Expanding your software development involves risks and financial costs. So, beyond the “how to do it”, it’s important to know “when to do it” – knowing this accurately will enable you to be more confident about the necessity of such an expansion and what it means to you.
Competitive companies are constantly keeping up with what’s new in terms of hardware and software technologies. The main concern of such companies is to take their products and services to the next level continuously. If you don’t, you stay behind, most probably forever. Sometimes, the tools needed are ready and easily available, for example SaaS platforms, but many times, they are not.
The same applies to your IT talents. Of course the need of development capacity depends on the business field and solutions required to offer a value proposition to the customer. However, sooner or later successful IT companies need to deal with software development capacity expansion which involves risks and financial costs. To outsource remote dedicated teams or individuals might be an option. Unfortunately, it has its own benefits and challenges. Beyond “how to do it”, it’s important to know “when to do it” – knowing this accurately will enable you to be fully aware that your in-house IT may not be the only or the best option. Let’s look at some cases when you might want to find a co-sourcing partner that will help to fulfill the software development needs.
WHEN A RELATIVELY SHORT- TERM PROJECTS ARE COMING IN THE HORIZON
Whether you have a dedicated IT department or not, new software needs aren’t commonly covered by existing resources. In this case, you have a choice: either hire new staff to fulfill an existing need or find a partner who could handle your project from start to finish. Hiring staff might be an option, if you are willing to have an oversized IT team after finishing your development projects. A software development partner, on the other hand, can act as a backup resource which you can call on whenever the need arises. Basically, under such a setup, you’re no longer in danger of having too big team after the project ends.
WHEN YOUR CURRENT DEVELOPMENT TEAM DOES NOT HAVE SKILLS OR SPECIFIC TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
This is based upon the same principles as the above, but this time, you’re dealing with the lack of skilled resources. Let’s say, for instance, that you have a one-off need to develop a Ruby on Rails web app, but there is no one in your team who knows Ruby. Would you hire a new Ruby developer for a one-time project? Of course, not. Collaborating with a software development partner is a good solution in this case as well, since it helps you maintain a diverse, readily available skill set. Talented developers will rather work with specialized software companies rather than be part of an in-house IT department; where they run the risk of bringing their skills to a halt. So, even if you would try to find someone who has the skills, you’d have some trouble recruiting an experienced developer who doesn’t think Ruby on Rails is a code name for the greatest precious stone theft operation or that Python is a deadly snake.