Outsourcing Software Development: Pros and Cons

Outsourcing Software Development Advantages and Disadvantages

The goal of outsourcing a software development project is to get it done more efficiently and effectively than you could if you did it internally. In order to achieve this, you must be prepared to leverage the advantages of outsourcing, while managing the disadvantages. In this article, we identify the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing, and discuss how to leverage or mitigate them.

Advantages of outsourcing software development

Quality of talent

Outsourcing software development, especially when you work with a trusted firm, gives you access to engineers with a higher caliber of talent than recruiting your own employees online. Outsourcing firms are experienced in finding talent that meets the latest market demands to effectively staff software development projects, and the best providers will thoroughly vet prospective team members and guarantee their work. Outsourcing firms also provide access to engineers with niche expertise that can be hard to find locally, allowing you to quickly and easily fill specific skill gaps on your existing team much faster and easier.

Leverage outsourced talent to fill skill gaps and get niche expertise.

Project experience

Even if your in-house developers have experience in the specific technologies you want to build with, they may not have ever created the exact kind of software or feature you’re looking for. Outsourced developers, on the other hand, typically have large portfolios of previously completed projects similar to yours, giving you the peace of mind that they know what they’re doing and have the evidence to prove it. Their previous experiences allow them to avoid common pitfalls and streamline the execution of your project for faster, more cost-efficient development.

Leverage your outsourcing partner’s prior experience to avoid pitfalls and achieve project goals.

Reduced management headaches

Recruiting and training engineers while overseeing a successful software project are difficult skills that require time and hands-on experience to develop. Outsourcing allows you to hand these responsibilities off to more experienced technical recruits and project managers, reducing the need to supervise the development process. And, just like outsourced developers, these recruiters and project managers have large portfolios of completed projects under their belts to prove they have the expertise to guide your project through successful execution.

Leverage your outsourcing partner to manage technical resources, keeping your management team focused on business objectives.

Disadvantages of outsourcing software development

Communication barriers

Outsourcing to another country can make it difficult to ensure that everyone involved in the project speaks the same language. This can lead to potential miscommunications between internal and external teams. The best way to avoid communication issues is to work with a trusted outsourcing partner that guarantees a high level of English fluency among its development staff. A good partner will also provide competent oversight of developers to address any issues quickly and keep the project on track.

Mitigate communication barriers by selecting an outsourcing partner that guarantees English fluency and has strong project management capabilities.

Time zone differences

Another factor to consider with outsourcing to another country is that there could be significant time zone differences between internal and external teams. In cases where development is relatively simple, this might not be an issue. However, if development is more complex or requires real-time collaboration between your internal team and your outsourced team, you may want to consider partnering with an outsourcing provider that offers nearshore software development. For example, if you’re based in the U.S., Latin America offers several tech hubs with industry-leading developers in countries like Costa Rica, Colombia, and Peru. Partnering with nearshore development companies ensures there is more time zone alignment between internal and external teams, allowing for more real-time collaboration.

Mitigate time zone barriers by nearshoring work that requires real-time collaboration.

Security risks

Any time a third-party company accesses your network or systems, it creates another potential security vulnerability that malicious actors could exploit. Organizations typically do not get the opportunity to vet outsourced developers as thoroughly as they would a full-time employee. This makes it critical to work with an outsourcing provider you can trust. Your outsourced developers should hold all relevant security certifications and be thoroughly vetted by the provider to give you the peace of mind that they uphold strong security standards to protect your intellectual property.

Mitigate security risks by thoroughly vetting and outsourcing partner’s security certifications and best practices.

Ensure success with a trusted outsourcing partner

While outsourcing has its challenges, you can overcome them by working with a trusted outsourcing provider who guarantees their work and only hires the top talent. 10Pearls is a leading software development outsourcing company that has delivered transformational technology solutions to Fortune 500 companies. Read our case studies to learn more about our work or reach out to discuss the software development outsourcing advantages and disadvantages with one of our experts.

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Global digital transformation and product engineering partner

Outsourcing Software Development: Pros and Cons

By 10Pearls editorial team

Outsourcing Software Development Advantages and Disadvantages

Blog contents

Advantages of outsourcing software development

Quality of talent

Project experience

Reduced management headaches

Disadvantages of outsourcing software development

Communication barriers

Time zone differences

Security risks

Get in touch with us