Is The Cost of In-House Mobile App Development Worth It?
The field of mobile app development has experienced massive growth over the past decade. Mobile apps are very popular, and in the current-day business world, you would miss out on a lot of opportunities if you run a business without one. Generally, you can develop an app for your business in two ways.
On the one hand, you can do it in-house by selecting a team of project managers, developers, designers, etc., from your staff or hiring new people to fill these positions. The company coordinates the whole app development process and thus has to provide proper infrastructure and office space, among other things, to the team. On the other hand, you can outsource the project to a full-stack mobile development team. This option is relatively cheaper than the former.
So, is the cost of in-house mobile app development worth it, or would you be better off outsourcing the project? Read on to learn more.
Key Considerations When Hiring an In-House Team
If you choose to coordinate the mobile app development process in-house, you must be ready to hire a team unless your current staff can handle the process.
Below are the qualities you must consider when hiring an in-house team:
Agility and Flexibility
Agility comes with several productive advantages, and therefore, it is one quality you must ensure your in-house mobile app development team possesses. An agile team will give a short release cycle, faster development, and frequent and timely delivery. Also, you need individuals who can adapt to changing requirements. Business needs may change frequently, and the team must adjust to these changes appropriately.
Collaboration
Your in-house mobile app development team must possess a collaborative attitude. Each person you bring on board should get along well with the team and perform duties in tandem. Whether the project is small or large, one person cannot complete it on their own. The project manager, designer, developer, tester, and even the back-end server developer must work as a team to ensure they handle all modules successfully.
Communication Skills
Communication is critical to a mobile app development project’s success. You must effectively verify that an individual efficiently understands your requirements, challenges, and goals. A project can get stuck due to communication failure, so you must check this quality when bringing staff on board.
Strong Qualification Background
The team’s qualification background is one thing you cannot ignore when hiring an in-house team. Their qualifications are evaluated based on your requirements. Some of the things you may want to check to include the ability to work with back-end development, a strong background in at least one native mobile programming language, and an understanding of UI/UX design, app store, and cross-platform development. You also need people well versed in popular and upcoming technology.
Costs Involved in In-house Mobile App Development
Cost of Hiring
The cost of in-house mobile development begins to count from recruiting the team. Whether your project is a small or large one, you must bring on board a team with the right aptitude, skill sets, and experience. Once you have a team on board, you have to pay their salaries and benefits even during times when there is little for them to do.
Keep in mind that an unexpected issue may arise, or a new functionality becomes necessary, which means a business will need to bring on board another developer with the specific expertise.
Infrastructure
You have to set up the appropriate infrastructure for mobile app development. These include furnishing the offices and purchasing the developer’s equipment.
App Development Costs
These are mobile app strategy, design, development, testing, and deployment costs. You also have to foot other expenses that emerge after the app development, such as marketing and maintenance costs.
Challenges You Might Face with an In-House Team
Before you move on to settle on an in-house development team, you need to be aware of some things related to this option. Recognizing some of the challenges you might face when you hire an in-house team can help you decide if it’s worth it or if it would be better to outsource mobile development to a full-stack development team.
These challenges include:
Skill-Set Struggle
Even if you hire a sufficient number of developers, your team may still lack some skills required for mobile app development. Different platforms, including iOS and Android, require different skill-set and moderately intricate experience in coding languages.
For instance, iOS requires Objective C or Swift proficiency, while Android requires Java expertise. If you are developing apps for both platforms, it means you need different skill sets and development efforts. Also, the project scope may expand, requiring you to bring in an additional coder.
Lack of Motivation
An in-house mobile app development team must be passionate; otherwise, the process may not be successful in the long run. Unfortunately, keeping the team motivated can be a challenge. The employer must commit to constantly motivating them to upskill their knowledge. In fact, you may have to pay other benefits, which might end up becoming cost-inefficient in the long run.
Higher Cost
When you opt to develop your app using an in-house team, you bear the costs of recruiting the team and offering any required training. You likely must also pay them salaries and social packages such as sick leaves, health insurance, etc. If you bring on board a large team to ensure you have all the required skills, your business will have to incur substantial costs. Further, you must invest in high-grade equipment, including computers which are usually more costly than the standard computers.
Benefits of Outsourcing Mobile Development to a Full-Stack Development Team
Now that you understand some of the challenges of developing a mobile app with an in-house team, you may want to outsource your project instead. But in what ways is outsourcing a better option?
Below are the benefits of outsourcing mobile app development:
Versatility and Scalability
Outsourcing to an experienced mobile app development company gives you the benefit of versatility. There will always be a specialist for any step. This way, you can increase your app’s scalability without spending additional cash. When an app is versatile and scalable, it has a larger user base which adds to the overall revenue.
Proficiency
Mobile app developers work on their skills often and thus won’t lack motivation. They understand the importance of staying relevant and thus do not leave any chance for complacency in their work. They also keep an eye on the constantly changing trends and innovate the working process often. All these reflect what they give you at the end of the project.
Faster Delivery and Better Access to Crucial Features and Modules
Since outsourced mobile app development teams work on many projects, they set deadlines for each project and commit to meeting them. Therefore, when you outsource your project, you’ll almost always launch the app faster.
Also, an outsourcing company has access to many relatively standard features and modules that make an app extraordinary and unique. In fact, the team may already have a library of such products that have undergone testing and optimization.
If you were developing an app with your in-house team, you would have to build such features and functionalities from scratch. Therefore, outsourcing saves you money and time without sacrificing performance.
It’s Cost-Effective
Outsourced mobile app development is typically less expensive than an in-house option. You won’t need to hire a team of developers and pay them salaries and benefits. You also won’t have to provide the required infrastructure — they already have the right infrastructure in place. Therefore, outsourcing reduces overall expenses significantly since there won’t be office-related costs.
Even better, when your project is on hold, you can always come back to the team when it resumes. But if you were developing your app with an in-house team, such a situation would see you pay the employees even when they experience a lull in their workload. That is unless you are willing to lose the team and hire again when the project restarts, which means going back to step zero.
Contact the Experts
Contact Touch To today to get started and save costs on your outsourced mobile app development project.