Software outsourcing comes with a series of advantages for the customer (company or individual) – but once you decide to outsource a project, or part of a project, what options do you have?
Currently you have 2 main options: outsourcing to a company or outsourcing to a freelancer developer. Both options have their advantages, but let’s see what tells them apart:
Outsourcing to a company: advantages
1. Firstly, an outsourcing company can manage, develop and support more complex software projects, that a freelancer is unable to approach (due to various technical reasons, and also to the management overhead). So if you have a medium / large software project, that requires various non mainstream technologies in addition to the classical ones, then you should go with an outsourcing company.
2. Another advantage provided by outsourcing companies would be the ability to manage large infrastructures, covering all the included aspects: deployments, testing, demo presentations etc. So in general, outsourcing companies can handle complex software projects (due to the fact that it can assign more resources and can manage them more efficiently), whereas a freelancing team would not be able to cope with such requirements.
3. From a communication point of view an outsourcing company has the advantage that it can assign more persons to a project, so no matter the circumstances (sick leave, holiday etc. ) there will always be someone to answer your questions / feedback, and keep you up to date.
So practically a company can provide a continuous communication – whereas freelancers can’t provide such a level of support (and in case they go missing for a couple of days, this can cause headaches, and important delays in the project’s timeline).
4. Data security represents another advantage that outsourcing companies have over a freelancer, because a company can maintain high security standards. An outsourcing company with a certified security system and procedures can provide the necessary protection for your data (data privacy, intellectual property protection) and also can ensure data safety (through regular backup procedures, that protect against data loss incidents).
5. Concerning the legal aspect, an outsourcing company has the upper hand. For example, by signing an NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement), even before starting the collaboration, you have legal coverage and protection against disclosure to 3rd parties (concerning your project’s specifications, details, proprietary algorithms, private customer data etc.).
Signing an NDA with a freelancing team is technically impossible, because the NDA must be signed individually by each team member (which can result in confusion and a management overhead).
Outsourcing to a freelancer / freelancing team: advantages
1. Of course, freelancers charge less, as they don’t have to pay additional costs, such as: certain taxes, renting an office, and also they have smaller expenses (for example: utilities).
2. In general, a freelancer is focused only on a couple of technologies, which makes them more productive in their area of expertise.
3. Due to the flexible working schedule, a freelancer is also available during irregular hours / late hours (a company does not normally provide this).
4. Also, freelancers don’t have a strict working schedule (they have their own working rhythm), so they may deliver a project sooner than expected (especially if a new opportunity comes their way, in the mean time).
Conclusions
Depending on your budget (and the size of your projects) you can go either with an outsourcing company or with a freelancing team. Overall, the outsourcing companies can provide a complete set of software services (development using multiple technologies, testing, maintenance, customer support, consulting etc.) and they are generally considered to be more reliable.