In-House Development vs Outsourcing vs Outstaffing

Be it an inhouse software development or outsource project development, it is, in most cases, quite a complex body of work. That calls for every detail to be minded and considered while planning on bringing the product into the world. To make that big release happen, the one who has a great and promising idea, but lacks tech skills, or human resources must solve this issue fast and efficiently.

If there is a proud startup owner or a huge company CEO working alongside a team of pure tech gems, and feeling, it is enough to benefit from the in-house development team, it is highly recommended to still double-check in order to prevent things from going South in the midst of the development process.

In House Development vs Outsourcing: Concepts Definitions

After a close estimate – in-house vs outsourcing software development, you may finally realize that in-house development is impressive at the start. Still, you need more people to work under your control and friendly management, however, you know for sure that extra hired talents on a permanent basis may be out of your current budget and spatial options. Then you may address an outstaffing approach for getting more people on board without actual boarding (all the employment matters are dealt with within the outstaffing agency). Though, when it comes to business matters, you are in total charge and at full communicating capacity within the team.

Furthermore, there is a chance you have an idea, and you know the moment you transmit it in detail to the super-qualified outsource team, they will do the way you see it and when you see it, then this is also the approach to be. Having communicated the idea for the product, you relinquish control to the third-party team and come to visit when the table is set, meaning the product is ready. 

All the perspectives mentioned, whether regular or distributed development teams, are worth being implemented, even though some might provide more benefits and budget-friendly tendencies. Therefore, let’s get much clearer on what each of them stands for. When comparing outstaffing vs outsourcing, the key difference lies in the level of control a company retains over its resources, with outstaffing providing more direct management of external staff, while outsourcing involves delegating entire projects to an external service provider.

  • In-house development is a concept much easy to grasp – there is a team of regular IT specialists working on the tasks that the company aims at having realized. Inhouse developed software is a full responsibility of the company.
  • Outstaffing development – there is a team that is provided by a specialized nearshoring company. The company manages all the staff moment, employment-wise, and the customer gets to have all the management control of the development process. See it as having a sort of “in-house team” without dealing with all the HR processes.
  • Outsourcing – the team gets hired and is in full control of all the processes, leaning on all specifications provided by the customer. In a perfect version of the development scenario, the customer pays and gets the product when it is ready.

As we see, there are multiple options to choose between inhouse or outsource and outstaffing. Each variant has its common pitfalls; let’s see how hidden they are. 

In-House Development: Pros and Cons

As clear as the description might be, to get a better picture of “who is who” in a more specified light, one might want to check insourcing vs outsourcing pros and cons. 

In-house development has its obvious advantages and is preferred by the companies, who are willing to be in control of not only the development processes but the staff moments from professional expertise to social behavior types. If to look through the prism of inhouse vs outsourcing, the first one will look a bit safer. There are groups of well-known professionals who can be tasked and expected to produce the desired results. This sounds like a thing to be looking at.

Yet, there are certain reasons to avoid dealing with an inhouse development teams. First of all, all the human resource processes are logistically tough ( budget, interviews, trials, cookies, etc) and require extra energy to devote to. Another thing that my compromise in house software development workflow is the lack of the required knowledge and the newest languages alongside frameworks. 

Pros And Cons Of Outsourcing Software Development

When having an in-house development software team does not feel right, and the one starts looking for the resources going by “in house versus outsourcing,” or “in house vs outsourcing pros and cons,” then it’s time for more light to be shed. Considering business process outsourcing you might benefit from delegating all the development questions to highly skilled professionals. Relinquishing development control might spare some time for marketing areas or some other sorts of areas to be enriched.

Yet, this relinquishing part may turn out to be a bit of a disadvantage since lack of communication with the development team may result in unexpected outcomes when it comes to release. Also, all the specifications must be communicated initially to prevent extra cost and time frames from expanding since every creative fix adds cost quite nicely ( for the team, though).

Considering inhouse development vs outsourcing, it’s easy to spot that there is no professional bonding, which probably may not be the most crucial indicator of the job done successfully, yet it might influence the communication ( which is not that robust in terms of outsourcing) the way some misunderstanding projectwise will cause irreversible damage).

Outsourcing will serve well for the companies with a small, not that time-consuming project.

Outstaffing: Pros and Cons

While weighing the odds of insourcing vs outsourcing approaches, do not forget to consider the outstaffing model of having the product developed. It is like a perfect combination of the previously mentioned approaches. Meaning, outstaffing lets one hire a team of dedicated professionals from a high-profile software development house and control all the business processes as if working with inhouse team.

 It is cost-effective since the customer side performs the management part. Having a team that is totally at your professional disposal while being spared of employment technicalities makes outstaffing a very attractive model, feeling as if it is inhouse development software process happening.

There is, of course, a more significant share of responsibility. The moment things go wrong, the customer is still to blame since they were in charge. Some geographical moments like time-zone differences or language obstacles may also come in the way.

Outstaffing type of doing things works well for complicated projects requiring long-term cooperation with a future change of plans or expansion of the existing ones. 

Getting to work with a trustworthy company that ensures talented workers is halfway for the success achieved. That’s why considering outstaffing, make sure to get confirmed with the team’s expertise, see how to deal with cultural, linguistic, and geographical gaps, and set up the most convenient way for communication. Be sure to discuss everything before the deal is sealed. 

What Would Be The Best For You?

The surge of information may be overflooding the perception. Let’s have all the data structured so that inhouse vs outsource odds will present themselves in the most comprehensive light. 

 In-House DevelopmentOutsourcingOutstaffing
CostMonthly salary + taxes, backoffice overheadT&M pricing model or a fixed project priceMonthly fixed fee
Vendor’s responsibility for project deliveryThe company is in a complete charge Outsourcing companyCompany is in charge
Project/activity durationLong-termShort-termLong-term
Team RecruitmentThe company itself or recruiting serviceOutsourcing agencyOutstaffing agency
Skills and expertise limited byThe hired specialists are as good as the job description they were hired forTrained professionals find exact match for the company’s needsTrained professionals find exact match for the company’s needs
Who owns and controls the team?The companyThe outsourcing companyThe customer’s company does business management, and the outstaffing vendor provides 49% of retention job, including corporate perks, English classes, etc
Team ScalabilityUsually complex (several months are needed to hire new employees)N/A (outsourcing vendor scales the team based on the project requirements)Relatively fast (from 2 weeks)
Office and equipment provided byThe company Outsourcing company Outstaffing agency
Team payroll is managed byThe company Outsourcing company Outstaffing agency
Technology selectionThe company is in chargeOutsource company responsibilityThe company is in charge
HR managementBy the companyBy the outsourcing  companyBy the outstaffing company 
Project managementBy the companyBy the outsourcing  companyBy the company, outstaffing only helps to organize the comfortable working environment
Data ProtectionVery safeRelatively safe, if special legally binding documents are signedSafe
Produced software and intellectual property belongs toCompanyCompany, but may depend on the contract termsCompany

Mobilunity has 11+ years of experience in successfully hiring the best talents for clients from 20+ countries. Get in touch to get professional assistance!

Which Way Now?

When thinking about inhouse development vs outsourcing options to have a product hit the market, lean on all the resources you have and the clear set of requirements that must be applied. With all the pros and cons of the outsourcing vs inhouse models mentioned, outstaffing might seem like the most reasonable choice. Hiring a contracted dedicated team of IT talents that the customer is given total control over, project development-wise, yet not getting engaged into all the employment stages. 

Outstaffing allows the customer to reduce the payment costs by hiring an outstanding professional team from the country where the IT salary ranges are lower. For example, specialists from Ukraine who perform great tech jobs asking for smaller money than those based in the USA or Switzerland. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Reliable Outstaffing Vendor – Mobilunity

If Ukraine caught your attention, then there is a company to consider for your project-development needs – Mobilunity. 10+ years of proven and recognized experience, more than 200+ projects and over 40+ clients from 20+ countries. Mobilunity, is a Ukrainian IT company that so many companies trust due to its high potential of providing them with fully dedicated teams. The customers are always privileged to get top-level development, wallet-friendly costs, and utter control of the process. 

Mobilunity strongly believes that the key for success is satisfied people from both customers’ part and development team part. The first group is ensured with a highly-qualified pool of tech wizards. The IT specialists are ensured to be paid well, presented with bonuses and endless possibilities for education.

This is why Mobilunity is proven to be a reliable outstaffing vendor providing its community with an excellent service in the software development partnership. 

Still in doubt what to choose: inhouse vs outsourcing? Go for outstaffing and get the dedicated team of pure IT geniuses ready to be providing solutions to every tech need of yours. 

All salaries and prices mentioned within the article are approximate NET numbers based on the research done by our in-house Recruitment Team. Please use these numbers as a guide for comparison purposes only and feel free to use the contact form to inquire on the specific cost of the talent according to your vacancy requirements and chosen model of engagement.

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