For the Love of Outsourcing or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Internal Digital Projects.

There’s a particular scene in the great Monty Python film ‘The Life of Brian’ where the PFJ (Peoples Front of Judea) get told of Brian’s imminent crucifixion and spend the next hour deliberating on what to do without ever actually getting much done. In the end, the best Brian is offered is a barbershop rendition of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” and a small round of applause for his service to the PFJ as he faces his demise in the middle of the desert.

So how do we get from here to outsourcing digital projects?

I’m sure many company staff can vouch to having sung a soft rendition of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” as they watch their in-house digital project be swallowed by internal bureaucracy and be left with an underwhelming result and the burning question: ‘Would this have happened to us if we had outsourced this digital project?’ No, and here are a few reasons why:

• When you hire a specialist company to build your digital project you are hiring acute expertise to deliver your specific requirements. In other words, they have the experience as they have done it before. They will likely have better solutions and fresher ideas then your current model. They will have kept a close eye on the latest and greatest tools their industry uses to be able deliver something on the cutting edge of current technology.
• You’re not hiring staff. You have the ability to freely dictate the cadence of the project. Need all hands on deck? Need to pause or slow the project right down? This is easily done and also one of the massive benefits to outsourcing. You are not paying a staff member to sit idly by as you iterate on new ideas and features. On the other end of the scale, outsourcing is your best way to outpace the competition in getting to market.
• When you outsource to a company to build you a product, they will build you a product. This may sound rather simplistic and this is exactly the point. There are no office politics or employee agendas you need to deal with or mitigate. The external company is focused (and paid) for one thing and that is creating the best product for your business.
• An external company is not afraid to tell you ‘No.’ They know what works and what doesn’t and they are there to provide you with the best product and solutions not to simply take orders from the company hegemony. And lastly, the incentive is on the external team to perform well as they can be removed from the project very easily. It is in their best interest to provide you with a quality product that has been tested and bug checked to the nth degree. A lot of external companies survive on references and word of mouth from one company to another. The number one driver of new clients to them is to create an outstanding product for their current client.

To sum it up quite simply, an external company serves their best interests by serving your best interests.

If you are still unsure of outsourcing your next digital project, the best thing you can do is to go grab a coffee with a potential external company. Not only do digital developers live and breathe coffee but it is also a great way to get to know the people you may entrust with the project.

And even over a quick coffee you will be surprised with the fresh ideas and solutions that will spring up in that hour.

So what will it be? A long black, a latte, a flat white…