Any business is only as good as its people. If you have an average product or service being managed by an incredible team, you will beat incredible products or services hands down. The same concept applies to deciding whether to go in-house or whether to outsource your software needs to a custom software development company.
Benefits of Hiring a Custom Software Development Company
The following list summarizes why you should hire a custom software development company:
- Multiple skill sets
- Advanced technology and recent trends
- Advisory and consulting benefits
- Project Management and Risk Governance
- Flexibility and Cost Handling
Each of these themes have several aspects for you to consider as detailed below.
1. Multiple Skill Sets
Of course you might have some great developers who are already part of your teams. However, the digital technology industry covers a wide space. No software engineer can possibly hope to have all the knowledge and expertise of the industry. In order to implement your project, you need a wide range of specializations and expertise. Unfortunately, the cost of trying to build this in-house is usually prohibitive. After all, what do you do with them after the project is completed?
Finally, anyone who works in business knows how tough it can be to hire individuals and to onboard them successfully. Whilst the employee experience process will help mitigate the risk of them leaving, you can rarely stop people from leaving mid-project because life just happens.
2. Advanced Technology and Recent Trends
With a custom software development company you benefit from their know-how of the industry. It is their job to know all the latest technology advances and how these can be adapted to suit your business and needs. Remember that you are also partnering with them for the long haul. They will also be able to keep you up to date on technology as you go forwards. That kind of know-how and industry specialization can take decades to develop which would distract you from your core business.
3. Advisory and Consulting Benefits
Times have changed and the software industry is no longer just about the technology. A good custom software development company now also aims to partner with you. They will be able to advise you on your process strategy and your overall business. They will collaborate with you and become a creative sounding board. With them you can review the best options for evolving your business such that you can meet future requirements.
Contrast this with an in-house team who are usually viewed as an extra pair of hands. These teams often find it tough to step out of the company culture and truly challenge. On the other hand, external teams are hired specifically for their expertise and drive to change things. However, of course you have to work with them to agree how they will update you and manage any roadblocks.
5. Project Management and Risk Governance
Your custom software development company is not just in charge of process improvement and software implementation but they also manage the complete project. Whilst of course you could try to hire this skill into your company, the top software project managers are more likely to want to work for state-of-the art software developers. Remember that you can also choose a software developer that has access to global teams of project managers should you wish for a more diverse skill set.
Risk and security are also important aspects of any software development roll-out. A custom software development company will ensure the best codes are implemented to guarantee your safety against hackers. They will also advise you on the best maintenance plan to manage any process or software quality risk.
Of course you should also be aware of the risk of ownership of the software and any confidential breach. However, you can mitigate this risk with non-disclosure agreements initially and then with contractual terms and conditions. Again, a custom software development company is more likely to be aware of these documents than, for example, freelancers.
6. Flexibility and Cost Handling
Another advantage of hiring a custom software development company is that you can increase or decrease the team size according to the project phase you are in. Projects will change in complexity throughout their life and might even need different skills. You have a huge advantage of having exactly the right teams at the right time with your custom software development company. You do not have the burden of employee overheads. In addition, you do not need to put in the place the infrastructure to support their software development and trials.
Bottom Line
Overall, hiring a custom software development firm gives you access to expertise, specialised industry know-how and advisory skills you would struggle to find on your own. Yes, it can seem like a scary investment. However, anyone who has lived through the struggles of a company trying to update their off-the-shelf software will tell you, “it’s worth it”.
Are you looking to develop real competitive advantage or to simply limp forwards? Make the next step and talk to custom software development companies and jumpstart your project. You have nothing to lose and you might even be pleasantly surprised.
Salman is a prolific environmental writer, and has authored more than 500 articles in reputed journals, magazines and websites. He is proactively engaged in creating mass awareness on renewable energy, waste management, sustainability and conservation all over the world.
Salman can be reached on salman@cleantechloops.com
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