Let’s face it: building and maintaining a cool website is not so simple. Between juggling countless updates and finding experts who can actually deliver results, the process can feel daunting. Luckily, finding web development company outsourcing partners, such as SmartTek, is really helpful. 

Outsourcing isn’t just a buzzword, but an efficient tool. With the IT consulting and implementation market expected to reach $92.95 billion by 2029, businesses are betting big on outsourcing to deliver digital solutions with top quality. And why shouldn’t they? Outsourcing your project saves you resources like money and time, so you can focus on growing your business. 

Understanding Outsourcing Development in Details 

Outsourcing web development basically means cooperating with either an agency or a freelancer responsible for creating and maintaining your web presence. Doing so rules out the need to seek and hire a full-time, in-house team or expert. Instead, you get a lot of skilled professionals who can cover you up from UI/UX design to backend development. 

There are different models of outsourcing that are set by location and type of interaction. Let’s take a look at them. 

Location-based Models  

Onshore Outsourcing 

Collaborate with the local teams in your country for good coordination and corporate work culture. 

Nearshore Outsourcing 

Work with teams in neighboring countries for easier communication and time zone compatibility. 

Offshore Outsourcing 

Partner with teams located in distant countries at greatly reduced costs, allowing you to access global talents. 

Relationship-based Models Explained 

To make the right choice for your particular project, you must understand the differences between common models. 

  1. Project-Based Model

This model is for you if you plan to outsource the whole web app development to an external team, from planning to implementation. All you have to do is provide the team with the requirements and wait for the result.  

  1. Dedicated Team

In this case, a dedicated team works on your project as part of your in-house team. You can either manage the processes, so as to maintain full control over the project or hire an outsourced project manager who will do it. A dedicated team model is suitable when there is a need to do a specific scope of work. 

  1. Staff Augmentation

This model works best when you temporarily need a few experts to fill in the gaps in your team’s skills. With this mode, you integrate these specialists into your workflow but only hire them for specific tasks or short-term projects. 

Parameters  Project-Based  Dedicated Team  Staff Augmentation 
Control  Low  Medium  High 
Flexibility  Low  Medium  High 
Team Scalability  Low  Medium/High  High 
Client Involvement  Low  Medium  High 
Client Expertise  Not Necessary  Recommended  Required 
Communication  Occasional  Regular  Daily 
Project Management  Provider  Shared (Client/Provider)  Client 
Responsibility  Provider  Shared (Client/Provider)  Client 

Top Outsourced Web Development Services 

Now, let’s look at the main services that give you insight into the key concepts. 

Custom Web Apps 

These are reliable solutions that will be made to meet your specific business needs and create a seamless experience for your customers. 

WooCommerce Platforms 

These are powerful and flexible platforms designed for WordPress websites. They allow businesses to easily set up and manage online stores and provide a wide range of features that will securely power online transactions. 

Corporate Websites 

Professional websites establish your brand online and introduce your business to the whole world. 

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) 

PWAs are a mix of websites and apps. They provide fast, offline, app-like features and can still be accessed through a browser. 

Web Services and APIs 

These tools improve how different applications and websites work together by allowing easy sharing of data, which creates efficient and connected systems. 

Advantages of Web Development Outsourcing 

This Deloitte research shows that IT is one of the top three functions to be outsourced via the GBS model. This also proves that the question “How to outsource web development?” is valid, as outsourcing is not only cost-effective but also provides businesses with strategic benefits that allow them to access global expertise and optimize internal resources. 

global outsourcing survey deloitte

Source: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/operations/articles/shared-services-survey.html

Save on Costs 

According to the Deloitte Global Outsourcing Survey, operational cost reduction is a major driver of outsourcing for 70% of organizations.

Indeed, outsourcing allows you to reduce operation costs by paying just for working hours with no extra cost like health insurance, paid leaves, and equipment.  

Tap Into Global Expertise 

Outsourcing web development allows businesses in high-demand markets like the US to access skilled developers from countries with growing economies. Using cutting-edge technologies to build fast, user-friendly platforms, these professionals meet the highestquality standards, improve search rankings, and drive revenue while development costs remain comparatively low. 

Stay Focused on Your Goals 

Deloitte’s 2022 Global Outsourcing Survey shows that 65% of respondents outsource to improve their core business activities. While outsourced experts handle the technical details, you can stay focused on growing your business. 

Create Flexible and Scalable Solutions 

Outsourcing adapts to your project needs, letting you scale up or down easily. This keeps your business agile and up to any challenge. 

Speed Up Delivery 

According to a Deloitte survey, 20% of organizations outsource to launch their products faster. Outsourced labor advantages include faster delivery thanks to streamlined workflows and cutting-edge tools. Eventually, it means more opportunities for your business growth. 

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Approach to Development Outsourcing 

Web development can be especially overwhelming to any business, especially those starved of resources or skills. Although outsourcing might be a strategic solution, it does require a structured approach. Here’s how to effectively outsource website development projects. 

Identify Your Business Needs 

First of all, clearly state the project’s aims, features, and technical requirements. A well-defined scope is like a guide that supports a clear vision and eliminates misconceptions. The best practices at this stage will keep the project on track to achieve the set business goals. 

Secondly, define your goals! 

Your big web development idea may increase user interactions and raise the conversion rate, or it may build up the web presence. Also, clearly detail what the website or application should be able to execute, notably in terms of user authentication, e-commerce, etc. 

Finally, select appropriate technologies, platforms, and development tools considering future scalability, security, and the possible integration of your system. 

Find Your Web Development Partner 

A perfect match with the right technical vendor could make all the difference between the success or failure of your project. 

Partner Selection Criteria  

Choose your candidates based on their technical expertise, experience in the field, and ability to turn all the demands of the project into reality. Strategic partnerships with trustworthy providers go beyond project delivery to implementing your long-term business strategy for continuous innovation, growth, and mutual success. 

Review Portfolios and Clients’ Feedback 

Firstly, check the portfolios of potential partners to examine their past work and results. Secondly, you can understand how they communicate and deliver on promises by reviewing their clients’ testimonials. Finally, don’t forget to explore case studies as they reveal how this particular team or web programming company solves problems and measures success. 

Create a Communication Plan 

Always ensure that the lines of communication are crystal clear. This means conducting regular status updates, progress reports, and, of course, healthy feedback. It is quite easy to integrate all these forms of communication through Slack, by updating tasks through Trello, and by holding virtual meetings via Zoom, for example. 

Address Legal and Security Considerations 

Sign full legal non-disclosure and service-level agreements to fully protect intellectual property and sensitive information. Let your outsourcing partner ensure data security with the highest standards of relevant regulations and minimized risks. 

  • Standards Compliance and Regulations: Check whether your potential partner complies with data protection laws in an industry and region where the GDPR or CCPA are applied. 
  • Own Strong Agreements that define, protect, and fix all the issues to avoid any wrong interpretations that may arise in court. 

Quality Assurance in Outsourcing Web Development 

To ensure the best development results, each process must be carefully monitored and well-defined. You can think of it as baking a cake—you may hire the best chef, but you will always have to check what is in the oven from time to time so that it does not get burnt. 

Best Quality Assurance Practices 

To keep your code clean and efficient, and to detect issues early, experienced developers test your code, which is crucial. Effective testing includes unit, integration, user, and automated testing to ensure high quality at every stage. 

Compliance With Industry Standards 

Industry standards ensure that development is done right. For the most part, outsourced teams adhere to W3C standards for web development and GDPR standards for data protection, which helps ensure quality, build trust, and guarantee low legal risks. 

Adherence to the WCAG for accessible digital platforms ensures that the products developed can be used by everyone, including the visually and hearing impaired. 

Advanced Project Management Application 

Quality assurance will also facilitate effective communication and complete transparency on the outsourcing partner’s part through real-time tracking and task assignment. This is accomplished by assigning tasks, setting deadlines using Jira or Asana, asking questions on Slack or Microsoft Teams, and keeping documentation up to date in Confluence for everyone involved. 

Mastering Budget Management in Web Development 

In managing outsourced web application development projects, the most important thing is controling the budget. If you use strategic financial efficiency practices, you can ensure projects remain within budget while obtaining the desired results. 

Advanced BudgetTracking Approaches 

Keep track of project expenses to avoid budget overruns. Better budget tracking methods help you see expenditures in real-time. 

Use Financial Management Software 

Use tools that show real-time tracking of expenses to quickly identify where your budget is deviating, so adjustments can be made on time. 

Check Your Finances Regularly 

Schedule regular financial statement reviews to compare your actual spendings with the budget, so it aligns with the main goals. 

Strategic Expense Planning 

Proper planning and smart resource allocation are crucial to ensure every part of the project is adequately funded without wasting money. 

Draw an All-Inclusive Budget Schedule 

Highlight all possible costs in a well-rounded financial roadmap, including creation, testing, implementation, and maintenance. 

Cut Unnecessary Spending 

Identify what requires immediate investment and distribute the available resources to keep the project moving forward. 

Active Financial Forecasting 

Financial long-term planning of projects involves forecasting future costs with respect to return on investment. 

Perform Cost-Benefit Analyses 

Compare the potential benefits of outsourcing a web development project with the expected costs to evaluate whether a project is worth it. 

Track ROI metrics 

Scanning ROI metrics helps businesses monitor the effectiveness of outsourced web development projects. Thus, businesses ensure that outsourcing truly provides value that contributes to the company’s long-term growth. 

Case Studies: Successful Stories of Outsourcing Web Development 

To achieve significant results, you don’t always need to squeeze the most out of your team. Instead, you can use the resources of outsourced teams to increase your results. Below, we have provided examples of such cases. 

Scaling-Up Small Businesses: WalletDoc, Making Payment Smooth for SMEs 

WalletDoc is an SA-based startup aiming to make bill payments more achievable for small and medium-sized enterprises. The company collaborated with a professional outsourcing SmartTek team to create a user-friendly platform that integrates a variety of payment methods, including QR codes, payment links, and bank transfers 

As a result, WalletDoc was able to quickly launch its solution without having to spend money on creating an internal development team. 

Companies Investing in Efficiency Success Stories 

Health SaaS for Automating All Medical Workflows 

A Ukrainian healthcare company intended to simplify working in medical institutions by reducing paperwork and increasing efficiency. To do so, they partnered with SmartTek to develop a comprehensive SaaS system that automates key processes such as appointment scheduling, electronic medical records, laboratory results processing, hospital management, and statistical reporting.  

The solution also includes integration with government systems to create electronic prescriptions that meet the standards of the National Health Service of Ukraine. All data is stored on certified secure servers, in accordance with ISO/IEC 27001:2015 standards, which we comply with. Thanks to this solution, the client was able to organize all processes clearly, thus adhering to national medical standards, which significantly improved their service to patients. 

Hospital Information System 

The client turned to outsourcing to develop a cloud-based hospital information system (HIS) contributing to better efficiency and quality of the medical services provided in a private clinic. Some of the key features include the ability to make appointments with doctors online, round-the-clock access to patient records, and treatment plans with automatic recommendations based on analyzed data. This system, compliant with the HIPAA, operates without additional hardware, providing cost-effective and advanced functionalities. 

MS Trade’s Advanced Crypto Trading Tool 

MS Trade wanted a better cryptocurrency trading terminal as more people were trading digital assets. To do so, the company developed a web application with the help of SmartTek’s outsourced expertise. This experience helped create a strong platform featuring real-time data, secure transactions, and intuitive designs. MS Trade was ready to go to market faster with a competitive product to meet the needs of newer traders.

These case studies answer the question “Why outsource web development?” and illustrate how smart outsourcing in website development generates new ideas, improves operations, and facilitates faster growth in various areas with accessible talent worldwide, possibility to reach efficient budgeting and even improved delivery quality. 

Overview of Outsourcing Challenges 

Outsourcing offers many advantages but simultaneously introduces obstacles to good teamwork. Thankfully, businesses can overcome these problems by using smart strategies early on to take full advantage of outsourcing. 

Bridge Cultural and Language Gaps 

If poorly handled, working with people of different cultural backgrounds may cause misunderstandings. To improve communication between cultures, you can do the following: 

  1. Cultural Sensitivity Training: Knowledge of your outsourcing partners’ cultures and business etiquettes significantly helps build a good relationship based on respect and understanding amongst all parties. 
  2. Translation Services: You can use translation tools or services to ensure that all parties understand the project requirements and feedback. 

Handle Time Differences 

It is never easy to plan and follow up on work with people in different time zones. The following should make the task easier. 

  1. Emphasize Collaborative Tools: Use project management and communication tools that ensure everyone on the team knows what’s going on, even when they’re in different time zones. 
  2. Scheduling Flexibility: Maintain a flexible work schedule to meet and collaborate on various tasks in different time zones. After all, work hours will be different at times and may not overlap if you don’t take care of it. 

Ensure Accountability 

Accountability and the quality of deliverables should be key aspects when outsourcing.  

  • Identify Milestones and Deliverables: Clearly define what specific, measurable goals will be achieved and within what timeframe.
  • Check the Progress: Review the work done, provide feedback on it, and resolve any complaints that may arise as quickly as possible. 

Outsourcing Web Development: Future Perspectives 

Everything is evolving and changing, primarily the digital world, to which the concept of web development outsourcing is adapting. To retain a competitive advantage, each business must be responsive to emerging trends and adapt to new models. 

Coming Trends in Web Development 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Integration 

With the development of AI and ML, 83% of small businesses are increasingly relying on outsourced engineering and 78% on outsourced expertise in sales and customer experience management. 

With these technologies, outsourcing partners can create intelligent applications, from improving user experience to operational optimization. AI chatbots and personalized content will become even more common on websites, so keep up! 

The Growing Demand for Cybersecurity 

Implementing Thorough Security Audits 

As digital threats grow, so does the demand for cybersecurity. Conducting detailed security audits in an outsourced web development project helps unravel weaknesses and keep data safe from any possible attack. Outsourcing such services provides access to professional knowledge, cost reduction, and unbiased security assessment. 

Performing Load and Stress Testing 

Ensuring the stable operation of web applications during peak loads is crucial. Load testing shows how well the system performs and if it can manage many requests at once. Stress testing checks the system’s stability and reliability under extreme loads, identifying potential weaknesses. Accordingly, you can eliminate them and increase stability. 

Outsourcing: Evolving Models 

Companies that outsource web development increasingly embrace flexible and innovative models to make processes easier, more affordable, and of higher quality. 

Formation of Hybrid Teams 

The hottest strategy for hybrid teams is a mix of in-house staff and outsourced professionals. This model surely promises diverse expertise, increased flexibility, and resource scaling according to the business needs of the project. 

The decision-making process for choosing an outsourcing partner includes deciding whether to implement advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence or machine learning. Hybrid teams, combined with these technologies, help businesses stay ahead of the curve while controlling core processes. 

If you keep pace with such trends and proactively use new models, your company can take full advantage of the benefits of outsourcing web development, boost growth, and maintain a competitive edge.

Want to build a team with Smarttek?

Tell us your needs and we will support you on your way to success!

Get in touch

 

Conclusion 

Outsourcing web development is considered the smartest choice for success in today’s digital business world. Besides, cooperation with professional external teams can help the business solve resource problems, learn how to best use the most advanced technologies, and receive solutions more quickly. This approach not only solves urgent problems but also creates the basis for long-term success. 

Finally, outsourcing is not just about cost reduction, but also about drastic changes. With a strategic approach, outsourcing allows companies to go beyond the scope of projects, allowing them to adapt to market demands and focus on core competencies. The main rule works without fail: if you choose the right tech partner, outsourcing ensures sustainable growth and innovation. 

Andriy Nayda
Andriy Nayda Head of Web & Mobile Department at SmartTek Solutions