As with many things in life, there are pros and cons for outsourcing your web development work but ultimately it comes down to the goals you have for your online project.
Some things to consider should be;
1. Knowing who you are working with. At Neubreed our success lies in the fact we are able to meet with our clients (in most cases) face to face. Why is this so important? The reason we feel this weighs heavily on the success of a project is that when we meet with a client we get to engage in a conversation with them and understand their personality and the driving factors behind the project. Of course the same can be said of phone calls or emails but we feel meeting someone personally lets you gain an insight into them much more than you can online. In turn, for the client they get to meet the team that will be taking their vision for their project to life, feeling that your web designers really understand your values and missions for the website is so important to having an accurate project constructed.
2. Fast tracking the process. In many cases the whole reason for outsourcing you website overseas is you are on a tight deadline. You may have found a website company that has proposed setting up a team to work on your project so a deadline can be met. If everything runs to plan this can be great but quite often the thing that holds up a projects is seeing the initial concept and trying to explain to the web designers the ways in which it does not quite match with your vision. If you are dealing with a local web design company it means you can just schedule a meeting to go through the concept face to face and show them exactly what you are after. Again, via email or phone this can take many iterations, cause frustration and extend the time frame out.
3. Security. Many people opt to outsource their web development work overseas because they might feel the costs to go with a local web designer are too high for their initial budget. It is no secret that overseas web developers charge much less than say a Sydney web design firm. The danger however with handing your money overseas is that there is no “bricks and mortar” store you can go to if suddenly the correspondence between you and the developers stop. What protection do you have if suddenly they no longer take your calls or reply to your emails? What happens then to your project, how do you get hold of your files? With a local company you know you are protected by the government and that you have avenues to follow should this scenario happen to you with a local supplier.
4. Briefing and communicating. This is the most important aspect of all when it comes to choosing any web design company. If you decide to outsource your project you really have to know how to brief the developers; and to make sure communication is crystal clear. The reason this is so important is the brief you give the developers is what they will build to the letter so if you have not thought of each step involved in the process of a particular function on your site you may find whole features gets left off or that you get halfway through a project only for the developer to say to you that you hadn’t included that in your brief and either a) it’s going to cost you more money or b) they don’t have the skillset for the feature you are after – neither a favourable outcome. On the flip side if you have briefed a local web design team you will more than likely find they will take a more consultative approach, they will be able to tell you where the holes in your brief are and ask you the right questions for the right outcome. Whilst this may also happen with an o/s company, the communication or language barriers may be where you find the pitfalls are
5. Dealing one on one not with many. If you are going to outsource your website project the other factor is the ongoing work and maintenance etc. Once you go through the process of scoping your project out, going through the design stage and finally having your finished project you will find you would have gone through some comprehensive conversations. The likelihood of getting the same developer on your project each time when outsourcing is quite low. With a local company you will most likely find that you will have a team dedicated to your project with the same designers and developers who know the history behind your project so you don’t have to explain your history from scratch each time you need updates.
Weighing up whether or not to outsource your website project is a big decision. If you would like to chat through your options, give us a call today on 1300 858 495
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