scores and the reasons behind them. Include the people qualified to assess the project’s business, technical, security, accessibility, and procurement needs. NASA’s Software Engineering Handbook, SWE-035, describes establishing supplier-selection procedures and criteria in advance and documenting advantages, disadvantages, and scores. The cited page was updated June 5, 2023, and is associated with NPR 7150.2B; NASA-specific requirements may differ in a newer handbook edition.
#1 Best Overall
What evidence should you request from each candidate?
Ask candidates to respond to your actual requirements, not just describe their services. The goal is to verify that the proposed people and delivery process can handle your project’s domain, scale, integrations, and operating constraints.
Team and relevant delivery history
- Request the names or roles, relevant skills, and expected availability of the people proposed for the work. Ask how much of their time is committed and who will make delivery decisions.
- Ask for examples of completed work similar in domain, complexity, integrations, or operating environment. Clarify what the candidate’s team actually delivered.
- Ask for references who can discuss whether requirements, schedule, quality, and technical needs were met.
- Check whether any claimed credential or process appraisal applies to the specific organization or delivery unit submitting the proposal. An organization-wide claim is not proof that the proposed team has the same capability.
Delivery and technical approach
Ask how the company will turn requirements into working software, review and test changes, manage releases, estimate scope changes, document the system, and hand it over. Ask what decisions or inputs it needs from your staff and when. The proposal should explain its approach to your constraints and integrations rather than rely on generic assurances.
NASA’s supplier-selection guidance identifies technical approach, staff skills, past performance, customer satisfaction, engineering and management capability, domain expertise, delivery processes, and process maturity as possible evaluation criteria. Use the ones that matter to your project; they are not a universal scoring formula.
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Match security and privacy expectations to the information the system handles, the supplier’s access, the service being built, and the risks of the provider and solution. Ask candidates to explain their practices and to commit to applicable requirements in the contract.
- What information does the supplier need, and who can access it?
- Where will development and test environments run, and how will access and secrets be controlled?
- How are software dependencies managed and vulnerabilities identified, reported, and fixed?
- What incident-response and post-launch support commitments apply?
- What security-related documentation will the supplier provide, and what must be true for you to accept the work?
CISA’s Software Acquisition Guide for Government Enterprise Consumers V2 addresses development practices, supply chains, deployment, and vulnerability management; it says its questions can inform procurement planning, contract language, and evaluation criteria. NIST’s Software Cybersecurity for Producers and Purchasers, dated February 4, 2022, is intended to help procurement staff request information about suppliers’ secure development practices.
CMS acquisition guidance provides a government-specific example of documenting security requirements, security-related materials, development-environment information, and acceptance criteria. CMS says requirements should reflect the service, data sensitivity, vendor access, and known risks. Its policy also prohibits using live production data for development or testing unless explicitly approved and documented with production-level security and privacy controls. Those CMS requirements are not universal rules for private buyers or other agencies; use them as prompts to define your own data-handling terms.
How should accessibility factor into selection?
If the software must be accessible to people with disabilities or is subject to an accessibility obligation, include that requirement in the brief and ask candidates to explain how they will meet and demonstrate it. Request an accessibility conformance report or other suitable evidence, identify any claimed exceptions, and state how accessibility will be evaluated at acceptance.
Section508.gov advises buyers to state accessibility requirements up front, distinguish standard from customized information and communication technology, document applicable requirements and exceptions, and tell offerors how to respond. Its requirement that covered federal ICT conform to Revised 508 Standards applies to U.S. federal agencies; other buyers should determine which obligations apply to them.
How do you compare proposals and total cost?
Compare proposals against the same evidence-backed dimensions. Weight them according to your project’s risk, business importance, and legal or regulatory obligations; there is no universal set of weights or scoring formula.
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| Evaluation area | Evidence to compare |
|---|---|
| Requirements fit | A proposed approach mapped to required capabilities, constraints, and integrations |
| Team and domain experience | Proposed roles, relevant completed work, references, and staff availability |
| Delivery approach | Planning, testing, review, release, change control, documentation, and handover |
| Security and privacy | Development practices, access and data handling, vulnerability management, and incident-response commitments |
| Accessibility | Applicable requirements, conformance evidence, exceptions, and acceptance method |
| Cost and continuity | Estimate assumptions, change pricing, support and maintenance, and life-cycle costs |
| Ownership and contract | Intellectual-property rights, deliverables, acceptance, dates, warranty and support, and termination or handover terms |
Look beyond the initial estimate
Ask what assumptions drive the build estimate, how changes in scope are priced, and what quality assurance and release work is included. Compare expected maintenance, hosting, support, and upgrades over the system’s life, not just the initial build. NASA includes cost-estimate comparisons and total ownership and life-cycle costs among possible selection factors. The available evidence does not establish a typical or average market price for custom software, so treat each estimate as a proposal tied to its stated scope and assumptions.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What belongs in the contract?
Put significant promises into the statement of work and related contract documents so both parties can determine what is due and whether it has been accepted. Clarify:
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- Payment triggers and how proposed changes are estimated, approved, and recorded.
- Testing, documentation, and handover obligations.
- Security and privacy responsibilities, including data handling and supplier access.
- Accessibility requirements and how conformance will be assessed, where applicable.
- Support, maintenance, warranty, and upgrade expectations.
- Intellectual-property rights, termination conditions, and access to materials needed for transition.
NASA identifies intellectual-property rights, maintenance, warranty, and contracts as selection considerations, while CISA notes that its acquisition questions can help shape contract language. For a high-value engagement, have appropriate legal and procurement specialists review the terms. These sources support documenting expectations, not jurisdiction-specific legal advice.
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How do you make the final decision defensible?
Keep a written decision record that connects the selection to the criteria established at the start. Record each candidate’s evidence, scores and rationale, material risks, the reason the selected company is the best fit, and any unresolved points that must be settled in the contract. This creates a traceable basis for the decision and helps prevent an attractive presentation from outweighing evidence.
Public procurement has additional jurisdiction-specific rules. For example, UK Cabinet Office guidance for covered procurements under the PCR 2015 says selection criteria and scoring systems must be relevant and proportionate and included in procurement documents. That guidance is not a universal rule for private buyers or other jurisdictions; check the rules that apply to your procurement.
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