There are many questions firms must ask themselves before choosing to outsource. Will you have to sacrifice the security of sensitive information? Will communication become a problem? Does being in the same time zone matter to you?
After answering these questions, it is vital to consider outsourcing software development in order to gain practical advantages for your company and a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving global business landscape. After all, software development was outsourced by 64% of respondent firms according to a recent survey, the most of any IT function.
Furthermore, a recent study shows that over 50% of firms have outsourced their software development either fully or partly, and, of those, over 60% were satisfied with the result.
7 Reasons You Should Outsource Software Development
#1 Best of Talent
Outsourcing your software development means you don’t have to worry about training your own employees from scratch.
Rather, you will be able to choose from the best IT professionals in the industry who can provide you and your customers with the best product possible.
This can mean unparalleled advantages in the quality of the final product, plus less tradeoffs in time and resources for your team.
2# Core Business
By outsourcing software development to other IT professionals, you will save your team a headache by allowing them to focus on the true goals and core business of your firm, not the nitty-gritty of software.
Your team will focus their time on the product or service you actually provide, not on software development that could be irrelevant to their skill sets.
3# Costs
Outsourcing may have a large upfront cost. For example, local outsourcing will generally cost up to 1.5 times more than hiring your own developer.
However, the lengthy amount of time and money for in-sourcing could outweigh those outsourcing costs. The amount needed for searching, hiring, and training developers to be specific to your company’s needs could be far more expensive than letting an outside firm meet you where you are.
The streamlined processes and efficient nature of another firm mean that you could be getting the lowest cost for the labor. Keep in mind that these costs also vary depending on your location, specifically urban versus rural, and the saturation of the market with developers.
4# Flexibility
You can choose what software development expertise you want, with the specific competitive advantages that come with each, such as size and history of project success. Another factor to consider is the specialization of firms and their developers, in relation to your company’s needs and desires.
Furthermore, you will be able to determine whether you want to outsource your software development on a project-by-project basis or hire a dedicated team at another firm. The answer to these questions just depends on your specific software needs.
However, the amount of flexibility that comes with outsourcing should be considered a notable advantage, because firms can be extremely limited by the resources available through in-sourcing.
5# Speeding and Scaling
Another benefit of outsourcing software development is the possibility of speeding your processes and scaling your team effectively. For instance, having quick access to a team of professionals dedicated to this field means you will be able to focus on your core business like we talked about earlier.
In turn, you will not only be saving the time of your employees, but you will be able to finish high-priority projects significantly faster. Plus, your firm can scale the amount and size of the projects it is logistically and technologically able to do. Simultaneously, the firm you have outsourced to will be able to focus on high-priority projects for you.
6# Advances in Customer Satisfaction
Reducing the amount of work your in-house teams perform could free them up. Because of this free time, the team can look toward invaluable qualitative metrics like customer satisfaction that they might otherwise have to overlook because of focusing on software development.
They could also answer those qualms by experimenting with the software and seeing how new outsourcing trends could help. This could allow your software to have an edge against clients and increase the customer satisfaction at the same time.
7# Risk Mitigation
A natural part of using a firm other than your own for software development is that they have established processes for implementing best practices regarding software development.
They are specialists in the field of IT and will be able to easily provide a quality product that has been tested to perfection. Thus, your firm will be able to mitigate the risk that comes with training developers from scratch or hiring a single developer on your own.
Other than keeping up with innovation in the industry, quality software will also focus on airtight security. In an age with this continually advancing technology and the increasingly growing threats to data security, it is vital to ensure that all sensitive information will be secure.
This is especially true with software that will be used to store company data. Trust is an important factor in a relationship with another firm because, often, the advantages that come with a tried and true software development process and product at another firm may outweigh an in-sourced one instead.
As technological globalization exponentially increases, it has become more vital than ever for firms to maintain a consistent competitive edge. There are multiple advantages to outsourcing your firm’s software development, which is the first step toward becoming a globalized, technologically advanced, and competitive firm. Though cost and other trade-offs may be natural detriments, it is important to consider the significant advantages for working with outsourced IT specialists.
Read Also:
- 101 Tasks You Can Outsource To Virtual Assistant To Grow Your Business
- Should You Outsource Your Data Entry? Here are 5 Questions to Ask!
- 6 Reasons Your Small Business Should Outsource
Author: Melissa Parker
