DEV Community

Cover image for Outsourcing Software Dev: What Factors Matter?
dev.to staff for The DEV Team

Posted on

3

Outsourcing Software Dev: What Factors Matter?

When in-house resources are scarce, what should you consider before outsourcing software development?

Follow the DEVteam for more discussions and online camaraderie!

Top comments (1)

Collapse
 
prodevcode profile image
_Pro_Dev_Code • Edited

Follow the classic rule of 5W1H

  1. Why : Why you want to outsource. Cost should not be only reason. Outsourcing can bring in lot of benefits such as Outside In View, access to niche skills, domain expertise, standardisation etc. But need to bring that view clearly.

  2. What: Be clear on scope of work you want to outsource. If scope is not clear, cost can increase dramatically impacting your budgets.

  3. When: Be sure on when you want to start the outsourcing. Timing is key. e.g. timing of year (E.g. Europe is away for Holiday season in Summer. ) , timing during project/prograrm phase (Outsourcing in starting of initial will have optimal outcome than at later phase) and so on. So timing is key to do the outsourcing.

  4. Where: Where you are outsourcing is also important. Outsourcing can be done locally, near-shore, offshore and so on. Each comes with different benefits but have different challenges. E.g While offshore can be quite cheaper, you need to invest time to build rapport and keep patience. On other hand, local outsourcing will be beneficial given working in close vicinity on outcome, it will be quite costly. So if you have a program with long duration, it might be wise to look for offshore outsourcing.

  5. Who: Selection of partner is always a key. This depends on work that needs to be done and scale that is required. Nowdays lot of startup companies can give you access to bleeding edge technologies at fraction of cost, if you want to experiment of latest technologies such Gen AI. But if you looking large program to be executed at scale, you would need the large partner.

  6. How: This is the key part on how to establish Way of Working between two or more teams. Most of time,s its an evolving process. This is very much like marriage. You and partner needs to click, as you will be investing a lot of money, time and emotions in this long term relationship of outsourcing. :)

Hope it makes sense :)

Some comments may only be visible to logged-in visitors. Sign in to view all comments.

DEV is built on open source software called Forem!

GitHub logo forem / forem

For empowering community 🌱


Forem 🌱

For Empowering Community

Build Status Build Status GitHub commit activity GitHub issues ready for dev GitPod badge

Welcome to the Forem codebase, the platform that powersdev.to. We are so excited to have you. With your help, we canbuild out Forem’s usability, scalability, and stability to better serve ourcommunities.

What is Forem?

Forem is open source software for building communities. Communities for yourpeers, customers, fanbases, families, friends, and any other time and spacewhere people need to come together to be part of a collectiveSee our announcement postfor a high-level overview of what Forem is.

dev.to (or just DEV) is hosted by Forem. It is a community ofsoftware developers who write articles, take part in discussions, and buildtheir professional profiles. We value supportive and constructive dialogue inthe pursuit of great code and career growth for all members. The ecosystem spansfrom beginner to advanced developers, and all are welcome to find their place…

👋 Kindness is contagious

Explore a sea of insights with this enlightening post, highly esteemed within the nurturing DEV Community. Coders of all stripes are invited to participate and contribute to our shared knowledge.

Expressing gratitude with a simple "thank you" can make a big impact. Leave your thanks in the comments!

On DEV, exchanging ideas smooths our way and strengthens our community bonds. Found this useful? A quick note of thanks to the author can mean a lot.

Okay