Web Development Guide
Who?
The fourth option is to use resources at your own business to create your project or hire a dedicated employee to run the development. On the surface this certainly looks like a great option. There are several draw backs to this option and many competitive advantages to using a development team.
The first problem you may run into, especially in larger companies or rapidly growing businesses, is that the particular IT or design department is swamped with work. Your department would love to utilize their skills but your projects will simply have to wait in line. Some of our clients report being quoted production lag estimates over a year! It is far more efficient to use a development company and strike when the iron is hot.
Another issue is a lack of expertise from certain departments. A common example of this is when web design projects are delegated to IT. Most IT departments focus on hardware, server maintenance and related tasks. High-end web application design with a usability focus is not the job they were hired to do.
Some companies decide to staff for an internal development team. We hear several common problems with this. Many times budgeting and project needs hire one or two team members which leaves them isolated from the rest of the company with no ability to advance, grow or learn. Management is unable to speak their technical language or quality assure the work being given to them.
Creating these departments is often times far more expensive than initially scoped. Developers need work station quality computers, very expensive software and most importantly a high bandwidth stream of projects to justify their existence. After the project is completed many departments slip into a constant project maintenance phase which is a gross underutilization of their skills.
Our main point here is that your business should focus on doing what it does best. If you’re business is finance, construction or medicine you should focus on doing those things, the things that contribute to your bottom line. Utilizing a development team has numerous advantages that are music to your ears: better, faster and even more cost effective.
