If you’re looking to support, develop, or enhance your business software you generally have two options: add developers to your staff or use an external web development company. On the surface it may appear less expensive and more convenient to hire an in-house software developer. In reality hiring a development company, such as Gravit-e, can actually be more affordable and result in a better product.
Here are five reasons you should consider hiring a development company rather than an in-house developer:
1. Competition
Talented developers are high in demand. You likely can’t hire a good developer as they command higher salaries and will have no shortage of employers bidding on them. An affordable, unemployed developer is a rarity and may be lacking experience. In addition to it being difficult to attract talented developers, it is hard to discern a great developer from an average one if you or your HR department lacks technical knowledge. At Gravit-e we have refined our hiring processes to ensure we hire solid developers with great work ethic who deliver high quality products on time.
2. Transferability
If you only hire one developer you risk having all your IT knowledge tied up with one person who may move on and take that knowledge with them. Development teams typically have their project knowledge maintained in a communicable manner as different team members have to be able to access the same information.
3. Quality and Expertise
Development is a team effort. Every developer has different strengths- one may be skilled at database architecture but know very little about UI/UX. You can't expect one developer to be good at everything. This is why hiring a development company often leads to a better product. Gravit-e has a well-rounded team of developers with different specialties, enabling us to produce high quality solutions, take on large-scale projects, and solve complex problems.
4. Affordability
Hiring a web development company will likely cost you less across the project lifespan. You only have to pay for the development you actually need and don’t have to worry about salary, vacation and benefits.
5. Management
If you or your management staff don’t have a solid understanding of development it can be difficult to manage an in-house developer and evaluate their performance. When working with a development firm the project requirements, costs and deliverables will be clearly communicated so that there are no surprises.
In some cases Gravit-e even offers in-house support. For instance, one of our clients requested that we be on-site twice a week to help with any issues or demands they may have with their custom software- a request we have been able to accommodate. Where we can offer face to face assistance we do.