Have you ever wondered why so many IT companies choose web development outsourcing instead of the classic format of collaboration with an internal team? What makes this service such an attractive option?
Statista claims that in 2019 more than 643 billion was spent on outsourcing IT services, and this figure is growing steadily every year. A decent amount, isn’t it? What are the advantages of delegation that encourage people to hire a remote cadre instead of the classic formation of an IT department within the company?
Six benefits of outsourcing web development
1. Substantial savings
The endless struggle to keep the company’s budget at last has come to an end! Delegating software creation can certainly be considered your best solution.
Every time you hire an in-house programming team, you automatically agree to pay for their vacations, sick days, etc. In addition, you are responsible for paying their taxes, renting a space large enough to accommodate the entire group, and providing snacks, coffee, and other must-haves these days.
Add all these factors together and you have a solid amount. So why spend that extra money when your organization is able to save significant amounts of money by using the services of third-party agencies?
2. Ability to focus on the general task
As a CEO, you have many responsibilities on your shoulders. The search for new connections and investors, the presentation of the company’s services on the market, construction to conquer the latter – all these important tasks are in your area of competence.
Running both a startup and a large corporation takes up almost all of your free time and energy. Therefore, leave technical development to those who are better at it.
3. Treasure trove of talents
Full stack outsourcing firms offer the services of not only experienced IT specialists, but also leading QA, project managers and other team members. They also have a lot more technology to offer than a traditional in-house band.
Thus, if during the course of a project you suddenly realize that you want to make changes to the web design, you will not need to hire a full-time professional to do these tasks. You can easily transfer this task to a specialized agency, which always has a person ready to take on such a task at any time.
This solution will cost you much less than a full-time employee. And since this person not only has experience with this remote group already, but is also in the same office with them, their collaboration can be less time-consuming. Isn’t it great?
4. Reducing risks for your business
When a remote crew takes charge of a project, you no longer need to worry about deadlines. If you have agreed on specific dates, be sure that everything will be ready by the agreed date, since specialists are primarily interested in ensuring that each client is satisfied and leaves a positive review. The reputation and flow of clients of enterprises depend on user satisfaction, which means that they will do everything possible to complete your project at the highest level.
Please, note that this is not a situation where a client has decided to change the scope of work in the middle of a project. In such cases, be aware that changes require additional time and effort. This means that it will not be possible to meet the originally stipulated deadline.
If no changes were made to the original requirements, the agency will surpass itself. Therefore, feel free to plan the launch of advertising campaigns for the finished product and strategies for conquering the market!
5. No unnecessary contracts
Hiring, firing, and promoting employees within an organization are painful and time-consuming procedures. And business owners have to deal with all this. Alternatively, full-time dedicated staff can be hired to handle these issues.
The good news is that if you delegate the task completely, all this bureaucracy falls on the shoulders of the executing agency. And even if they do not have enough developers, this should not affect your project in any way, because it is their responsibility to complete the project on time.
6. Access to the latest technology trends
Organizations involved in the implementation of individual IT tasks always try to keep up with the latest technologies. The point is that it is in their best interest if they seek to lead the market, and this turn of events plays into your hands.
While it can be time consuming to find and recruit an in-house band with a knowledgeable and practitioner of the latest technology, outsourced third parties can offer you such developers right away.
We hope that now you understand better why IT-outsourcing may be the best solution for you. But it would be unfair to leave you in the dark about the potential risks of such a decision.
Four disadvantages of outsourcing web development
1. Complexities of cultural differences
It’s no secret that developers from Eastern Europe or Asia are much cheaper for companies than their counterparts in North America and Western Europe. Please, note that we are by no means claiming that “cheaper” necessarily means “less quality”.
However, working with someone whose worldview, attitude to project and understanding of the basics of effective communication are different from everything to which you are used to, could be a real challenge.
Solution: It is better to hire crews from those countries that are closest in mentality to yours. So, for example, if you live in Europe, contact an agency from Ukraine for help: with them you will not only save your company money due to their low rates, but also get well-coordinated communication, since their mentality is close to yours.
2. Bad communication
Depending on the country where the outsourcing firms you want to start working with is located, the quality of communication may be poor. The main problem might be the time zone difference. If you live in the United States and your performers are in Eastern Europe, your schedules may not overlap very much.
But since good communication is the key to successful product development, we believe this should be said.
Solution: There are two ways to solve this problem. First, you should choose a team that does not live on the other side of the world. This will completely help to avoid problems with timing differences. Secondly, you are able to arrange with the squad to call at a time that suits both parties in advance. It is advisable to agree on this point initially in order to avoid misunderstandings in the course of work.
3. Hidden costs
Of course, this problem doesn’t arise if you hire an internal team. You know exactly how much you pay them, which means there is nothing to worry about. However, in the case of an outsourcing company, unpleasant surprises can arise when calculating the final cost of the application.
They might add a line to the expense table with extra hours that you didn’t initially agree to. As a result, the amount agreed at the beginning may increase towards the end of the cooperation.
In the worst case, if you did not carefully read the contract at the very beginning, you will have to pay for additional services.
Solution: It is always best to sign a contract with a lawyer who can analyze the situation and alert you to potential pitfalls. In addition, each time you add new functionality to the application, add additional work hours to the original contract.
4. Development only, no further support
If you develop an application from scratch and involve IT-outsourcing enterprises in this process, be prepared for the fact that in just a few months the application will need to be updated or maintained, develop new functionality, improve the existing one, etc. In this case, it would not hurt to think about your own IT department within the company.
Solution: Find an experienced developer to support and develop your product internally. Or use the services of a remote team to do this. After all, who knows the product better than the squad that developed it?
Now we are absolutely sure that you are well aware of the advantages and disadvantages, risks and their solutions in the matter of delegations web development. As you see from our article, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. No one has the slightest doubt about that. And even the difficulties that make up the above disadvantages could be overcome with high-quality communication.
But the last word is yours!