Do you have an idea for an app in your mind but unsure whether to outsource mobile app development or go with in-house mobile app development? You are not alone, and whenever someone is about to start creating an app, they always ask the same question, why outsource mobile app development? Before answering this question, you need to understand what outsourcing is and how it is different from in-house app development. So welcome to the Phontinent blog. Today, we will discuss the pros and cons of outsourcing mobile app development and in-house mobile app.

Outsource mobile app development

Outsourcing mobile app development means hiring a team of developers and designers and operating with them remotely. This mobile app development approach is better than other methods out in the market; it’s still considered one of the best in the IT industry. In other words, you can say that Outsourcing mobile app development is a process that is remotely run by corporate entities for developing purposes, or IT outsourcing is a process when a small company develops the application for your own company. Before going with IT, outsourcing has both of its pros and cons to consider.

Pros

• Development cost

The development cost with outsourcing IT services is lesser than in-house development. Generally, companies that outsource IT services have employees with a broader area of expertise in different fields. When a problem with your app development arises, you don’t need to hire a new employee for that expertise, and without changing your budget, you can get the same results.

• Direct approach

The main problem with the in-house approach is the cost and time-consuming process of hiring and maintaining staff. On the other hand, if you decide to outsource mobile app development, then the company providing you with IT outsource services will take care of the whole operation. The only thing you need to decide will be choosing the right company to outsource your mobile app development.

• Easy to scale

Hiring and firing employees can be a headache. Still, once you have decided to outsource mobile app development, there won’t be a need to take care of team management. You can easily ask the outsourcing company to scale and describe the team working on your project.

• Streamlined & Seamless process

Once you have selected a company to outsource mobile app development, the whole later process will be taken care of. You can simply count on them for the results & enjoy the streamlined & a seamless process experience. Although these pros are persuasive, IT outsourcing has a fair share of cons.

Cons

• Communication gap

Although communication technology has almost ended with distance and other barriers, languages and geographical factors are still necessary with communication. Although this problem is still solvable, most people use translators or some tools for better communication. However, it would be best if you kept in mind that the company providing you with your outsourcing needs will do the exact work you explain to them. This means before agreeing on the contract; you need to be sure that both you and the outsourcing company are on the same page regarding your expectation with the project.

• Transparency and Security risks

In the case of less in-person control and direct involvement, having trust issues is common and can cause project development barriers. However, this issue can also be solved by choosing the right company to trust and decide on routine reports, acknowledgment, and meetings scheduled.

• The issue with the code support

This con is one of the main issues that you need to take care of. Before taking the application and ending the contract, you need to be sure that the application and code that you are receiving are supported and can be maintained without the outsourcing company’s involvement. However, this depends on the outsourcing company’s integrity and can solve by choosing the right one.

The global outsourcing market has already reached over $100 billion globally, and around 80% of that money is spent on outsourced IT services. Companies like Google, Alibaba, and basecamp are growing every year, and time to time go with outsourcing their business needs.

In-house mobile app development

In-house development is a process that’s run by a corporate entity for its organizational usages. In other words, we can also say that, when an IT software development company develops its product on its own, the process is called in-house development. In this process, the development team is hired by the client rather than giving the contract to someone else. Same as IT outsourcing, this approach has its pros as well as cons.

Pros

• No languages and geographical barriers

When in-house development teams are gathered/hired in most cases, they are from the same city or at least the same country. This allows everyone working on the project to work together without any communication gap. As a result, you get better communication and personal in-control in app development.

• Personal involvement

Since you have hired the development team in-house, you can now be involved in the development process as much as you want. The whole process will also require supervision to either hire a manager or take care of that by yourself. In the case of in-house development, it will be easy for you to make small changes and look for details.

• In-house expertise

With in-house development, you can be at ease about expertise and post-development supports since the development team will be at your disposal. This will make the process pretty straightforward, efficient, and allow very few bugs.

Cons

• Cost

Whenever we talk about developing an app, the most commonly asked question is the development cost. Here in the case of in-house mobile app development, the cost to finish the project will be huge. The reason behind this is that you will have to take care of everything, including hiring (this costs too much and requires unique specialties), firing, scaling, standby, and other matters of concern. When you go with outsource mobile app development, all of these things are taken care of by the company working for you.

• Staff dismissal

Staff dismissal is one of the most significant in-house risks because a company must put in so many resources to train an employee according to their needs. In some cases, those employees go or change companies for better opportunities. In the case of staff dismissal, you will need to look for a new employee requiring essential resources.

• The lack of expertise

The lack of expertise is one of the main downsides with in-house development. When you decide to go with in-house development, you cannot go far from your company’s geographical location, which means you won’t have access to a vast pool available of talents across the globe. On the other hand, if you ever need someone with specific expertise for your app development, then you will have to do all the hiring and management and, in addition to that, insurance, premise, equipment, and holidays.

Companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Paypal, and Salesforce are in constant need of developers, supporting, and maintenance staff, which means they are working with an in-house approach.

What to choose for your mobile app development

After reading the pros and cons of both outsource mobile app development, if you still can’t decide what you want, then let me ask you a question. Is app development the core operation of your company? If the answer to that question is no, then it will be so difficult for you and your IT team to handle everything in-house. Even after so many attempts, you might need to outsource mobile app development finally. On the other hand, if you decide to outsource mobile app development from the very start, it will be far more comfortable for you to concentrate on your company’s core operations.

Conclusion

If you are thinking about outsourcing mobile app development with your next project and wondering which company would be great for you. In such a case, let me suggest you Phontinent Technologies will be a perfect fit according to your IT outsourcing needs. We have a team of designers and developers with experience & expertise with almost every aspect of application development. We have a diverse portfolio of software & website design and development outsourcing projects and many returning customers. We can help you with every type of project’s needs, size, and budget in a nutshell.