Growing competition in different industries stimulates companies to improve the quality of software products and minimize costs associated with their development and maintenance. One of the effective ways to save money on developing programs and get a quality product is software development services. Its use allows to reduce risks, increase project efficiency and quickly gain a competitive advantage.
What is software outsourcing?
Software outsourcing is the transfer of functions for the development, testing, support, and maintenance of software products to a separate team or company that provides the relevant services. In a broad sense, IT outsourcing is the practice of transferring the management authority of a particular industry area or project to a qualified external contractor. This contractor must have the appropriate resources, competencies, and capabilities to solve the relevant business development task.
Global trends in outsourcing
As for the world trends of IT outsourcing, today this format of organization of development is more relevant than ever. It is hard for the young and small companies to stay afloat in the niche where the competition is rather high, to follow the new trends and technologies, to implement innovations. Therefore, they are shifting their IT strategy to outsourcing. This allows them to solve important tasks in a highly competitive environment with a limited budget. Hiring an external team of professional programmers saves 20-60% of the cost of developing programs.
What programs and products are outsourced to develop?
You can transfer the development of any software products to development outsourcing, most often it is:
- web applications;
- mobile applications;
- process automation systems;
- analytical software;
- games.
Among other things, you can outsource the work of creating your website and setting up advertising for your business. Outsourcing companies can solve many business processes. But if you plan to develop a site for your project yourself, check the list of website builders to choose the best one for your tasks.
Advantages of outsourcing software development
Why do companies choose to outsource work? The use of development outsourcing allows the business to solve the most important and relevant tasks.
The ability to focus on core business activities
By transferring complex, time-consuming processes to third-party developers, the customer can focus on the core business and direct all resources to meet the basic needs of the business, the development of the company. These are such important areas as management, marketing, customer service, etc.
Reduce software costs
Minimizing costs directly affects the efficiency and profitability of the business. Therefore, companies use every opportunity to find hidden reserves. Keeping qualified, talented developers on staff is not always advisable, especially if we are not talking about an IT company. Savings on the organization of the workplace, wages, insurance, taxes, and training of programmers are significant. For many, this is enough to think about switching to outsourcing software development.
Speeding up the software development process
The hired development team is already trained and has a lot of experience in this area. Therefore, almost no time is spent on adaptation, preparation, training. The involved specialists effectively organize their work, can work in the 24/7/365 mode to launch the project on time.
Specialized companies employ experienced, highly qualified programmers. They have advanced technologies and competencies in developing programs. This allows them to quickly and effectively solve the tasks set by the customer.
Flexibility
In today’s business, the ability to be flexible and adapt to the changing conditions of the environment is crucial. A company can outsource software development when it is needed – to solve specific (one-time) tasks. If it is profitable, third-party developers are engaged to perform certain operations, it is possible to involve several companies to work on different projects. This allows you to achieve your goals with minimal expenditure of time and resources.
New experience and competences
By engaging outsourcers, the company gains new experience and implements new projects. This allows it to scale, develop faster and more dynamically.
Cons of outsourcing development
Despite many undeniable advantages, outsourcing to programmers still has certain disadvantages.
The risk of low-quality service
The desire to save money may result in the customer encountering poor performance of the outsourced developers, slippage of deadlines, or problems with the solution of the task at hand. To minimize the risks, it is important to choose a reliable outsourcing company and to research its reputation.
Security Threats
There are always risks associated with the disclosure of confidential information to which external developers have access.
Risks can be minimized if you do preliminary work on the reputation of the future partner, reviews and recommendations of its partners.
Language and cultural barriers
Hiring developers from another country or continent is a common practice. But this can lead to the fact that programmers will have difficulty adapting to the language and cultural barriers in the interaction, to the difference in time. This can create difficulties in the relationship between the customer and the external team.
