Whether it’s a small organisation without an in-house development function or even a large multi-national with several cross-organisational development teams, both face the same issues around resourcing development teams for fulfilling projects.

Let’s say you have a new or existing project and it is clear you need more hands-on-deck; how do you find them?

The most common option for an organisation is to try and employ permanent staff and hope their project deadlines are met despite the uncertainty around the recruitment process.

However, if the project is short-term and if there is uncertainty about the provision of enough future work to warrant employing permanent staff, then some companies may instead turn to contractors.

Generally, this is a much more expensive route and contractors are also short-term solutions which won’t work with long term resourcing issues. Once the project is done and they leave, you’ll then have lost that relationship as well as the most expert knowledge of your new system. There is no guarantee that you will be able to regain their services in the future. Plus, if you’re in the UK, the government policy of IR35 has also clouded the future of contracting for individuals.

Is there another option? Yes. You can outsource it and choose to build a long-term relationship with a dedicated software development company. Here are some reasons why you should be considering doing so for your next project.

  1. The total cost of development is likely to be much less. 
    It may seem unlikely this could be true on first thought, but when you consider the cost of permanent employment of a developer the figures start to add up. The relatively high salary in addition to other employment costs such as national insurance, purchase of equipment, licenses, pension contributions, sickness, paid holidays as well as potential employment agency fees means the true cost could be anything up to 2.7 times the base salary. 

  2. It is a risky business trying to find and employ the right people. 
    Finding developers with the right skills and attitude can be extremely difficult. Despite the best efforts in your interviewing process, the person you thought you were employing might turn out just the opposite of what you envisaged. Not only does this set you back to square one when things don’t work out but it also means you’ve lost your investment. Of course, your project will now also be delayed. 

  3. You can get access to skilled developers fast. 
    It can take a significant time to find the right developer from putting a job advert out. Even when or if you find this person, it is generally at least a month before they can work their notice period and start for you. As companies increasingly try to protect themselves from brain drain, it is now not uncommon to see three-month or more notice periods. 

  4. Create an elastic team, potentially extending your own, and scale up or down as required. 
    One of the key advantages of using an external company is that you form a long-lasting relationship. This means, that company knows how you work and can fit in with your policies and procedures. When you need to quickly step up or scale down the size of your development team then you can do so effortlessly. Think of it as the cloud computing of development resources. Flexible and simple. 

  5. Leverage the knowledge and experience of the external company. 
    When you’re working with an external consultancy, you’re not just gaining access to developers who can assist with your backlog or handle your project for you. You’re also gaining access to a wealth of knowledge and experience, some of which simply won’t exist within your organisation. 

  6. Simply get things delivered faster. 
    As large companies grow and evolve; they almost certainly introduce a level of bureaucracy and inefficiency. Things must be done to conform to policies and procedures and the level of inter-department communication decreases. Outsourcing projects with a clear vision of what you wish to achieve can help cut through the internal complexities which would hamper decision making and delivery speed. 

  7. Focus on your strengths and core business.
    If you’re not a software development company why lose focus by distracting yourself building that facility within your organisation? Ask yourself if you’re looking to build a software development company or evolve your business’ main purpose. By drawing your attention to what your business does, you can ensure you’re looking to come up with innovative ideas without the need to keep abreast of the latest technologies to achieve them. 


Thanks for reading this article! Does any of the above sound familiar to you? If you’re interested in talking through in some detail about how we can help you create an elastic team or simply need a software development team to deliver your next project, then please get in touch.