Outsource Software Development: Why Is It Better Than In-house

With the increasing demand for software development, many business owners ask the same question: “Should I gather an in-house tech team or outsource my software project?” If you’re one of them, consider this: a survey by Harvey Nash and KPMG found that 46% of CIOs prefer outsourcing to in-house digital teams, and 32% plan to increase outsourcing expenditures. Their primary goals are to reach expert skills and lower costs on their software projects.

And there’s a good reason for this trend. The software development process is more complex than it appears. First, there's a whole lot of organizing: building a team, managing the employees, and planning their work. Then, there are designing and coding, and don’t forget about quality assurance and the many, many checks you'll need to perform to make sure software works as it should. Sounds like a lot of work. Can you afford to manage all that? Nevertheless, you can always turn to outsourcing software development and in this article, we’ll explain why you totally should do it.

Outsourcing of software development: what is it?

Outsourced software development is a partial or complete transfer by the customers of software creation to a third-party specialized company. When you outsource software development, the provider guarantees the performance in full compliance with the prescribed level of service.

It is a good idea to outsource software development in order to:

• obtain high quality of software projects, which cannot be provided by one or two employees of your own staff;
• concentrate specialists on solving specific tasks;
• reduce the cost of maintenance of IT infrastructure;
• control the entire infrastructure and its elements 24/7;
• entrust the consulting of your company's specialists to professionals;
• learn about all industry innovations, which will accelerate business processes.

In-house vs outsourcing of software development: pros and cons

In-house

Pros

• After a specialist gets accustomed to all the features of your business, he or she is more likely to dive into the sphere of the project as much as possible.
• An in-house specialist is always able to clarify important points, simply by contacting his colleagues.
• The manager will always be able to quickly communicate with a subordinate.
• The presence of a specialist or team working for you on a permanent basis, guarantees a greater commitment to the marketing goals of the company.

Cons

• The long process of employee adaptation. It takes months, sometimes even years for a specialist to learn a new product and all the nuances of your business.
• Management considerations. When you hire a specialist, you take responsibility for his training, coaching, and managing.
• Expenses. These include payroll, taxes, and registration in the staff, social benefits, the organization of the workplace, and the purchase of expensive software.

Outsourcing

Pros

There are several reasons to outsource software development:

• Reduced labor costs. The outsourcing company does not need to pay for outsourced software development employee training, buy equipment and software, or spend on motivation support, bonuses, and benefits.
• Getting rid of social obligations. When you outsource software development, an outsourcing company pays for sick leave and vacations of their employees.
• Independence from circumstances. As part of the outsourcing software development contract, the outsourcer undertakes to provide services on time. Work will be done on time, even if freelancers quit, fall ill, or go on vacation.
• Improving the quality of non-core services. When you outsource software development, you get access to the intellectual capital of an experienced, highly specialized organization and professionals who know their business.
• Focus on the core business of the company. Resources required to manage non-core processes are reduced, as well as additional time and effort for the HR team.

Cons

• The outsourcer can lower the quality of services, and you will have no one to replace them.
• Dishonest companies can violate the terms of the contract, which will cause problems. It would be prudent to outline in the contract specific penalties for violating deadlines and reducing the quality of services.
• Disclosure of confidential information. The clauses on non-disclosure of such information and responsibility for violations will help protect against this.

How to outsource software development in 2022

In order to take full advantage of outsourced software development, it is necessary to conduct a thorough preparation, which will consist of several stages, different in duration (it depends on the characteristics of the company).

When you want to outsource software development and select a company, it is recommended to pay attention to the experience and availability of positive reviews, as well as the list of guarantees and responsibilities. For example, in Perfsol we always make the most detailed SLA and discuss with the client all the nuances of cooperation. Equally important is the region you outsource software development from, as the low price of the services does not always mean a high level of expertise. When you outsource software development, we recommend paying attention to the East European region, in particular to such countries as Ukraine. The price-quality ratio of the Ukrainian outsourcers is close to optimal.

True, an in-house team has an undisputable benefit of being under your complete control. But before you get to enjoy this advantage, try employing an entire team of software developers (web, desktop, and mobile), designers, testers, and managers. And if you decide you also need a business analyst or an information security expert, the hiring nightmare starts over.

A software outsourcing vendor, on the other hand, has a talent pool of top-notch talent, and if someone is missing, they handle the whole hiring headache themselves. All you need to do is approve (or not) the hand-picked candidates.

Of course, there are risks to collaborating with an outsourcing vendor, like low-quality code and communication issues. But you won’t have to worry about them if you choose to partner with a reliable and experienced company. And when you do, you’ll avoid these drawbacks while gaining the advantages of an extensive expertise and lower costs.

Outsourcing software development allows you to focus on the strategic goals instead of constantly looking for skilled tech professionals and building workflows from scratch. With outsourcing, you also get seamless scalability as an added bonus. And if you choose a company with experience in support, you can rest assured the maintenance of your software is under control.

The question remains: how do you find an outsourcing software development vendor like that. Allow us to toss our hat in the ring. Perhaps, Perfsol is the partner you've been looking for.
We'll be with you from the kick-off through every stage of your project:

• defining the scope
• designing the architecture
• developing the solution
• testing it
• supporting your software after the release.

Our team will choose the best approaches, languages, tools, and APIs necessary for your software project, be it a desktop, web, or mobile application.

And there's no need to worry about team integration and onboarding. We have 20 years of combined experience in software engineering and outsourcing software development. We know how to become a part of your team, how to stay motivated, and how important proactive feedback is. We will go that extra mile to learn everything about your needs and desires, improve on the way, and deliver the best results we can.

So, if you’ve decided to give outsourced software development a shot, contact us, and let’s discuss your idea.