The term “programming outsourcing” refers to the practice of contracting out programming work to an outside company that specializes in development and has access to the necessary resources to complete the work. Some businesses find themselves hesitant to work with an outsourcing programming partner for their projects. However, outsourcing programming is incredibly beneficial for both companies and their clients.
A few of the main reasons why companies consider outsourcing programming and their software development needs include:
Improved Cost Efficiency
Costs are typically rather considerable when a company chooses to employ a software development team in-house instead of outsourcing. They not only have to deal with salaries but must also pay for expensive benefits such as insurance, holiday pay, hardware, software, and other costs.
Some business owners, unfortunately, believe that outsourcing is more costly than an in-house hire. However, the truth is that outsourcing development allows businesses to hire more employees for less money.
Access to Niche Talent
Unless a business has an enormous budget and no time constraints, chances are that they still won’t be able to source and hire talent in niche industries or experts in their respective fields. Thanks to the global talent shortage and the Great Resignation, hiring the right employee is a rather difficult task in and of itself. When niche skills come into play as well, companies find themselves at a loss without resources to get the job done.
Outsourcing programming helps connect companies with the skills and talent they require to complete a project without the stress and money that comes along with hiring in-house. These experts are already solidified within their dev teams, so they know what to do and how to do it, and they don’t require long-term hiring. This means companies only have to pay for the services for as long as they need them instead of making long-term commitments to permanent employees.
Work With Experts
It simply isn’t feasible for companies to expect that they will or already can hire the best experts in their fields in-house. They may try, but they can’t compete with an organization that spends the majority of its resources on talent acquisition.
The ability to hire new employees on an as-needed basis is one of the many benefits of an outsourcing network for businesses. Outsourcing programming providers find the best candidates for the position and take on the hiring for companies.
Outsourced software engineers are already in use by businesses all around the world, regardless of whether or not their primary focus is on technology. They are handy for everything from marketing campaigns that require stunning visuals on a website to more specialized projects like programming entertainment systems in cars.
When companies choose software outsourcing, they must then choose the type of programming outsourcing provider they want to work with, whether nearshore, onshore, or offshore. Even if it’s difficult to hire full-time employees remotely, outsourcing programming allows businesses to bring in some of the best software outsourcing development from the other side of the planet at the (relative) snap of their fingers.
Companies hiring from offshore or nearshore providers then gain access to not only experts in their fields but experts from other countries and walks of life, thus bringing fresh eyes and new perspectives to each project. Companies choosing to hire an onshore provider benefit from working in their own timezone. Each version comes with its own benefits and drawbacks.
Easy Scalability
Although companies, project managers, and dev teams do their utmost to properly research, plan, and set expectations for projects, sometimes the unexpected occurs. This means extended timelines or the need for additional help on a project.
Outsourcing programming gives companies flexibility and freedom to choose the size of their outsourced team as on-demand as possible. When projects are on a tight deadline, the company requests more hands on the project so that the programming outsourcing provider scales their outsourcing team up. Following the completion of the project, the company may then choose to scale the team back down or keep the additional resources.
On the opposite side, companies also typically have the freedom to scale their outsourced teams down as needed. If the company experiences a lapse in business or simply comes out the other side of a busy season, they have the ability to reach out to the outsourcing programming provider to remove people from the outsourcing team to scale down. This saves companies from paying for salaries of nonessential employees when business is slower without the need for firing a permanent in-house employee.
This nearly “on-demand” aspect of outsourced computer programming and software development is typically a major draw for company decision-makers. It’s a flexible option that helps meet the company’s needs without breaking the bank or causing major disruptions in the workplace. After all, nothing quite sparks panic like the firing of team members when business gets slow.
Good software development or outsourcing programming companies create a custom strategy for every business that they typically would not have been able to devise on their own, even with a large in-house team. They take into account each company’s size, budget, and available technology in addition to the project’s overall goal to build an appropriately sized outsourcing team.
Cons of Outsourced Programming Services
Although choosing to outsource a company’s programming needs is a great solution for many reasons, as with any choice, the practice also comes with its own set of drawbacks. While most of the cons to programming outsourcing are typically preventable, it’s important that every company considering an outsourcing provider understands exactly what they’re signing up for as well as the things they must do on their own side to create a good long-term business relationship while ensuring mutual success.
The following are a few examples of common pitfalls in the practice of working with an outsourcing programming services provider and how companies should strive to avoid them proactively with a successful outsourcing strategy:
Communication Issues
One of the top issues companies experience when working with a programming outsourcing provider is in regards to communication. For nearshore or offshore outsourcing companies, sometimes the issue is English proficiency levels.
Companies in the United States, for example, may work with a company in Argentina, Chile, or India. While the hired outsourcing teams may speak efficient English, sometimes things still get lost in translation. To avoid this, project managers and in-house software developers must speak as concisely as possible and ensure that everyone involved in a project is on the same page before development ever begins.
Another aspect of communication that sometimes is an issue for these types of programming outsourcing relationships is timing. Offshore and nearshore providers might exist within a timezone different from that of the hiring company. For example, a dedicated team in India may work overnight while the company in the United States sleeps. Before hiring a provider, companies must decide if this is okay with them first, then devise a solution for regular team communication to avoid passing like ships in the night.
Some companies choose to onshore with a dedicated team for this reason, even though that sometimes means higher prices. Thankfully, there are many project management tools and programs available to help facilitate communication between development teams no matter where they’re located in the world. Daily text communication, weekly calls, and video calls as needed are all great ways to stay in touch with a programming outsourcing company and ensure everyone understands the project requirements.
Motivation in the workplace
Most of the time, programming outsourcing is useful in addition to increasing headcount internally rather than as a replacement for existing in-house staff. Some employees, however, end up feeling threatened by programming outsourcing or a third-party development team. They see their company choosing to hire strangers from various countries instead of investing in internal teams and end up feeling dejected because of it.
This creates some discourse or animosity between the employees and their management, thus reducing output and generally bringing down office morale. To prevent this, top-level management must communicate to their teams exactly what function outsourcing plays within their company now and how it affects their existing in-house team members.
By bringing in-house employees in on the plan with clear, concise, and realistic expectations of what this new outsource computer programming relationship is and how it will work, management helps soothe any frustrations bubbling beneath the surface of their teams. Transparency is the key to a solid workplace and programming outsourcing relationship.
Quality Control
In the early days of programming outsourcing practices, rumors spread about a “bait and switch trick” conducted by these outsource programming companies. They believed that the development companies would present their top-tier talent to these hiring companies, then actually give their projects to less experienced and cheaper developers, thus lowering the quality of the code provided.
Trustworthy, professional programming outsourcing providers do not engage in such a practice and equip their clients with the best talent available to work on their projects. The idea that such companies perform trickery and con jobs on their clients is an outdated and rather offensive one. However, to ensure this doesn’t occur, hiring companies must take the time to vet and review an outsourcing provider’s previous work and even talk to their previous clients to understand what they’re signing up for.
How to Choose the Best Programming Outsource Partner
There is no magic cheat sheet of how exactly to hire the best outsourcing provider. It all depends on the unique needs of the company and the project, budgets, timelines, and general availability of talent. The following tips help companies achieve success when choosing to outsource programming:
- Take the time to verify every outsource programming company’s previous work experience, case studies, and portfolio of work.
- Check social media and Google reviews to see the provider’s ratings.
- Learn about the tools and technologies that the outsourcing company uses and whether they’re a match for the hiring company’s projects.
- Decide whether to onshore, nearshore, or offshore outsource programming and look for an outsourcing company within the specified range.
- Ask about the years of experience of each member of the outsourcing company and the years of experience of the company as a whole.
- Learn about how the provider prefers to communicate and whether it matches the style and preferences of your company.
- Find out about the methodology for software development the provider uses or prefers.
- Check the outsourcing company’s number of specialists per dedicated team and niche skill offerings.
Companies Around the World That Are Hiring Programming Outsourcing
Many of the world’s top companies work with outsourcing companies on their projects. Some examples of these companies include:
Although the tech giant has an enormous in-house team already, they also work with outsourcing providers to help get projects done successfully. They work with companies outsource programming and development work, email support for some of their products, phone support, and other business items.
Used globally by millions of people, WhatsApp has a history since its origin of utilizing outsourcing providers from around the world. They originally outsourced to Russia when their team was only made up of 30 full-time employees.
Basecamp
Basecamp is an incredible tool for project management, but the business experienced a few hiccups in the beginning. In order to have more time for internal workflows and client support, they outsourced their work to help them focus on core tasks and build their business.
Working With BairesDev – Outsourcing Programming Models
In addition to the different types or locations of outsource programming, hiring companies must also consider the various types of software development outsourcing models available to them based on their needs, timing, and budget when looking for programming outsourcing companies. Most outsourcing companies offer the following:
- Staff Augmentation – This model puts more of the responsibility for a project on the client when they choose to outsource programming. Staff augmentation means that the company isn’t hiring a full team to work on a job, only augmenting the talent required to facilitate the success of their in-house team.
- Project-Based Model – This model means that most of the responsibility is on the outsourcing provider. The hiring company presents a development project and hands it over to the outsourced development team for completion.
- Managed Team Model – This version puts the responsibility on both the client and the programming outsourcing provider. The teams work together towards a mutual goal of a project or for the long-term for outsource programming development.
The Types of Outsourcing Programming Projects to Work With an Outsourcing Company
Companies choose to outsource programming for a variety of reasons and for a variety of different projects, including:
Tech Installation Projects
Sometimes companies purchase new technology and simply don’t have the time or talent to actually implement it. Programming outsourcing solutions have the ability to help install these products for companies, including software, hardware, networks, intranets, and so on. An outsourcing partner is a great resource for companies implementing complicated company-wide systems or integrating with existing products.
Cloud Computing
Working in the cloud makes it easy for employees to access their materials and programs from virtually anywhere. Outsourcing companies help businesses implement software as a service (SaaS) products as needed across organizations. They also have the ability to create custom SaaS products for clients.
Web and Mobile App Development
Companies not in the tech niche themselves simply lack the development expertise required to design, build, test, and maintain an application. Working with a programming outsourcing provider and development team helps both IT and non-IT companies achieve their development goals without breaking the bank or hiring entire in-house teams with a skilled programming workforce.
Cybersecurity
An ever-evolving and threatening cyberscape means cybersecurity is a priority for every company. Outsourcing providers help ensure that companies remain protected against hackers, data breaches, malware, and other cybercrimes.
Maintenance and Support
Sometimes companies simply lack the necessary resources to maintain and support the products already out in production. Programming outsourcing providers help bridge such a gap to ensure long-term success for both the end users and the company itself.
The Importance of Relationships in Outsourcing Programming Services
In business, relationships are truly what makes the difference. Whether or not outsourcing engagements succeed also depends on the quality of the relationship between the hiring company and the outsourcing provider. To that end, the accomplishment of such endeavors contributes to the overall prosperity of a company and its in-house team.
Connection is the key to success and fluidity among outsourcing vendors or development teams and their in-house counterparts or managers. Engaging in a relationship is not necessarily tied to a certain physical location either thanks to the internet, which means companies can still have a successful working relationship with their service provider despite the distance. After all, having a good relationship with the provider is more important than having a closer physical proximity.
Building a relationship of trust among a team of strangers is hard enough on its own. Adding new people in a different country, language, and culture does take some work, but it’s worth it in the long run. Hiring companies must facilitate communication, encourage collaboration, and prioritize understanding among their team and provider to ensure a healthy company culture thrives and projects remain successful while outsourcing programming.
