Outsourcing developers - a flexible way to scale your IT team

What is software outsourcing?

Imagine that in the course of a project you need support in the form of an additional programmer specializing, for example, in JAVA. Obviously, your company is keen to use the skills of the said expert as soon as possible - otherwise the project will again drag on, distracting the team's attention from other tasks. A certain solution, of course, will be the recruitment of a new employee - but it involves additional costs and the sacrifice of valuable time. As a result, however, the company's budget will be burdened with the maintenance of another specialist, to whom we may not be able to ensure continuity of work. Of course, there is also the issue of experience, which we will certainly expect from the hired programmer - and this will further complicate and prolong the recruitment process. The ideal solution to such a situation will be to outsource the programmer.

Outsourcing programmers is one of the simplest services in outsourcing cooperation, which is gaining more and more popularity among entrepreneurs - something we can easily observe, among others, in the DACH market, where German companies recognize the potential of Polish programmers and express growing interest in cooperation with Polish IT providers. We wrote more about this in the article: Why should Germans cooperate with Polish companies in IT outsourcing?

In this model, the company chooses to augment its existing in-house IT team with additional programmers - usually working remotely. This solution allows the team to be easily and quickly supplemented with the knowledge and skills needed to successfully complete an ongoing project or one of its stages. At the same time, this service does not expose the company to delays or additional costs associated with the recruitment process and the retention of a permanent employee. Outsourcing programmers gives companies the opportunity to respond quickly to changing project requirements and to be flexible in their approach to the tasks at hand. Such a cooperation model is a proven way to deliver a high-quality IT solution on schedule.

Outsourcing of programmers - when is it worth it?

There are many circumstances in which the above service will be the most advantageous solution. However, it is worth remembering that before deciding to use the above-mentioned model of cooperation, it is necessary to carefully analyze your current situation to be sure that outsourcing a specialist is the right solution for your needs.

When is outsourcing specialists an attractive solution?

• There is a shortage of time for development work - ongoing projects require quick responses and a flexible approach. Searching the market for a suitable candidate and providing him with further tasks will involve additional expenses and will not contribute to accelerating the completion of the project.
• Your team does not have enough experience in a given technology - creating an internal team of specialists that can sufficiently handle all implementations is the dream of many an enterprise. At the same time, it's an expensive investment, which in many cases is completely unprofitable.
• Financial issues - outsourcing cooperation can prove financially beneficial not only for specific implementations and short-term projects. Outsourcing companies often focus on building long-term relationships with clients - which can prove to be an attractive and beneficial solution in the long run.

How much does software outsourcing cost?

Outsourcing programmers in many cases is an extremely financially attractive solution. Transparent model of accounting for project work significantly facilitates control of expenses, and a big plus of the solution is the fact that hiring an expert for the project, we do not burden the company budget with additional expenses. We do not have to worry about, among other things, recruitment costs, office space development or tools and equipment necessary for the new employee. Deciding to outsource programming, we pay only for the programmer's working hours - these costs, on the other hand, depend on a number of factors, such as, among others, the experience of the selected specialist, the popularity of the required technology, the start and end dates of the project or the necessary number of working hours.

By carefully analyzing the above factors, we can aim to negotiate the rate with our outsourcing partner and determine how much it costs to outs ource for a given project. However, due to the number of key elements affecting the characteristics of the project, it is difficult to clearly determine how much is the average rate of an outsourced programmer. The rate of an experienced developer with a track record of working on several commercial projects will differ significantly from the rate of a developer who, at one time, was associated with only one project. Certainly, when deciding on hiring programmers, one should not be guided by statistics and sample data - as each IT project requires an individual approach.

Benefits to the company of outsourcing programmers

According to a study published in 2020 by Harvard Business Review, as many as 63% of entrepreneurs prefer to use outsourcing services rather than outsource tasks to an internal IT team - explaining this primarily by business needs and goals. One more conclusion can be drawn from the results presented - choosing outsourcing is an attractive solution that must carry many benefits. In addition to the aforementioned savings and easier control over the budget, there are several more important advantages worth mentioning.

• High availability - it is the responsibility of our outsourcing partner to maintain the continuity of programmers' work, so in the course of an urgent project we do not have to worry about a possible vacation or termination notice submitted by our programmer.
• Specialization - using outsourced programmers gives us access to experts who specialize in specific technologies, such as JAVA or Python, which can sometimes be very difficult or even impossible to find on the market at a particular time.
• Scalability - thanks to software outsourcing, we can significantly strengthen our team in a very short period of time exactly in such a way that they can easily complete the project we are currently working on.
• Easier prioritization of tasks - thanks to the support of the knowledge and experience of external developers, we have full control over the course of the project, and at the same time we can focus our attention on the effective implementation of other key tasks of the company.
• High flexibility - the ability to efficiently increase and decrease the size of the development team allows for faster and easier adaptation to the project situation without risking delays or project delivery at the expense of quality.
• Adaptation to changes in the market - the aforementioned flexibility also means the freedom to adapt to constant changes in the market and new customer needs.

How to scale an IT team to achieve the best results

One of the best ways to effectively optimize project implementation is to outsource the IT of the entire development team. Such a solution allows the company to focus all internal resources on achieving core business goals. On the other hand, our IT project will be in the right hands - the hired and aligned team will be able to move into action almost immediately, using their expertise to create or expand specific systems according to specific criteria. The company, choosing the right outsourcing partner, can entrust it with almost all the control over the conduct of the process - it is our partner who will take care of monitoring the involvement of specialists, keeping turnover low and the smooth transfer of knowledge. What's more, a trusted partner will not only send a team to do the job, but will engage in the entire process to maximize the benefits as much as possible and offer a solution and tools that were not considered in the initial project, as well as identify aspects in IT systems that can be improved.

How to choose a partner for outsourcing programmers?

Choosing an attractive and reliable outsourcing partner is not as difficult as it may seem: as we wrote about in our article. Before we start our search, we should assess our situation and define our needs, as well as determine the available budget. Once we've decided on outsourcing programmers, it's a good idea to first create a list of potential candidates - and popular aggregators of ratings and reviews, lists prepared by business portals, and even industry conferences, among others, can help us with this. It's best to start your search with platforms such as Clutch, where every month hundreds of thousands of suppliers and customers give ratings and leave reviews about their outsourcing partners and the effectiveness of completed projects. After narrowing down the list of candidates, we should focus on the next important aspects - the comprehensiveness of the offer, the portfolio of completed projects, and the level of security of cooperation.