Much ink has been spilled over the benefits of outsourcing your web project to experts. Much champagne must have been poured over the successful results of famous outsourced startups. It all looks very convincing, and you might be seriously considering outsourcing. Still, there is something stopping you. This is the eternal, almost Hamlet-like question — “What if?.” In fact, there’s a lot of “what ifs.” Let’s take a closer look.
7 “what ifs” about outsourcing your web development
What if I cannot control an outsourced team like my own?
Of course, it’s always easier to control someone who’s within your office space. But space is getting less and less important today. Using Skype or other video messengers, you can talk to the outsourcing web development team almost in person. Need eye contact for mutual understanding? Easy!
Agile methodology, used by most dev companies, ensures constant communication and transparency. For complete control of the tasks, there are reliable trackers and CRMs.
Usually (if you have not decided otherwise), the team has a project manager and a tester, who are additional guarantees of your control over everything.
In addition, there is the good practice of paying visits to each other — we really enjoy visiting our long-term customers!
What if we stumble upon language issues?
Outsourcing teams are often in a different country. How will you make sure you understand each other in detail?
Today, English is a universally accepted communication language for IT projects. In good companies, developers take English classes and can explain themselves pretty decently. For example, we have devs with a B2 level.
However, this may not be needed so much, or just serve as a nice bonus, since project managers have a very high level of English and take care of all communication and documentation.
What if the developers I choose turn out to be inept?
This fear is very easy to understand. The Internet is bursting with offers, but the filling is not always as beautiful as the wrapping. And if you put high hopes in your project, you don’t want it messed up.
A common sense as it may sound, the risk is minimal if you choose a company with a name and a track record. They are responsible for the skill level of the web developers they offer you. For example, we regularly do level reviews here at InternetDevels.
If, for whatever reason, the selected developers do not fit your project perfectly, there is a replacement mechanism provided — we can quickly come up with other CVs for your consideration.
What if the time difference gets in the way?
Of course, no one would like to be woken up at three o’clock in the morning. However, it’s possible to agree on times convenient for both parties.
That’s why it is natural for us to hear “Good morning” in our office when it’s well after lunch. It means someone’s on a Skype call to a customer from the US.
Our convenient 7-hour time difference with Washington and 2-hour difference with London (which is one of the advantages of outsourcing to Ukraine) is not an obstacle — it is rather a chance to do more before most customers wake up ;)
What if the project ends up costing more?
Like with a house overhaul, extra costs often happen in web development. Why? It’s hard for dev teams to make a 100% exact estimation due to a number of reasons, including your own freedom to offer new ideas in the course of development.
There are, of course, ways to stick as close to the initial budget as possible. For example, as our almost 10-year practice shows, a well-written technical specification with the maximal amount of details about the future web product makes the estimation more exact and working process better arranged.
And, generally speaking, a lot here will depend on your outsourcing team’s experience in working with various projects and tasks, making technical specifications and estimations, as well as on their understanding of the project’s goals.
What if the outsourcing team discloses my sensitive data?
Data is priceless. That’s why it can be hard to entrust it to someone remote. However, remember that you are protected by the agreement as well as by the outsourcing team’s reputation.
Judging for ourselves, we would say it would be absolute nonsense to disclose a customer’s data. It would contradict our own interests in the end — including our interest in retaining a good relationship with the customer, as well as our hard-earned good name.
Our standard agreement contains a non-disclosure part, which can be modified if you wish. You can also decide on allowing publicity for your project. In addition, you can sign a separate NDA (non-disclosure agreement), also known as CA (confidentiality agreement).
What if… everything just goes fine?
There is also one more risk to mention. The project can turn out more awesome than you ever expected. Your most daring dream will come true, and you will have to think of another. What a disaster! But, hopefully, you will cope with that somehow ;)
And this last one is the most probable outcome if you choose to outsource your web project to us. Welcome!