How do you know if you need an outsourcing team?

Outsourcing is the transfer of certain business processes or functions to a third party. In this case, a company hires external service providers to perform specific tasks, which can include development, accounting, marketing, etc.

Outstaffing is a process where a company hires employees through an intermediary, usually a staffing agency. These employees work within the company but are formally employed by another firm.


Let's consider an example:
Imagine we have a clothing store that is creating its own marketplace and decides to use outsourcing to hire a frontend developer during the platform's development. Just before the launch, one of the developers leaves the company, and it's not easy to replace them in-house.

To solve this problem, the company turns to Sailet, which offers hourly development services and can provide the necessary specialist. Sailet provides an experienced frontend developer with five years of React experience. A project manager is also assigned to assist. The manager creates a Backlog, grants programmers access to the site, and gives the client the opportunity to monitor progress every two weeks.

Now let's look at the pros and cons of using an outsourced team in this context:

Positive

1. Loss of Control: The company may face challenges managing external vendors and ensuring compliance with standards.

2. Data Security Issues:
By sharing confidential data with external contractors, there is a risk to its security, especially in areas where this is critical.

3. Communication Difficulties:
Differences in time zones, cultural characteristics, and language barriers can cause communication problems between the company and the outsourcing partner.

4. Dependency on External Factors:
The company depends on its outsourced team, and their problems could negatively impact its business processes.

1. Resource Savings:
One of the main advantages is the ability to reduce personnel maintenance costs. The company can avoid expenses related to training, insurance, and other social benefits associated with hiring employees.

2. Specialization:
Allows companies to utilize the services of experienced specialists in a particular field without forming their own team.

3. Flexibility and Scalability:
Companies can easily scale their operations by drawing on additional resources from outsourcing partners as needed.

4. Focus on Core Tasks:
Enables companies to concentrate on their core functions and strategically important tasks while delegating operational and supporting issues to external suppliers.

Minuses

Focus on Key Competencies:
When a company wants to focus on key tasks, outsourcing can be an ideal solution. By offloading routine work to external performers, the company frees up resources for important goals.

Seasonality and Project Load:
During periods of high workload, outsourcing helps teams quickly increase the number of workers as needed, minimizing financial and temporal risks.

Resource Savings:
If a company faces financial difficulties or seeks to reduce operating costs, outsourcing can provide access to quality services at a lower cost than maintaining internal departments.

Global Operations:
For companies targeting global markets, outsourcing can effectively support operations across different time zones and ensure continuous workflow.

Now let's look at the pros and cons of self-development:

Positive

1. Limited Resources:
There is a possibility of facing limited resources such as time, experience, and personnel. This is especially critical when a large amount of work needs to be completed within a short period.

2. Risk of Malfunctions:
Without support from specialized experts, the company may face risks such as technical malfunctions, which can slow down the development process and affect product stability.

3. Responsibility for All Aspects:
When a company develops a product internally, it bears responsibility for all stages of the process, from conception to maintenance. This can be challenging and risky, particularly for larger projects.

1. Full Control:
The team has the ability to form strategies, make decisions, and change the direction of the project without limitations from external parties.

2. Flexibility and Quick Adjustments:
In-house development allows for quick responses to changes in requirements, technologies, etc., minimizing time costs and ensuring flexibility in project management.

3. Complete Understanding of the Product:
Internal developers have a better understanding of the company's goals, which helps create products that accurately meet the requirements.

Minuses

Long-term Projects:
If your project is long-term oriented, such as developing a product with a long life cycle, investing in an internal development team might be justified. This will provide a solid foundation for the success of the product and allow you to flexibly respond to changes in strategy and market demands.

Critical Confidentiality:
In cases where your project requires a high level of confidentiality, internal development can ensure a higher level of data protection. By working within your own team, you can more effectively control access to sensitive information and manage security levels, which is particularly important in sensitive industries like healthcare or finance.

Complexity and Unique Requirements:
If your project involves high complexity or unique requirements, then internal development could be a good alternative. It enables greater flexibility in managing the development process, adapting to changing conditions, and responding quickly to customer requests.

Control Over the Process:
When full control over the development process is crucial and you want to avoid dependence on external suppliers, internal development might be preferable. This gives you the flexibility to manage time, resources, and priorities according to the specific needs of your project.

To make a final decision between building your own team and using outsourcing, you need to:

1. Evaluate the timelines, budget, and expertise required for your project.

2. Analyze whether your company already possesses the necessary competencies or if you'll need to build them from scratch.

3. Assess your readiness to manage risks and remote teams.

By gathering and analyzing this information and reading our article, you’ll be able to make an informed choice. If you decide to go with outsourced development, we are ready to offer hourly-based services.