A lot of people still think primarily about cost-cutting as the main motivation to outsource software development projects to offshore or nearshore providers. However, in recent years the industry has greatly evolved and many providers have greatly invested in the quality of their services.
While there are always advantages and disadvantages and it is always important to carefully consider the pros and cons, IT decision makers increasingly leverage outsourcing companies as an enabler for business growth. Rather than focusing on financial aspects, in this article we will look at ways to utilize outsourcing software development services to unlock additional business value.
1) Add new skills and know-how
Many businesses start looking for external providers when their projects require complex skillsets or know-how that they do not have readily available and where developing these capabilities in-house is simply not feasible. By teaming up with an external partner who has a proven track record of excellence, customers can build cutting edge solutions in the latest technologies without having to master it them themselves.
2) Work with amazing talent
With great talent being in high demand, attracting exceptional engineers can be incredibly difficult. For most companies, building a truly outstanding team requires either a huge amount of recruitment effort or the help of external partners. Leveraging the services of a premium league outsourcing provider is a great way of getting fast access to engineers at a level of quality that would be extremely hard to find in Western job markets.
3) Improve development processes
Adding external developers to your team can be a great opportunity to improve your current development processes. Good remote developers are not only fluent in Agile methodologies, best practices and design patterns, they will also readily offer valuable advice on these topics.
4) Bring in a fresh perspective
Writing great software frequently requires trying new approaches and out-of-the-box thinking. By adding external members to your team, you will almost certainly profit from hearing new perspectives. More often than not, your remote team members might surprise you with unexpected feedback and fresh ideas on how to improve your project.
5) Focus on business goals
Most businesses do not consider hiring and managing developers among their core competencies or revenue drivers. Leaving these complex activities to an outsourcing partner removes a major distraction and frees up time in the calendar that you can spend on more critical tasks at the heart of your business.
6) Reduce time to market
In fast-paced business environments where it is crucial to innovate quickly and being first in the market can be a critical factor for success, an outsourcing company is a great solution to gain control over the speed of your software development. Rather than letting your available resources dictate the timelines, you can quickly scale your remote team to move forward much faster.
7) Improve product quality
Scaling your remote team with the goal of building a more robust solution and including capacity for thorough testing will greatly increase product stability and lead to a much better user experience. Improving the quality of your code not only generates a lot of value, it also helps to protect your investment in the light of future requirements.
While each of these benefits in itself can compel a project owner to turn to outsourcing, this list is of course far from complete and I would love to hear your opinion. When you worked with outsourcing providers in the past, did you profit from your partnerships in unexpected ways? Or do you still see outsourcing companies mainly as a way to shop for the cheapest commodity developers?
