BackCooperate with a third-party technology provider or build an in-house team — is there an algorithm to choose the best option for your business? Actually, yes!
There can be doubt and hesitation to entrust a software development company with building technology, especially at startups. So, here, the Quontex team explores the source of these concerns and cases when tech partners help businesses save time and money. In the article, we highlight situations when it’s better to deal with a nearshore software development company and explain when an in-house team is an ideal choice. Read further to discover which solution is better for you.
Did you know that approximately 80% of the world’s top 500 companies leverage offshore and nearshore teams for their daily operations? Working with a top software development company can significantly boost your project. But when is such collaboration reasonable? Read further.
If you don’t have tech specialists among co-founders and top management, it’s better to delegate this aspect of the work. You can ask a technology service provider to take full solution ownership and deal with all tech tasks while you focus on other aspects of running a business. As such, everyone will do their job and benefit your company most effectively.
When you deal with a complex niche, even co-founders with a tech background may have difficulties with building an efficient team and organizing product architecture. In this case, partnering with a startup software development company that is proficient in your niche will make the first steps much easier. You can choose the most suitable collaboration model and streamline complex processes.
If you build an MVP, launch a product or new features up to tight deadlines, you may need to scale the team in weeks. However, it takes around 35 days on average to find and hire a software engineer. Imagine, what if there are dozens of open vacancies.
To free yourself up and meet the deadlines, it’s better to collaborate with a software development company that can provide you with outstaff employees according to your needs and help scale the team quickly. Usually, such companies have a huge base of workers, for you to choose the best ones that will integrate effortlessly with your processes.
Another reason to opt for outstaffing is to add and remove team members easily. For instance, when you need professionals with specific skills for a short term, it may be time-consuming and irrational to hire them. On the other hand, a third-party technology company can provide you with such experts for a necessary period, and you won’t have to deal with legal issues, employment laws, taxation, etc.
You hired an employee, onboarded him, provided him with the tasks, and, after a little time, you understood that he was not the right person. Of course, it will take time to find a new professional in his place. And while the hiring process will continue, the company will lose money.
Nevertheless, if you collaborate with a nearshore software development partner, you’ll be able to replace workers in a few days without any harm to ongoing processes. Usually, you just need to contact a company with an issue, and they help deal with the situation.
Finally, but importantly, you may require help with creating an efficient development team for your business. A third-party software development company usually has a large base of potential candidates that will make the hiring process easier.
What’s more, they have experience in building engineering teams and may share meaningful insights to make your business efficient from the beginning. If you want to create an in-house team but don’t have enough knowledge, asking for consulting services will be the best option.
As you see, when collaborating with a software development partner, many opportunities open up for you. In the next section, we highlight various approaches to working with a third-party technology provider. Keep reading to learn the peculiarities of each one.
Many technology service providers have multiple engagement models, so you can choose a suitable option for your needs. Let’s analyze the most common offerings and highlight their benefits.
In this offering, a software development partner takes full responsibility for the implementation of your project. Service providers work on building products or their components that meet your business needs and requirements.
Usually, such companies can offer a turnkey solution: design, development, documentation, integration, testing, and delivery. You can also ‘cherry pick’ what development stages you need to be covered; for example, you may choose to do the product design in-house, then entrust the build to your partner, or have them do both.
They can work both independently or in collaboration with incumbent specialists.
This model is particularly well-suited when you wish to focus your efforts on running your business or if you have limited in-house tech/product expertise.
This approach implies that a software development partner helps you onboard remote specialists with the necessary skills and integrate them into your existing team, culture, and process.
You work with the partner company to define the skill set, expertise, and budget for the team you need. They then find and screen candidates (often from within their talent pool) that match your needs and your company’s culture.
You can choose to interview candidates or entrust the software engineering partner to make the right hiring decisions. Your tech service provider handles all the legwork, including offer negotiation, contracting, payroll, taxation, office, equipment, work benefits, etc. You just receive one simple supplier invoice each month.
A big advantage a software development partner can bring is a significant reduction in the time necessary to onboard the best-suited talents and integrate them into your team. This is the bread and butter of what such companies do; so often, they are very streamlined and well-suited to solving this specific challenge.
An additional benefit is that working with a custom software development company on Augmented teams gives you the flexibility to ramp up and down your team very quickly, without headaches of severance negotiation, offboarding, and the potential team de-motivation that happens when scaling down in-house teams.
Software development partners often provide a consulting practice as one of their offerings. This is particularly well-suited to companies needing strategic advice such as scaling tech teams, optimizing processes, and ensuring optimal efficiency in delivering against business goals.
Tactical advice is also often sought by companies that can benefit from impartial advice on tech and product from experienced professionals. The challenges they face can be:
Now that you know what a software solution service provider can do for you, let’s go further and discover the cases when an in-house team will be more helpful.
There are lots of pros of building a partnership in software development. However, in some cases, hiring an in-house team and dealing with tech tasks on your own may be better. What are they? Let’s discover these cases further.
Lots of companies in the market were established by former engineers. If your co-founders and top managers are experts in software development, you don’t need a tech service provider. Outsourcing other aspects of your business (like marketing or sales) and building a solution without external help will be more efficient.
If you want to have an in-house department and manage all the processes on your own, it will take more resources. But you may think about it as a long-term investment. Having the entire team hired, you won’t need to think about how to choose the right software development partner. However, you may contact a technology service provider for consultations to deal with complex issues efficiently.
Collaborating with an enterprise software development company is considered the most time-saving and cost-effective way to organize your tech development, especially in the short term. By 2027, outsourcing value will reach $405 billion, which proves the effectiveness of the approach.
After the beginning of Covid-19, most companies transferred to remote work. However, now we observe the tendency to get employees back to offices, even though 65% of workers say they’re more productive at home.
If it’s essential for you to have the team in one place, collaborating with an outsourcing software development company won’t be a suitable option. However, Quontex offers you another opportunity. We can provide you with a nearshore augmented team in the country you desire. For instance, we had such an experience with LightBoxTV. Learn more about this project from our case study.
Sometimes, it’s vital for businesses to deal with all core processes without third-party intervention. For example, if you aim to raise a funding round or sell your business through an M&A process, having an in-house team will be the best tech solution. Venture investors usually seek tech companies that do everything independently, as such products are considered more reliable and high-quality.
Besides, you can always contact a software development partner for a consultation and technology assessment.
As you can see, you can get lots of opportunities from collaboration with a custom software development partner. Nevertheless, there are also situations when it’s better to create an in-house team rather than entrust your tech processes to a third-party company. Having read this article, you know all the pros and cons of these two options as well as the situations when it’s better to choose one or another variant. The decision is up to you.
But if you are looking for one of the best software development companies for collaboration — get in touch with Quontex. We are always happy to provide you with technical services that drive real results.
