What is better, an ICT consultancy or in-house development?
We outline the main advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing or developing a technological project internally in companies.
When launching a new technological project within the organization, there are countless variables to take into account for it to be a complete success. The first thing of all is to know what type of initiative we are about to carry out. (digital transformation of a business process, a new digital service, optimization of an existing system, migration of some legacy technology to more current solutions…). The second is to be convinced (not only the ICT team, but also the board of directors) that This project is necessary and convenient to achieve the company's objectives.
The rest of the factors to be analyzed are more detailed and must be adjusted in each particular case - such as the necessary budget, the execution deadlines, the talent to be incorporated to implement the technology, the manufacturers and partners that will be counted on in the process, etc. - However, before going into each of these points, The CIO must make a much more momentous decision which is the one will determine the future deployment of the project: whether or not to do the development within the company?
This is an old dilemma: whether to rely on the company's own team - with some hiring - to carry out the new technological project or to trust an external consultancy firm that will deliver all the work already done 'turnkey'. Both models have advantages and disadvantages, but neither of them is a magic key that guarantees success in any case.Therefore, it is advisable to thoroughly analyze what each option provides and check whether it fits what our organization requires at any given time.
Advantages of outsourcing development
The outsourcing of ICT projects is an alternative that has gained a lot of weight in recent years, mainly due to its great advantage: cost. We will never be able to carry out a development within our company with the same economic efficiency as a large firm specialized in deploying the same type of solutions to a large number of clients.
In fact, in many cases we will not even be able to access the advantageous prices that these providers obtain when acquiring systems or purchasing licences from third parties. Not to mention that, in projects with a specific deadline, they save the company from all the complexity of hiring personnel for work and services and the subsequent procedures with the Administrations.
But the consulting firms are not only proposing a war of costs, but also of efficiency in the execution of the project itself. Not in vain, We must take into account that these companies already have all the management tools, templates, modules and programming frameworks from other previous clients, This makes implementation much faster than building an application from scratch. In addition, almost all major consulting firms have strict working methodologies that ensure maximum speed in the deployment of a project.
In addition, The professionals of a consultancy firm are usually better trained for the execution of very specific or still little-explored projects (such as security - where 24×7 monitoring is required - or artificial intelligence), precisely because they have accumulated a great deal of practical experience in these fields, which, on the contrary, the IT team of a company may never have used. Along the same lines, an IT consultant is usually highly specialized in a certain area of work, which means that he is up to date with the latest available technologies, as well as having contacts and support from the community of developers in that segment of activity.
Advantages of in-house development
It seems that outsourcing ICT projects is perfect, right? The truth is that, as we stated at the beginning of the article, it is a valid model for many use cases, but not ideal for every company in every circumstance. Because we must not forget that in-house development continues to be a very interesting formula for extracting value from the current digital era in which we move.
So, In-house development of digital applications and services is much more advantageous than outsourcing them when it comes to small deployments. (the cost of contracting a third party is much higher due to the fixed amounts that they will charge us) in technologies that are widely known by the technical team.
In that same sense, More and more companies prefer to control the entire development process in those projects that are key to the digital transformation of the company., since the knowledge and understanding that the CIO and his team have of the corporate culture and business objectives is prioritized over any technical skills that, if essential for the future of the company, will be incorporated immediately. Added to this is one of the common complaints about consulting firms, and that is the privacy of company information. Although all outsourcing firms sign strict confidentiality contracts, It is not unusual for one of these suppliers to subcontract another company specializing in a particular aspect of the project., thus creating a chain of people and organizations through which sensitive customer data moves with little control.
On the other hand, Betting on the in-house development of strategic projects guarantees that the maximum value will be extracted from the implemented solutions, as the CIO and business groups are involved from start to finish in the launch of the service. This, of course, can be used by the company as a differential value in the market, with which to position itself more quickly compared to other rivals who depend on knowledge and the hiring of a consultancy for each small modification or variation of the project.
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