The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing

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Applover
  • Date Published
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Work ethos and office culture are changing all around the world. Working outside of an office was more of a perk than the standard it is becoming today.

Work ethos and office culture are changing all around the world. Not that long ago, working outside of an office was more of a perk rather than the standard that it is becoming today. It is getting more and more popular, especially among software developers.

Companies are leaning more to outsource the development of an app or new product to another software house in the country or abroad. They rather do so than hiring a whole development team, which would be working elbow-to-elbow with the rest of the employees right in the office.

This is how outsourcing IT is getting more and more popular. One of the most popular destinations when it comes to IT outsourcing is Poland. The country ranked number 3 on the Hacker Rank list of the 10 Top Countries with The Best Programmers.

We have much more evidence to claim that it works, but of course, one can say, “Easier said than done!”. Undoubtedly, this kind of cooperation needs a unique approach. Systems, and tools that help overcome time zone differences and get regular updates with no possibility to meet the development team in person.

Ok, so how is the successful development of an app, website, or tool possible outside of the office? What should you be prepared for, and how can you benefit from this situation?

Partnership With an Outsourcing Company

Finding a reliable technological partner is the only way to victory in both cases, whether you choose the work to be completed in your office by leasing a team or to outsource the project completely to a specialized company. Finding the right business partner to hire their development team is going to be the most important factor.

As the business owner or the leader of this project, you know what your company’s goals are, what it needs, the targets it has to reach. And so you should have a team of hard-working specialists who have the knowledge to do it right. You’ll need an associate who will understand what you’re trying to achieve, will aim to deliver it, and present the right solutions that will be suitable for your project (be it a new website, platform, or a mobile app).

Let’s say you already have a team of top-notch specialists working for you remotely. They’ll help you develop a tool that will run like a well-oiled machine. Please don’t expect them to nod politely at everything you say — all the ideas of functionalities that you want to have. It’s their job to combine your business goals, needs, and desires with technological capacities. That’s the only way to sustain the high quality of your product.

Beginnings Packed With Information

It’s essential to acquaint every member of the development team with what you want from your project. In the beginning, you should take your time with the managers assigned to your project and pass every detail along to them. You’ll go through an essential workshop — right in the office or online. This meeting will make both sides understand visions and technological possibilities to find the best solutions and options. The more information you provide at the start, the better. It’ll be our team’s job to get all the developers on the same page and provide them with proper information. It’s the only way they can kick off and set their shoulders to the wheel, exactly how you want it!

Losing Control

Once you decide to think about getting in touch with IT outsourcing companies, you might wonder if you’ll lose control of the project when it drops over your office’s walls. Don’t worry. There’re plenty of ways to deal with long-distance relationships and limited possibilities of meeting face to face. In such situations, it is incredibly important to keep the proper flow of information.

How to do it? When working remotely, it’s the dev team’s job to provide their clients with information and updates on what was done on previous days, and what’s going on right now. Besides the daily update, everyone, both the development team and clients, should have easy access to a project management tool. It will ensure proper workflow and provide the means for successful cooperation. The place where you can not only easily see what’s new and how’s the progress. Something that also clarifies or set the record straight if you find out something’s moving in the wrong direction. An example of such a tool is Jira.

Communication Is Key

We won’t be reinventing the wheel if we say that there’s nothing more crucial than communication when working with a remote team. The one provided by the outsourcing company such as Applover. Our developers won’t start working on the project or going through the details until they have enough information provided by the project manager or client. It applies to both the kick-off of a project and to any adjustment to the work done so far.

Nowadays, when it’s easier than ever to keep in touch with the other side of the globe, it would be silly not to take advantage and improve workflow. Especially when the possibilities of meeting in person are sharply limited.

How to do that? By being open for tools and software that help to manage all the tasks properly. They help to provide people involved in a project with the exact amount of information they need.

One of those tools is Slack. It’s undoubtedly more efficient than emails, which can lead to frustration and inefficiency in everyone’s work. Emails, of course, do work when it comes to passing important information or planning significant decisions. However, daily it can lead to failure and inability in everyone’s job. Many teams that decided to provide services remotely switch from email communication to Slack. It makes the workflow more transparent than ever before. It’s the quickest way to reach people involved in the project right away, get updates on the progress, or ask any other mind-boggling questions at any time.

There are also video calls that can save your precious time of going through old-fashioned email or any other written conversations to find out what is going on. Even a brief call without losing too much of your time may help you find any critical misunderstandings and issues.

Languages Barriers

Excellent communication is a must. Not only using proper tools that make it more comfortable in this kind of cooperation, but also decent language skills. It is essential to deal with that problem by being very strict during the recruitment process – fluent English is one of the preconditions.

Build your app, website, or tool out of the office!

Wherever you are, remember that it is still possible to hire a dev team from Poland, which was ranked as a number 3 of the “10 Top Countries with The Best Programmers”. Work with experts who will understand your business and find the best solutions for it.

Talk to our team and build your project!

Different Time Zones

Speaking of the pros and cons of outsourcing, this one is an undeniable flaw. Having a dev team on the other side of the world may cause a situation that once you start your workday, they might already be out of office. Sometimes you’d probably need to wait until the next day with answers and explanations when something seems not clear and needs clarification.

However, we never say that such very long-distance cooperation is impossible. It just requires the proper attitude and planning. (Once you decide to put your project in the hands of one of the outsourcing companies in Poland, remember that the warsaw time zone equals the Central European Time zone.)

Working on the project with people who are mostly or the whole time out of your office is entirely different than having them just around the corner. It can cause problems such as e.g. limited options of face to face meetings. Nevertheless, you can deal with them by setting yourself with a different mindset. Think that the problems you identify this morning will be addressed when you come to the office the next morning. This is where having a transparent and reliable partner comes into play. When you get info and updates frequently, in professional and easy to access manner.