Pros and Cons of Software Outsourcing

Nowadays, outsourcing is becoming more and more popular among various companies around the globe. This is true especially for IT outsourcing (or software development outsourcing to be the most precise). There may be many reasons for it, such as the lack of experts in a certain field in one’s workplace’s area or the lack of money for filling up a full-time employee vacancy.

Without the unnecessary talking, let’s simply take a look at the collation of the pros and cons of outsourcing software development.

Pros:

• Short-term employment — hiring a third party allows you to avoid hiring someone long term. We all know what the latter usually comes with… Expenses, sustainability needs, taxes and many more. Sometimes you just need somebody for a month or five. There is no point in creating a whole new position just for them, so no matter if it is a big or a small project, outsourcing makes your life way easier.
• Money — hey, who would not like to reduce their expenses? Outsourcing software development is one of the ways to do it. Instead of hiring a full-time worker you simply employ contracted workers who will do the same job for you, but, what’s important, with no legal costs of employment, insurance and vacancy to be upheld.
  Moreover, you may also save money on outsourcing while choosing particular areas of the world as, dependant on locations, the hourly price for outsourcing software may differ to a great extent. However, you need to remember that going for the cheapest option is never the best thing you could do because together with a lower price there usually comes a worse service quality. Be clever and witty. Choose cost-effectiveness.
• Flexibility — software outsourcing gives you freedom of hiring someone only for a certain period of time, sometimes only for a few hours a week if needed. When your company is done with the project or hits a low season you can simply come to an end with your cooperation and both you and your outsourcing employee will go your separate ways. Having chosen this type of cooperation there is no need to discharge anybody in such a case (not to even mention that hiring and firing people all year round is still more expensive and comes with a great load of bureaucracy each time).
• Ease internal workers — as all the ‘hard work’ will be taken care of by the outsourcing company, you and your day-to-day workers can focus on maintenance, content management and customer service without being overly fatigued with the stress of so many additional tasks.
• Specialization — outsourcing software development allows you to hire specialists for particular tasks which makes ticking them off easier, quicker and smoother. You can (or actually, SHOULD) always choose a developer who fits your tech stack needs and knows everything about the industry novelties.
• Time — one of the greatest things coming together with hiring a third party is saving your and your long-term employees’ time. Not only can you focus on what is the most important and urgent but also have enough time to fit it all in your schedule. Another way of saving time is, in this case, temporarily getting some more of the highly specialized people into your team in order to speed up the whole development process.
• Greater expertise — by not having to limit yourself just to people living in your area or country you open yourself up to new possibilities. Somewhere ‘far, far away’ you may find a person (or a full team of them!) that has a higher level of expertise or working capacity than the ones available locally. In simple words, outsourcing allows you to break the chains of the local pool of workers and seek for them in other, perhaps more suitable environments.
• Better equipment — as all the software job will be done by developers that specialize in the software development they will, the most likely, have the best equipment (this way you do not have to buy it yourself!) and knowledge needed to complete the tasks. They will be also up-to-date with all the latest industry news and tools that may come in handy.

Cons:

• Miscommunication — this is a big problem which may occur while hiring a software company and there can be a few different reasons for that. You either work remotely and cannot understand each other properly due to distance, or the other side does not have the desired level of the target language, usually English (which makes communication difficult in general). Sometimes the different cultures equal different approaches to fields related strictly to work. We can also add time difference to this point, however, if the company is vocational you will be able to work it out.
• Confidentiality — there are always some risks while giving your confidential data to someone from outside of your company and this is why it is so important to check whether the outsourcing team is reliable. Do some research. Read a few opinions, not only on their own website but on special platforms designated for honest feedback, such as Clutch. For example you can check out our reviews right here. What is also important at this point is the gathering and signing all the necessary documentation guaranteeing confidentiality and safety of your data.
• Service quality — there is a risk of accidentally choosing the wrong company for the wrong task. Some people may not be skilled enough in a certain field that is vital for your app or website. The higher the risk the lower the price for the company’s service. This is why you should contact only reliable providers and not trust absolutely everything you read or hear about them.
• Less control — it is not that easy to check up on the daily progress and the general direction in which the project is going when one hires a team of developers that work remotely. Sometimes it is simply easier to create a crew working on-site. However, even though this side of outsourcing software may be problematic or annoying, it is all between you and the developers and what priorities you set at the beginning of your cooperation.

Now it is time for you to analyse all of these pros and cons of outsourcing software development and make the decision by yourself. Maybe not all of them are applicable in your situation. We hope that you found this article handy and that it will help you make up your mind :)