Nowadays, businesses are always looking for cost-effective ways to meet their goals. The same thing is happening in the software industry, where startups, entrepreneurs, and even established businesses are looking to save money while having quality solutions.
How is it even possible that you get a quality product by saving huge bucks? Let’s find out!
Industries are largely shifting towards outsourcing their business processes, which includes software development too. Outsourcing software development helps businesses save time, money, and resources, and gives them their product without any extraordinary effort.
In this comprehensive article, we will find out the pros and cons of two of the most popular outsourcing models. This will help you make the right decision whenever you plan to develop a project.
Importance of the Right Development Hiring Model
When you are building a house, you start with planning. That planning phase includes the whole process of foundation, basement, ground floor, etc. You won’t and you can’t jump directly building the ground floor.
This means the procedure holds importance in building a house.
In the same manner, you have to employ some strategies before building a software product. At first, you need to analyze your requirements, and then you have to decide whether you are going to build the project yourself or you will outsource it.
Since outsourcing is trending, the hiring model you choose for the required services is very crucial. It directly impacts your overall development process. Hence, a rightly chosen hiring model leads to quality development services, faster deployment, and greater satisfaction.
Impact of Choosing the Right Outsourcing Model
Once you choose the right outsourcing model, you get:
- Efficiency and speed in development cycles
- Quality development
- Cost-effectiveness
- Enhanced collaboration with improved communication
- Better productivity
- Easy scalability and higher flexibility
Freelance Developers vs. Dedicated Teams
There are many outsourcing models from which you can choose the one that suits your business. However, in this comprehensive article, we are only going to discuss the two models, i.e., freelance developers and dedicated teams.
Freelance Developers
Let’s focus on the freelance developers first!
These are developers who are independent professionals offering their services, often on an hourly basis or a project basis. Such developers usually give their services on top freelance platforms such as Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, etc.
They are extremely well-versed in their areas of expertise, capable of working on challenging tasks, short-term assignments, and technical consulting.
Interesting Fact
There are over 1.57 billion freelancers around the world.
Key Features of Freelance Developers
- A freelance developer is a solo worker, responsible for the A-Z of the development process.
- Such developers are ideal for small, short-term projects, modifications, or debugging.
- You can engage a freelance developer on a part-time, hourly, or monthly basis, or on a project basis.
Advantages of Hiring Freelance Developers
No hassle of commitments
Firstly, hiring freelancers means there won’t be any hassle of offering benefits and long-term commitments. You only have to pay them for the work they do for you. No sick leaves, no casual leaves, and no vacation time. Just your work and their money.
No hassle of supervision
Secondly, working with freelancers won’t bind you to pay attention to the work they are doing. This is a big relief as you can handle other work-related matters or focus on your personal life.
Hire from anywhere in the world
Thirdly, you enjoy the freedom to hire these freelancers from anywhere in the world. There is no restriction on hiring a local or national freelancer. All you have to do is do your homework, i.e., conduct comprehensive research to find a developer that suits your project needs and is cost-effective. Since the main goal of hiring a freelancer is to save costs.
Cost-effective development
One of the primary benefits of hiring a freelancer is their cost-effectiveness. Freelancers are way more budget-friendly compared to engaging with dedicated teams. You only pay them for the hours they worked for you, with no other charges.
Higher flexibility and scalability
With freelancers, neither scalability nor flexibility is an issue. You can hire them to work according to your need, it could either be for hours, days, or weeks. Moreover, you have the liberty to scale up or down based on the workload.
Rapid hiring and onboarding
Lastly, hiring freelancers is easier and quicker compared to hiring a dedicated team. All you need to do is post a job on a freelance platform and hire someone well-versed in the required skills.
Disadvantages of Hiring Freelancers
Freelancers lack consistency
Firstly, not in all cases, but many freelance developers lack consistency because they often carry multiple clients at one time. You are not the only one for whom he’s doing the job. This makes them inaccessible at times, which extends the duration of your project.
Reliability and accountability are issues
Secondly, you can’t rely on freelancers. It is also because of their commitments to other clients. So, there is always a chance that they may jeopardize your project by deprioritizing it. This leads you to face missed opportunities and deadlines, and sometimes project failure.
Communication barriers
Additionally, there can be communication barriers between the client and the freelancers because they are mostly in different time zones, speak different languages, and use different work tools. All such things lead to communication gaps.
Moreover, without regular standup meetings or project management tools in place, these barriers become worse, leading to your project’s failure.
Security and IP concerns
Lastly, security and IP concerns arise while working with freelancers. Being independent contractors, they can pose a risk to your sensitive data and proprietary code. To avoid any such scenario, you must have strong NDAs and legal agreements before starting the project.
Dedicated Teams
On the other hand, we have dedicated teams.
As the name suggests, it is a group of developers or IT experts of different fields, including project management, software development, UI/UX designers, testers, etc, who work steadfastly and exclusively on your project. These teams are usually provided by software development companies and agencies with solid expertise in outsourcing dedicated teams.
A dedicated team works like your in-house team. In other words, it is the extension of your in-house team that works on the same goal.
Interesting Fact
Hiring a dedicated team can help you save costs up to 54%.
Key Features of Dedicated Teams
- Dedicated teams comprise resources from multiple disciplines. Such teams have designers, developers, testers, and project managers who offer comprehensive development services.
- These teams are employed for long-term projects.
- They are capable of handling all the nitty-gritty of software development, from start to launch, and post-launch support.
Advantages of Dedicated Teams
You enjoy specialized skills
Firstly, working with a dedicated team ensures you are furnished with specialized skills. The dedicated team members perform high-quality work on challenging tasks, with no errors or bugs.
Project ownership and accountability
Secondly, the experts of a dedicated team take ownership of each and every line of code they write. They are responsible for designing, developing, testing, and deploying. In case of any issue, they are bound to eradicate the issue and satisfy your demands.
Better communication and collaboration
Communication and collaboration with dedicated teams is better and easier because they solely work for you and your project. They have no other commitments. Moreover, they follow a structured communication protocol, i.e., daily standups, weekly sprint reviews, and real-time updates on project management tools that bring everyone on the same page.
Scalability and customization are not a problem
Working with a dedicated team ensures you can easily scale up or down your team according to project needs. For instance, if you need a DevOps engineer in the middle of your project, you can easily hire a DevOps engineer and integrate them with your dedicated team.
High code quality and smooth maintenance
Lastly, all the team members of a dedicated team are highly expert and well-versed in their respective fields. The developers in the team write clean, readable, and high-quality code. Moreover, a dedicated team is an expert in furnishing quality maintenance support, removing all the bugs while keeping the application up-to-date.
Disadvantages of Dedicated Teams
A dedicated team is expensive
First and foremost, hiring a dedicated team compared to a freelancer is way much bigger investment. It is because each person in the dedicated team is an expert in their field. Plus, there are management costs, monthly retainers, and tools, all paid by you.
Time Zone Challenges
Secondly, this is a challenge that hinders the performance of the project the most. This arises when your dedicated team resides in a different timezone country. However, you can resolve this issue with mutual understanding.
Longer onboarding time
Unlike freelancers, the onboarding process of a dedicated team is very long. Setting up a team might take a little longer due to initial discussions, meetings, contract signing, and onboarding.
Not good for small projects
Lastly, the dedicated teams are not made for small projects. Hiring a dedicated team just to fix bugs in your projects is not a good idea.
Freelancers vs. Dedicated Teams – A Comparison
| Factor | Freelance Developers | Dedicated Teams |
| Cost | pay-per-hour/project, budget-friendly | Higher monthly cost |
| Hiring Speed | Fast | Slower |
| Commitment | Short-term commitment | Long-term commitment |
| Scalability | Easy scalability | Easy scalability, depends on the hirer |
| Communication | Sometimes inconsistent | Structured and regular |
| Project Management | Self managed | Managed under project management tools |
| Quality Assurance | Varies from freelancer to freelancer | High quality |
| Best For | Short-term projects | Long-term projects |
Freelancers vs. Dedicated Team – Which One’s Best?
Before you lock an option, just read the guidelines below for hiring freelancers and a dedicated team.
When to Hire a Freelancer
Choose a freelancer if:
- You are to build a small project with limited requirements.
- You want modifications or debugging for your existing project.
- The budget is tight, and you want to work with a few modules.
- You want quick and cost-effective development.
- There’s no long-term collaboration requirement for the project.
- You are capable of managing the project and ensuring quality.
- There is no highly sensitive data or intellectual property at risk.
When to Hire a Dedicated Team
Hire a dedicated team if:
- You are to build a large-scale project requiring multiple skills.
- There’s no budget issue.
- The data is important to you, and you want to save your intellectual property.
- You need post-launch maintenance and support.
- You need scalability and flexibility.
- A structured approach with clear project management is what you need.
- You don’t want to compromise on the quality of the product.
Final Word: Which One to Choose – Freelancers or a Dedicated Team?
Finally, the choice between a freelancer and a dedicated team is solely yours. It depends on your requirements and preferences. However, if you completely hand over yourself to your preference, you might end up in no man’s land.
It is because you shouldn’t go for a dedicated team for a short-term project, and hire a freelancer for a long-term project. That’s the crux of this comprehensive article. The rest depends upon you.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I hire a freelancer?
You should consider hiring a freelancer when the project is short-term and you want a cost-effective solution.
Is hiring a dedicated team for a short-term project a wise decision?
No, it is never a good idea to hire a dedicated team for a small or short-term project. Dedicated teams are made to work on long-term commitments with high budget caps.
How should I ensure that the freelancer is qualified to meet my requirements?
Before hiring a freelancer, you must look into their previous experience, portfolio, and the nature of projects they have accomplished. This will give a clear image of their capabilities.
Is scalability easier in a dedicated team environment?
Yes, you can easily scale up or down the resources in your dedicated team based on the project needs.
Which model is best for long-term projects?
Hiring a dedicated team is always the top-notch choice for working on long-term projects.
