When to Hire a Software Consultancy

If you’ve decided to hire a software engineer, the next question on your mind might be whether to create a permanent role on your team or to hire a contractor. Both are great options that serve different purposes, and the right answer will depend on your company’s needs.

Hiring an in-house programmer

Bringing a programmer on board as an employee makes the most sense for companies in which programming is related to their core competencies.

For instance, it would make sense for us to hire full-time developers because that’s what we do at UI, but a financial institution wouldn’t necessarily need its own dev team, since the core of its business is in financial transactions rather than creating the tools that facilitate them. In a bank’s case, it would be better to partner with a consultancy.

In-house staff is also ideal if you have a lot of projects that require quick turnarounds, as software consultancies can’t necessarily drop everything to meet your timeline every time you need them to. Your own employees may be better equipped to make room on their plate for immediate needs (because you’re the one in charge of that plate).

However, keep in mind that recruiting a salaried employee can be costly.

Consider the financial and time expenses of writing up a job description, posting on job boards, advertising the position, reviewing resumes, correspondence with candidates, interviewing candidates, facilitating code challenges, onboarding new employees, training and project management, etc. Not to mention the recruiting fee if you use an agency (upwards of 20% of the new hire’s salary), the investment needed for the employee’s tools (laptop, monitors, software, ergonomic chair, etc.), continuing education to keep skills sharp, employee benefits, and more.

Hiring a software consultancy

Yes, Upstate Interactive is a software consultancy, so we do have some bias when it comes to outsourcing, but we also only want to work with clients who are a good fit for us! There are a few instances in which going with a contractor is more beneficial for you, and we’ve listed the benefits below:

• Available on an as-needed basis: Hiring a contractor for your software engineering needs makes more sense if you have less frequent requirements for things like software or app development, updates, server migration, and other periodic needs. In this case, once it’s done, you probably don’t need assistance with it again, or not for a while.
• Ability to scale resources up or down: Not every project requires the same level of personnel, and with an in-house team, you can’t really bring on engineers or product talent only to utilize them periodically. A consultancy is better equipped to scale up or down as needed.
• Up-to-date and in-demand knowledge: Finding software engineers with in-demand skillsets can be harder to do with permanent staff, as you’ll need to offer opportunities for education and advancement. With software as our core service, we provide this for our team through our Hero Path mentorship program, where we encourage employees to improve their work as developers, build depth in their existing skill sets, and learn entirely new skill sets as well.
• Specialized skills: Hiring a software consultancy allows you to find service providers who can be more specific to specialized needs. While an in-house employee tends to serve as a “jack of all trades” role, consultants can be highly specialized and offer services more geared to your situation.
• Get more for your dollar: Depending on your project, it may require several people (designers, developers, etc) to pull it together. If you don’t have the capacity to hire such a team, finding a technology partner that can manage the project for you or augment your engineering team is a more economical solution.
• Proven processes and systems: If development isn’t your core competency, winging it may not be the best solution, as it could take you down a winding road of wasted time and money. A consultancy has proven processes in place for ensuring your product is developed to your expectations in an efficient and cost-effective way. At UI, we’ve taken all the years of education and experience that our team has to refine and create a streamlined process for building highly customized software and making it simple.

We have worked with a variety of clients ranging from first-time founders to multinational fortune 1000 companies. Whether it is a new application or an existing project, we roadmap, design, and implement the right software to fit your organization’s needs.

Learn more about our process here, or schedule a consultation with our team to discuss your project.

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