According to the UK IT Outsourcing study 2022,
For the first time, cost reduction is no longer the number one driver for organisations planning to outsource more. This year a focus on core business is the primary driver with 57% of organisations citing it, followed by access to resources/talent (56%)
The UK IT Outsourcing Study also shows that average client satisfaction with outsourcing companies increased to 73% in 2022, which is a great statistic to have on your side,
By choosing to outsource app development to the right company, you stand to get your app built by people who know what they’re doing. You get access to a complete team of designers, developers, project managers, quality assurance, and everything else you need for quality app development, without having to spend hours recruiting each of these for yourself.
So yes, outsourcing app development is the right choice for your business if you have more important things to do for your customers.
Outsourcing app development has come a long way in the last few years. Increasingly, more and more companies have turned to outsourcing app development for their custom software needs. As a response, app development companies have become more organized and professional, to accommodate the needs of a growing app economy.
When done correctly, outsourcing app development can offer numerous benefits to businesses, including cost savings, faster time to market, and access to specialized expertise.
However, outsourcing app development comes with its own set of challenges and risks, including communication issues, potential quality concerns, and the need for effective management.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the pros and cons of outsourcing app development in depth and discuss how businesses can strike a balance between the two. We’ll share tips for overcoming common challenges associated with outsourcing and highlight the best practices for leveraging outsourcing to grow your business. If you’re looking to develop a mobile app and considering outsourcing as an option, this blog post is a must-read!
Is Outsourcing App Development Right For Your Business?
Unless you are a software developer and your core business revolves around it too, chances are that you don’t have enough technical resources for app development.
Launching, managing, and scaling a startup is a gruelling journey that takes blood, sweat, and tears. Entrepreneurs need copious amounts of time and resources, both of which run in short supply. Outsourcing app development can help free up a major chunk of your precious time and resources, which can be better utilized in improving your core offering.
Signs That You Need To Outsource App Development
Outlined below are five indicators that suggest it’s time to consider outsourcing their app development:
Inadequate Expertise and Skills
Unless your core focus is software development, your in-house team may lack the necessary expertise and skills to execute certain projects. For example, if your project has reached a pivot where it requires language processing, AI, or blockchain technology, your team may not be well-versed in these areas. Instead of investing significant time and resources in retraining your team or assembling a new one, outsourcing to a specialist provider is an effective solution.
Overloaded In-House Team
As your business grows, so will the demand for software development. If your in-house team is working full-time and struggling to keep up with the project load, it may be time to seek outside help. Burning out your team with weekend or late-night work is not a sustainable solution. Outsourcing to a reliable app development partner can speed up the process and ensure that everything is completed on time.
Need to Accelerate Delivery
In some cases, there may be strict deadlines to meet when delivering a project. Falling behind on these timelines can impact the success of your app and give your competitors an advantage. If your team is unable to deliver fast updates, outsourcing your project development is a viable option that can expedite the delivery process and generate results faster.
Flexible Workload of In-House Team
If your project’s expansion is straining the capacity of your existing resources, outsourcing can help. Hiring full-time employees is a lengthy and expensive process, and it’s not feasible to hire a specialist just for a few tasks. Engaging with outsourcing vendors on a flexible cooperation model can prevent overspending and missed deadlines. You can also build a team based on your current workload and high-priority tasks, with options like time and material engagement models and staff augmentation.
Difficulty Recruiting the Right Talent
Finding top-tier talent is an ongoing challenge, with a global talent shortage projected to reach 85.2 million, leading to a revenue loss of $8.4 trillion according to data from U.S. Labor statistics. Software development roles are projected to grow by 25% annually from 2021 to 2030. Outsourcing offers access to a pool of skilled software engineers, testers, and other specialists without the need for ongoing recruitment efforts.
If you have experienced or are likely to experience any of these scenarios in the near future, consider it a sign that it’s time to start outsourcing app development.
Pros And Cons Of Outsourcing App Development
Outsourcing app development comes with several advantages and a few caveats. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest advantages and will then discuss how to avoid the common pitfalls of outsourcing app development.
Advantages Of Outsourcing App Development
Significant cost savings
Hiring an in-house team of developers can be a costly investment, especially for small or mid-sized companies. The primary reason behind choosing app development outsourcing is almost always cost saving. In house developers in US and UK cost anywhere between $100-$200 an hour. When you outsource to offshore app developers, you can find good developers who cost as low as $50 an hour, allowing companies to save on the costs associated with salaries, benefits, and infrastructure.
Access to Skilled Resources
When outsourcing app development, companies can go beyond geographical boundaries and tap into the expertise of professionals who can provide guidance on the latest app development trends, technology, and user experience. For example, if a company wants to create a mobile app that leverages machine learning, they can hire an outsourcing company that specializes in this technology to ensure that the app meets their specific requirements.
Faster Time to Market
Outsourcing app development can help companies get their products to market faster. Outsourcing companies have dedicated teams and resources that are solely focused on app development, meaning they can deliver projects more quickly than an in-house team that has other responsibilities.
Disadvantages Of Outsourcing App Development And How To Avoid Them
Just like everything else in the world, outsourcing app development too comes with a set of caveats which when not followed turn into cons of outsourcing app development. Some potential drawbacks that companies should consider before deciding to outsource are as follows
Communication Barriers
Outsourcing app development can be challenging due to communication barriers. Differences in language, cultural, and time zone can create communication gaps, which can lead to misunderstandings, delays, and errors in the development process. This can result in a final product that does not meet the company’s expectations.
How to Avoid: However, if you choose the right outsourcing partner, and set clear expectations from the start, it is easy to overcome these differences. For example, more people in India speak fluent English than you think. You just need to find the right app development outsourcing company.
Quality Control
When outsourcing app development, companies have less control over the development process, and the quality of the final product may not be up to their standards. The outsourcing company may not fully understand the company’s vision, resulting in a product that does not meet their expectations.
How to Avoid: These barriers can be eliminated by using Agile methodology and choosing companies that follow this model. By using Agile, you get to monitor the development cycle at every step and make reviews before each iteration, ensuring complete control.
Data Security
Outsourcing app development can pose a risk to data security. Companies must share confidential information with the outsourcing company, including business processes, intellectual property, and customer data.
How to Avoid: With a proper provision for confidentiality clause, non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and non-compete agreement, you can ensure that the outsourcing partner will not misuse your confidential information. In fact, any reputable app development company with years of experience will not risk losing all that reputation by defrauding a client. So a simple background check, or just a look at past clients should assure you that your information is safe.
Dependency
Outsourcing app development can create dependency on the outsourcing company. If the outsourcing company goes out of business or terminates the contract, the company may be left without a development team, making it difficult to maintain or update the application. Additionally, if the outsourcing company becomes the owner of the app’s source code, the company may lose control over the app’s future development.
How to Avoid: When you choose a reputed white label app development company, you can be sure that all your source code will belong to you one hundred percent. Moreover, good companies offer up to one year maintenance post the application launch and can extend that clause for as long as you like.
Conclusion
As apparent, outsourcing app development has some beckoning advantages for businesses, and also a few (avoidable) pitfalls. Letting an experienced, dedicated team handle your app development project allows you to focus on your core offering and saves you the time and trouble of hiring a full time app development team. Also, once your app is launched and running, you don’t need to have a largely underused team sitting on your payroll. App development outsourcing companies faces a great deal of competition and hence offer much more cost-effective rates than local developers. For a small business, these cost savings can make a humongous difference.
There are a few things to be careful of when outsourcing app development to a company away from you, such as communication gaps and cultural differences. However, with the demand for app development outsourcing going up exponentially, outsourcing companies and offshore developers and upped the ante and greatly improved their communication and collaboration in the past few years. As long as you choose a reputable company with a veritable list of past clients, you can be sure that your app will be good quality and just the way you envisioned it.
