Investing in a personalized software is one of the best ways to ease your collaborators’ work, increase productivity and eliminate bottlenecks in the internal processes of the organization. For that reason, an ever-growing number of companies have been trying to develop these solutions in order to obtain more expressive results on the market, being in-house or through software outsourcing.
However, lots of managers are in doubt when making this decision, since they do not always know all the main differences between in-house developing and the option of outsourcing. It is essential to know them since they can have a direct impact on the final costs of the software, as well as on its quality and efficiency.
Do you want to know how to choose the most adequate option for your company and increase the chances of success in this investment? So keep up with the reading!
What is Insourcing and Outsourcing of software?
The software outsourcing is a strategy that consists of hiring a specialized company to develop a personalized system for your business. As for the insourcing, it happens when the organization decides to create the system and to carry out its maintenance internally, using its own internal labor.
Each one of the strategies presents advantages and disadvantages, depending on the type and objectives the company has. Therefore, before opting for any of them, it is necessary to analyze various factors that may influence on reaching the company’s objectives and on the satisfaction of the system users with the final result.
Which factors must be taken into consideration?
The main factors are related to the development costs, the time it will take for the system to be ready, the necessary technical requirements and the level of risks for the company.
Involved costs
The software cost is usually one of the factors that most influences at the time of choice. Many times, insourcing looks more advantageous in this case, since it can be a good idea to use the labor that is already there in the company and add this new function to the work routine of the IT team.
On the other hand, it is fundamental to keep in mind that not all the IT professionals have a profound knowledge in software development, what is essential for the high quality of the final product.
Besides, it is necessary to be careful in order not to overcharge the team, that many times could be better employed in other functions that are more strategic and could be done with much more competence since they know about the functioning of the business closely.
The software outsourcing, in its turn, besides allowing the immediate reduction of costs with the hiring of new professionals that are exclusive for the development of the system, usually also presents a great cost-benefit in a long term.
That occurs because a company that is specialized on this type of service counts on a solid and experienced team of developers, who need to be always updated on the best programming practices so that they can position themselves well in the market.
This way, the system will be structured in the best way and will present greater ease with maintenance and addition of new functionalities, avoiding headaches and unnecessary future expenses.
Time for development
When the development is done in-home, many times the collaborators are filled with distractions during the work routine, such as the team’s meetings and other activities. This ends up having a direct impact on the deadline for delivery of the system, mainly when the developers have not been working exclusively on it.
For this reason, agility is one of the elements in which software outsourcing has the biggest highlight. Having an experienced team that is totally focused on concluding the project, it will surely be delivered in a much shorter period of time.
Technical requirements
For the software to fulfill all the needs of the company, it is necessary that it fulfills the technical requirements and that it is completely in accordance with the company’s business rules. When the labor is internal, this is easier to be achieved, since the developers are already immersed in the company’s routine.
The software outsourcing, in its turn, usually counts on a good service for gathering requirements, what doesn’t allow it to be behind the more conservative model (insourcing). For that, it is necessary that the hired company counts on a very adaptable team that is able to understand well the model of business used.
A great advantage, in this case, is that due to the experience of the team, it can identify needs on the functionalities of the system that the internal collaborators themselves wouldn’t have thought about at first instance.
Risks level
By opting for insourcing, only the collaborators of the company itself will have access to the information on its internal processes, what can mean a higher level of security to the organization.
On the other hand, serious outsourcing companies can also be an excellent option in order to neutralize risks. The reason for that is the fact that they have strict patterns of quality on their projects, that must be faithfully followed by all the developers involved. This way, you will be able to control the process closely, thanks to the information which will be constantly given by the team.
Which is the most advantageous?
This choice depends on the current needs of the company and might vary from one organization to the other. The software outsourcing has been more and more used due to its practicality, since it allows the reduction of costs and obtaining faster results, keeping the focus on the main activities of the company. On the contrary, some managers feel that they can have a greater control over the development process when it is carried out in-house.
One of the main advantages of software insourcing is the possibility of having the development team always available inside the company, working together with all the other collaborators.
That facilitates internal communication and saves time in cases where there is the need for adjustments on the system, granting its functioning to be always in accordance with the business rules and the goals of the organization.
On the other hand, it is possible to find outsourcing services which are increasingly better, capable of producing these same advantages, and many times even bringing bigger benefits.
For that to happen, it is necessary to look for a good software development partner, that offers a high-quality support, proper tools for keeping track of the production of the system, and that counts on a team that is always happy and ready to communicate with your collaborators in an effective way.
As you can see, insourcing is normally a good option for companies that are in a hurry to obtain the improvements brought by the software, or for the ones that can invest on hiring a completely new team of specialized developers. As for the companies that look for cost reduction and agility, without having a quality loss, they have to be ready to find a trust-worthy company in software outsourcing.
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