Mobile app development is a comprehensive, time-consuming, and laborious project. A well-built app can efficiently serve its core purpose and help a business thrive; hence, making all the working hours and labor fruitful and worth it. Almost every industry today is investing in mobile apps as a key to increase its global outreach and expand its services. For mobile app development, businesses usually go for outsourcing if they don’t have enough knowledge or resources on the matter or else assemble their own in-house app development team. Whether to go for in-house app development or outsourcing is a question most businesses face while looking for mobile app development.

According to Statista, the revenue generated by the application outsourcing market is anticipated to reach 10.87 billion USD in 2021. With an annual growth rate of 5.21%, it’s expected that the market volume will amount to 13.326 billion by 2025. This data shows the growing popularity of outsourcing as in-house app development remains an expensive option for small businesses. In this post, we will be discussing which one is better; in-house app development or outsourcing and under what conditions. Both of these app development methods have their pros and cons, and depending on the type of need and budget, the ideal method varies. So, let’s move forward and learn more about which method is best and under what conditions.

#1 Lack of expertise

Expertise is a quality that every business demands in order to develop a successful mobile app. For this reason, many companies opt for outsourcing in place of in-house app development. This is because when you hire an outsourcing company, the first thing you look for is its years of experience, expertise, and successfully delivered projects. Every organization wants their app to be developed by the best developers under expert supervision.

The developers in outsourcing companies have been working for years together, making them a great team that functions in a more synchronized way. In the case of in-house app development, most businesses do not need apps  as it  is not part of their core operations. Hence mostly, they don’t have an in-house team of developers, or even if they happen to have one, then there is a big possibility that they lack the expertise. Hence owing to this reason, often, the developers choose to outsource instead of in-house app development.

#2 Faster development

Most businesses want an app to be developed in a minimal course of time, owing to many reasons it could be for early entry in the market, to stand out amongst competitors, and so on. In such conditions, outsourcing is the best option for an organization that needs faster mobile app development. This is because outsourcing teams consist of a team of experienced developers who work in synchronization. As previously mentioned, for in-house app development, a group of experienced developers needs to be assembled, which consumes a significant amount of time. Moreover, the expertise of the outsourcing team is unparalleled as opposed to the in-house team. The main reason is that the teammates need to know each other to run in synchronization, which can take years in case of in-house teams. Hence outsourcing is the best option for businesses when they need the app to be developed in minimal time.

#3 Budget

Assembling an in-house development team requires a big budget, and this amount multiplies if you’re looking for a team of professionals. For small businesses and those not entirely into software development, hiring an entire development team then spending on their training and incentives becomes a costly task. Moreover, it’s not wise to spend too much money when the quality, as well as the time it’ll take to deliver the project, is not assured. In such times outsourcing app development is a better choice that promises quality app development in less time and with expertise. App development service seekers must check the list of top mobile app development companies cataloged by GoodFirms to find the right service provider matching your needs.

#4 When app development is a core function for a business

Till now, we discussed the cases where mobile app development was not a core function of a business. Let’s discuss what to choose when app development is the core functionality of a business. For example, an e-commerce industry’s most of the functions revolve around its app. For such companies, it’s advisable to assemble a development team for the long run. They can choose to outsource some parts of the development but should keep it as minimal as possible, as it’s essential for the businesses not to depend wholly on external media when dealing with the core function of the business. In such cases, an in-house development team acquires sufficient knowledge about the business and can prove cheaper in the long run. For example, an application needs to be constantly updated, tested to find security loopholes and ensure that customers are happy. So, in the long run, hiring an outsourcing company is a bit expensive and unreliable. In contrast, an in-house development team is pretty reliable for future app development endeavors.

#5 For better communication between teams

As discussed above, when a business’s core function revolves around the mobile app, it’s advisable to work with an in-house development team. One more reason behind this is that the in-house team becomes more reliable over a period than outsourcing teams in the long run. Because when the teams have adequate resources and have worked together for a long time, the communication gap that usually exists while assembling the team, in the beginning, is reduced considerably. In the long run, better communication between the teams and the businesses plays a significant role in establishing synchronization to deploy constant updates and build faster apps. Moreover, the in-house development team is better acquainted with the undertaking and happenings inside the company; hence they can deliver better results than an outsourcing company.

#6 Total control over the development cycle

One more reason why some companies prefer in-house app development instead of outsourcing is that the former allows the business to have total control of the development cycle. While outsourcing the project, the companies have little or almost no control over the development phase. Hence, there are chances that due to a lack of control over development, the delivered project might not match the business’s expectations. Hence under this type of situation, companies should go for in-house app development. But again, this case is suitable only to those businesses where apps run their business.

Wrapping up

Today, mobile apps have become necessary for businesses to stay in the competition and improve their outreach among customers. For some businesses, mobile app development is a core activity in their functioning, while it’s just a one-time investment for others. Hence the way to get the app built varies between in-house app development and outsourcing. In this post, we mentioned different conditions and app development methods that should be considered in such times. This post will certainly help businesses decide what is better, in-house mobile app development or outsourcing.

Author Bio- Hi There, I am Shaun Williams, a content writer with Goodfirms, a research platform for Cloud Computing, Ecommerce companies, Translation services companies, among many others. I enjoy communicating ideas and knowledge creatively and also ensure that the readers never suffer from boredom while reading my posts.