The pros and cons of outsourcing a SaaS team

Outsourcing is a common strategy for companies looking to leverage specialised expertise, reduce costs and accelerate time to market.  Forecasts show that this trend will continue to grow in the coming years, so IT outsourcing revenue is expected to reach a compound annual growth rate of 12.42% by 2027. As a leading outsourcing SaaS team company, Valcon can give you valuable first-hand insights into the world of SaaS team outsourcing. In this article, find all the benefits of entrusting your SaaS project to external partners, as well as the potential challenges you may face along the way.

The pros of outsourcing software development

Flexibility and scalability 

Outsourcing a SaaS team gives you the opportunity to easily expand or reduce your development resources depending on the project requirements.

When you work with an outsourcing team, you can tailor it to your exact needs and adjust the number of members depending on the scope of the project. Moreover, different development phases require specialists from different fields, e.g. developers, QA engineers, UI /UX designers, etc. Thanks to this flexibility, you can handle peak times or sudden changes in workload without having to permanently invest in additional resources.

Risk mitigation

Outsourcing a SaaS team can help mitigate certain risks associated with project execution. As reputable outsourcing partners typically have established processes, quality control measures, and experienced project managers to ensure successful project delivery, outsourcing SaaS teams can help organisations avoid risks and costs associated with loss of resources or delivery delays. In addition, outsourcing provides access to backup resources and contingency plans, reducing the risk of major disruptions to your software development projects.

Access to specialised expertise

Outsourcing allows companies to access a global talent pool, overcoming geographic boundaries. It allows access to a wide range of skilled professionals from different countries, cultures, and educational backgrounds. This way, you can leverage the knowledge and experience of professionals who have already worked on similar projects, resulting in high-quality software development. This can be especially beneficial if your country’s IT is experiencing staff shortages if your internal team lacks certain skills, or if you need specialised expertise for a particular project.

Quick time-to-market

While the internal IT team is often busy with multiple tasks, the outsourced SaaS team is dedicated to developing your project. All of the team’s attention and energy is focused on a single project, which speeds up the development process. With a dedicated outsourcing team working on your project, you can leverage their experience, established processes, and efficient development practices to speed up development cycles. This can be critical in today’s fast-paced business world, where time-to-market often determines a product’s success.

Increased innovation

Collaborating with outsourced software development teams from different backgrounds and cultures can foster innovation and creativity, leading to unique solutions and approaches that might not have been possible with an internal team alone. When you work with a team outside of your country, you get fresh perspectives, unique insights from around the world, and innovative ideas from previous projects.

Predictable billing

When outsourcing a SaaS team, service providers often offer transparent billing structures. That means you agree on costs, payment terms and deliverables upfront, which provides clarity and predictability around financial obligations. In addition, many outsourcing providers offer scalable pricing models based on your specific needs and usage requirements. This flexibility allows you to choose the pricing plan that best fits your business, and as your needs evolve, you can adjust the pricing model accordingly. This helps with budgeting and financial planning, as you have a clear idea of what to expect, with no surprises or unexpected expenses.

The cons of outsourcing SaaS team

Lack of face-to-face interactions

One of the disadvantages of outsourcing is the lack of face-to-face communication on a regular basis. Face-to-face communication allows for deeper understanding, non-verbal cues, and relationship building. However, this disadvantage can be easily overcome by defining and establishing clear communication channels, documenting project requirements, expectations, and guidelines, using video conferencing, or opting for nearshoring teams that you can easily visit from your country for a few hours.

Cultural gaps and language barriers

Outsourcing involves working with teams located in different countries or regions, which can lead to cultural and language differences. These differences can manifest themselves in a variety of ways, including work methods, communication styles, decision-making processes, and problem-solving approaches. These barriers can lead to misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and errors in the transmission or understanding of information.

In order to prevent this risk, companies are opting for nearshoring teams. As the word “near” implies, these teams are located close to your company’s location, usually in a nearby country. This way, it is likely that they are also familiar with your culture and language.

Loss of control over the team

Many organisations claim that outsourcing SaaS teams results in a loss of direct control over the development process, schedules, and decision-making, as you entrust the development and maintenance of your software to a third-party vendor. To minimise this risk, it’s important to establish effective communication channels and maintain transparency with the outsourcing provider.

Tips to overcome the cons of outsourcing SaaS team

Outsourcing a SaaS team can help your company in a variety of ways, from business expansion to working with experts and high-tech technologies. To be successful with outsourcing SaaS, there are a few things to keep in mind:

  • Find a suitable and experienced software development company,
  • Maintain clear, real-time communication with your SaaS team,
  • Define an action plan, milestones and goals you want to achieve,
  • Build trusting and strong relationships with your SaaS team.

Before you go

One of our greatest strengths is flexibility, so the team can be easily scaled down or up depending on the size of your project. All of our developers are highly skilled in different areas, so we can work on both the front end and the back end.

If you want to stay ahead with innovative SaaS solutions, choose your IT team wisely. Valcon offers external teams to develop or improve your product. We have outsourcing teams all over Europe and offer you the possibility to hire different types of experts for different projects. Whether you want to develop a product from scratch or improve an existing one, we offer a fully compliant solution.

Want to know more? Reach out to paul.ten.haaf@valcon.com to discuss which approach is best for your business!

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