5 Signs It’s Time to Outsource Your App Development
Outsourcing app development is attractive to companies because it’s low-risk, cost-effective, and increases productivity.
- It’s low risk because it gives away accountability, lowering any associated risks that may follow the project.
- It’s cost-effective because it helps a company save plenty on overhead costs and extra fees that would be involved in hiring an in-house team.
- It increases productivity because of the time and man-hours that are saved from investing time in hiring and grooming an in-house team.
The benefits in outsourcing app development are clear, so when is the optimal time for a company to start outsourcing?
1. The Budget is Tight
27% of companies outsource to cut costs.
- IBM.com
The reduced costs available in outsourcing a team are a major incentive for most companies. The average price for contracting developers from the U.S and Australia, in the iOS app market, is over double the cost of contracting a team from other regions. Regions, like those in South America, offer cost-effective solutions in exchange for the top talent, giving small businesses access to the best resources, rather than more developed markets where the top talent costs an arm and a leg.
2. Your Backend Infrastructure Can Support App Traffic
For the best mobile app experience, a company’s backend infrastructure will likely need to be completely rebuilt. Once businesses optimize a platform for mobile, this opens the door to a dramatic increase in digital foot traffic, sometimes upwards of 200% higher than on their website.
The reason behind this is the 24/7 accessibility that a mobile app offers customers. Previously, users would access their account from the company’s website a few times a week. With a mobile platform, the number of customer visits can increase to a handful of times per day. To accommodate this, a company’s backend infrastructure must be redesigned to handle the heavy activity.
3. The Timeline Is Limited
Many businesses with a background in coding and design may lean towards developing a platform in-house. For those companies, a proper estimation for not only the labor but also the estimated timeline to complete the app’s development is essential in deciding whether it’s worth the trouble to build the app in-house.
It is a common mistake to believe that having a team with skills in HTML, CSS, and Javascript, means that building a web app will be smooth sailing. In fact, when businesses choose to develop in-house, the biggest sacrifice they can anticipate is their company’s time. App development professionals have estimated that businesses who choose to take on the development themselves can expect a time delay multiple times longer than what an outsourced team could offer.
If investing more than a year of time is not ideal or feasible for your company, then your time would be better spent outsourcing the project.
4. The Specs Have Been Mapped Out
Outsourcing your app’s development doesn’t imply that all the work is offloaded to a remote team. The best way to end up with an app that fulfills your company’s expectations is to outline all of the desired specifications before even beginning chats with your development team. Your company should map out information such as:
- How will the app add to the user’s experience?
- Does your team have a preference for a specific type of UX design layout?
- Would the app be compatible with iOS, Android, or both?
Outlining background information will help the development team understand the app your company has in mind. The team can then can add their expertise to shape the plans for the platform. This preliminary effort ensures that the outsourced team understands the app your team wants to make and offers them a roadmap as to how to create the best first version of your idea.
As with any collaboration, communication with the outsourced team is key. The outsourced team should never take over the entire development process, but they should ensure a progressive workflow is maintained. As the client, requesting frequent demos for each stage of the app’s construction is smart and will ensure that you’re happy with their results. Ultimately, just because the project has been outsourced, it doesn’t mean you’ll be left out of the development process.
5. Your Company is Looking To Growth Hack
For those that don’t know the term “growth hacking,” it refers to using strategic tricks to grow your company.
In a survey, 90% businesses cited outsourcing as crucial to their growth.
- Economist.com
Outsourcing has become one of the biggest growth hacking methods for businesses, especially businesses of small- to medium-size. This is due to the cost-effectiveness, low risk, and increased time management and productivity. Not to mention, that working with an outsourced team is a major learning opportunity. Companies get to know who is the best in the business and who they work well with so they are informed during future hiring. This is a good way to test run how to implement the platform without hiring permanent, in-house staff. Later on, building out their company to accommodate skills in the mobile app development field will feel more like a natural transition, rather than a giant leap into uncharted territory.
For companies in search of an outsourced development team, consult with us at Gigvy to check out our network of some of the top app development talent in Latin America.
