Apart from assessing the infrastructure and the capabilities of your prospective vendor, the following are the aspects that you need to check before outsourcing a web design company.
Experience counts. If you are browsing through the website of a web design company the first thing that you should be looking for is the portfolio section. Check the portfolio section for the types of projects that have been undertaken, number of projects completed and the type of clients, big or small that has been served. . Experience in outsourcing matters a lot because your vendor is not at an easily reachable distance.

There is one mistake that outsourcers make forgetting the long term purpose. For the sake of marginal cost savings, they end up selecting the cheapest service. But this would be at the expense of quality. Don’t make such a compromise.

Whether you are looking for a small project on web design or a complicated web application development, you must make sure that your vendor company has a well defined web development process. Having a process is critical because a lot of nitty gritties go into web development. Without a clear cut process, you'll find your project going messy.

Before getting into the details of your project, make sure that you sign a confidential Non Disclosure Agreement. This agreement will have a legal binding on both parties to ensure information security. Also assess the infrastructure of the vendor company. Check if they have proper firewall systems, secured VPN and network, and restricted employee access systems.

Don’t forget to ask the clients of the vendor company about its reliability, credibility, professionalism and work efficiency. They will be able to guide your decision making. Don't forget to browse through the ‘client quotes' on the website of your vendor company.

At the beginning of the project the vendor company will assign one person to whom you'll explain all your requirements. In between if the company assigns another person for your project, you'll have to start everything from the beginning. What a waste of time and effort Ask you vendor company to assign one or two persons who will be completely in charge of your project.

The laws governing outsourcing are different in different countries. To make good for this, you'll need to ensure that the contract that you sign with your vendor covers all the legal aspects. Make provisions for all possible legal disputes.

For any vendor company getting an outsourcing project is a great thing. But how do you proceed from there? The project has to be completed and finally both the parties must benefit from the association.

Look for those companies who are committed to building a long term relationship with you. Engage with an ethical outsourcing partner. Make sure that your partnership does not put a burden on your profitability. Assess the time frame of your project and ensure that your project does not lag.

Above all you have to throw light onto how you and your organization are prepared to handle the outsourcing project.

Do you know all requirements of your web project? Do you have a Request for Proposal? Do you know what all goes into the development of a web project? Is your organization technically equipped to co-ordinate the outsourcing project? Will you allow flexibilities to your project? What is the ROI that you intend to get through your web project? Is your organization equipped enough to co-ordinate and handle outsourcing?