How to Outsource Web Development to Supplement Your In-house Developers
No matter how talented your web development team is, occasionally it pays to outsource a project. Properly managed, outsourcing is a way of tapping into a variety of benefits including access to specialist expertise; an impartial, fresh, new perspective; timeliness and cost savings.
Unlike permanent staff, an outsourced resource doesn't have to deal with conflicting priorities, internal politics or newly arising demands from the business. Their sole function is to develop and deliver the stipulated project. They'll stay on task until the job is done.
Outsourcing is also an efficient way of accessing just-in-time skills that don't exist within your organisation, and obtaining insights into the practices of other companies and industries. With the right partner, outsourcing can be a valuable source of knowledge with the partner acting as mentor and teacher to your own web development team.
What to look for in a potential supplier
Your reasons for outsourcing will in part dictate the attributes you require from a partner. If you're looking for speedy delivery, you'll need to find an agency with the capacity to dedicate resources to your project immediately. If you require specific skills, you'll want an organisation where the people have appropriate experience, know your chosen technologies and where relevant, hold up-to-date certifications.
On top of this however, there are other factors that should be considered. Are you looking for a one-off engagement or a partner for the long haul? If the latter, try to anticipate the range of services that you will require over time, for example analysis, design, build, maintenance, training or hosting.
Look at the company's previous projects. If you want to stand out on the web you need a partner whose work impresses, excites and inspires you.
Consider your own working style and your organisational culture, then find a supplier to match. Some people need face-to-face interaction in order to feel informed. Others are quite happy with largely electronic relationships. Similarly, some companies prefer the security of a big partner while others like the more personable approach of a smaller supplier.
Once you have identified a shortlist of companies that you would be happy to work with, make sure you check references. Look at the scope of the referral project, the quality of the work completed and ask the referee about the nature of the working relationship.
Avoid the pitfalls
The main reason why outsourced web development projects fail is poor communication. You may know what you are after but you need to be able to communicate this clearly to your outsourcing partner. The best way to achieve this is with a written brief.
Even though you've probably discussed your needs during the supplier evaluation, discussions are open to interpretation. Writing it down is your insurance policy that you've covered off every need, every specification and every deadline.
An ideal brief is as comprehensive as possible. It should include background about your company. To give context, it must explain why you are embarking on this project and your objectives for the site. The brief should also describe the types of people you are hoping to attract to the site.
You'll need to detail the scope of the project, listing exactly what you want from the partner and drawing attention to any special requests. If the development involves joint responsibility, stipulate who is going to own each section or task. To save time and cost, include an itemised list of any materials such as branding guidelines, graphics or logos that you can provide to make the job easier.
Finally, your brief should always include a budget and a schedule, even if the schedule is loose. Never leave it open ended because that's when the problems can easily start.
One organisation's experience: Edith Cowan University
In 2008 Edith Cowan University in Western Australia went looking for a new web content management system. What it found was not only a technology solution but also an outsourcing partner that has worked alongside University staff, supplementing in-house skills and resources, ever since.
Andrew Dunbar, Web Business Manager at Edith Cowan University explains: “We were looking for an enterprise roll-out of a single content management system to replace a lot of disparate systems including home-grown products that we'd built ourselves and some open source downloads.”
A tender process identified Squiz Matrix as the best fit for the University's requirements, one that would support the drive for a consistent online brand as well as unified website management, development and support.
It took roughly six months for the first site to go live using Matrix. Dunbar describes the development as “…a collaborative effort. The Squiz involvement was very heavy for the first six months.” Dunbar's willingness to co-opt external expertise as part of the initial program of work helped the project to get off to a solid start. It gave staff the opportunity to learn from experts as they developed skills in the new system. It also ensured a successful delivery of a website that met all the original needs of the project.
Numerous outsourcing projects have followed in the years since. In one recent engagement ECU looked to Squiz for assistance in the development of a social media portal for the University. Dunbar built the proof of concept to show Squiz what he was after. “They then provided all the underlying code structures to make it work and make it reliable. That's an area we're not particularly strong at,” he notes.
“Every time we engage with Squiz, we do it directly for that reason – to tap into their skills,” Dunbar adds. “They have a real mix of people at all levels. It's one of the benefits of outsourcing. I would love to have a staff of 50 with all the possible skill sets that we might need but we can't justify that so we rely on Squiz to do it for us. This means we can use our own staff to the best advantage and supplement with extra skill sets as required.
The University also uses the relationship with Squiz to obtain advice and to sound out ideas. “We often send something to Squiz so that they can validate that our thinking is heading in the right direction. There's a huge benefit to having third party advice. Squiz, being active in the market, is obviously looking ahead. They are very much on the ball as to where trends and developments in the web are going. We get to tap into that knowledge. For example, we're not big on the mobile web yet but Squiz are, so when we're finally ready to talk about it, they'll have two or three years' experience that we can leverage.”
“If you have a good relationship with your partner, if you have mutual respect, outsourcing works well. And if it doesn't work well, you need to move on to someone else,” Dunbar concludes.
Contact: Stephen Elliott
Phone: +61285079900
