While lower prices and longer support hours may sound tempting you should consider all the pros and cons to outsourcing your software development. Before outsourcing, you should make several decisions based on your company’s organizational structure. Do you have the resources to do in-house software development? Can you afford to outsource this to another company and are you set up to bring an outsourced or contracted team to perform this in your building? Answers to these questions and other considerations are outlined below.
Outsource overseas
The obvious benefit to outsourcing overseas is cost. You can find cheaper labor and might be able to get the same amount of work for a fraction of the cost. So why hire local employees when you could save money and focus on other areas of your business? Overseas outsourcing is not always the best solution.
Outsourcing to save money on labor is not as simple as it appears. You should consider the time and effort it takes to manage and prepare projects overseas. You will have to ensure you are hiring reliable people ready to work for you in the long term as overseas employees may have a high turnover. You may find yourself constantly having to recruit and hire developers if they leave upon project completion.
Outsource local
If you don’t have the in-house software develop expertise but need to stay local you can always release a request for proposal. This way you are outsourcing your development needs and hiring local talent. Why would you want to do this instead of hiring people direct? Several factors apply here, you may be capped out for tax purposes, you may want outside help with an unbiased view or opinion, or you may not wish to take on the HR burden of hiring direct.
Local contracted or outsourced companies may have a solid reputation for developing the type of software you need. You may find yourself paying more or less for this type of outsourcing but depending on your need you may find it well worthwhile.
Tips for successful outsourcing
Now that you have begun to think about some pros and cons about local and overseas outsourcing you want to know what you can do to succeed in your software development efforts. After extensive research you can establish a successful development for your business needs through outsourcing. Consider the following:
Hire competent, trustworthy, and loyal developers
You may want to look into hiring agencies overseas that specialize in connecting people with the proper candidates. You will most likely have to pay a fee for this service however it could be a worthwhile investment.
Don’t depend solely on overseas outsourcing
Putting all your eggs in one basket is a poor decision. Depending on the level of magnitude you need for software development spread it out a little among different developers. This will also help you weed out your best workers from your worst.
Apply an open source community approach
Open source communities may offer what you need to improve your in-house software development methods and processes.
Don’t confuse outsourcing with outstaffing
Outstaffing will bring individuals that you have to guide in every aspect of the work you need done. Selecting the correct service is key to software development. You need to ensure all outsourced employees are using the proper tools and documenting everything so software engineers won’t have issues later.
Choose the correct framework model
There are several models you can select from and the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) is a good one to think of. This model is used when outsourcing your software development which involves you initiating and dictating what you need, the developer creating the software, operating it for a period of time, and transferring ownership to you or your customer.
After reading the tips and considerations in this post you should have a better idea of what to consider when outsourcing your software development. This can be a tricky and time consuming venture but if deployed successfully you can rest easy knowing you made the right decision. Many will mention that outsourcing is dangerous and risky and they may be right, but with adequate research and expectations you can successfully outsource your software development.
