Your company has decided to develop an app, but you’re unsure whether to outsource app development or build it in-house.
Making the right choice is always a significant movement for the company, whether you are in a big company or a startup. This article will discuss how to outsource app development and provide some essential considerations if you decide to outsource mobile application development.
Mobile development outsourcing
Why choose to Outsource App Development?
If you outsource app development to an offshore team, you will gain the following benefits:
- You save significant money: It is a lot less expensive and simpler to enlist consultants or organizations to deal with an application on a transient premise, contrasted with purchasing a foundation and getting individuals to work for you in-house.
- You don’t need to concentrate your endeavors on the errand: Outsourcing saves your time so you can take a shot at other significant activities for the in-house team.
- Enlisting specialists and masters will give you a particular item: If you contract individuals who comprehend what they’re doing, they’ll give you an exceptional application.
- Spare time if you’re on a cutoff time: It’s conceivable to spare a great deal of time if you redistribute application improvement to somebody.
- Trust and security are constantly a factor: External groups won’t generally ensure the protection of your business if you don’t get them to sign an IP. They may likewise swindle you.
When is Mobile App Development Outsourcing right for you?
There are 4 main reasons why you should outsource app development.
- IT is not your core competence: A software development outsourcing company can use industry-standard best practices to ensure an efficient software development process and create or improve IT ecosystem performance and project scalability. Acquiring IT knowledge and developing an application on your own could take more time and money.
- You lack the necessary personnel: Even if you have an in-house team, they may lack the expertise to create a feature-rich app or use advanced technologies such as AI, AR, VR, etc. Outsourcing companies can provide on-demand engineers with rare or unique skills on a project-by-project or one-time basis.
- You’re on a limited budget: Outsourcing is an excellent option if you’re on a tight budget because it offers lower rates and eliminates back-office expenses.
- Faster time to the market: You save time on hiring and training by using a dedicated team. Sourcing, hiring, and training employees to complete the task on your own could result in significant delays in project delivery.
If you find yourself in these situations, application development outsourcing is a great option.
How to Outsource Mobile App Development?
Here are 5 simple recommended steps for successful app outsourcing.
Outsource apps step by step
1. Investigate your idea
Nobody understands your company’s core values and products better than you. Even if you have a professional outsourcing company to help you develop apps, you must have your vision of the products. Having a clear idea of what you’re going to do also aids in the selection of suitable outsourcing partners.
Furthermore, precise needs outlines are essential for good communication and negotiation when working with individual app developers rather than a company. As a result, put your mind to determining the requirement to avoid further misunderstandings during the outsourcing process.
Before outsourcing app development, you and your company should answer the following questions:
- What do you hope to accomplish with your app?
- Which features will it have?
- What are the primary problems that the app will solve for users?
- Will your app run on iOS, Android, or another platform?
2. Conceptualize your thought
Presently it’s an excellent opportunity to put your plan to paper. Plan your thought and perceive how the end client encounters them. Making a Prototype likewise encourages you to create and depict your idea. This creation offers headings to engineers. It additionally goes about as an advancement card, which shows the improvement of your Mobile App.
The model permits testing functionalities and stage similarity effectively. Show the client experience against different clients to investigate its incident, taking out modifications on the actual improvement. This gives flawlessness and diminishes improvement costs.
3. Estimate your budget
Calculating your potential outsourcing budget can assist you in selecting a suitable outsourcing firm. The contracts’ commitments vary depending on how much money you have available for the app.
However, a low price does not always imply a unique and high-quality outsourcing firm. At that point, you can consider other options, such as hiring freelancers to create something distinctive.
Nonetheless, the price difference between freelance developers and outsourcing houses is not too significant. As a result, it is possible to find a good mobile application outsourcing firm at a reasonable price.
4. Research developers
Thousands of app development firms are available, including onshore, nearshore, and offshore options. As a result, you must carefully select one of them that meets your expertise, skills, and technological requirements. Furthermore, geography and culture are essential factors to have effective communication.
5. Examine the developers
Your initial list of outsourcing providers who appear to meet your requirements, whether they are agencies or individuals. When looking for potential outsourcing providers, the list will be lengthy. Contacting each of them to discuss the projects may take some time. In this case, we recommend three strategies for narrowing the list and ensuring the quality of the outsourcing providers.
Where to look for Application Development Outsourcing Companies?
There are numerous ways to find outsourcing companies as the mobile development sphere expands daily. It is preferable to begin by asking your network about their successful outsourcing experiences and then inquire about recommendations from your shortlisted software providers’ clients in your region or country.
There are two main places to search for reputation outsourcing companies:
- B2B review platforms such as Clutch and GoodFirms – the best place to look for an app development company.
- Freelance websites such as Upwork, Guru, and Golance are examples of flexible online marketplaces that connect businesses of all sizes to meet their hiring needs.
How much does it cost to Outsource App Development?
When researching how to outsource app development, you’ll need to decide on the cost of outsourcing mobile development early because the cost varies depending on the project’s complexity, feature numbers, and region. Let’s look at one outsourcing app development process to see how much it costs to outsource app development.
Outsource app development cost
You will have to pay more if there are more platforms. Typically, the price for iOS and Android is twice as much as the price for an Android-only project.
The Netflix app with an appealing interface, streaming algorithm integration, and multiple payment gateways will require approximately 3,038 hours of development time. At $50 per hour, the project would cost $151,900 for both iOS and Android. In the case of cross-platform growth, the time and cost would be significantly lower, at around $83,545.
An app like Uber with GPS navigation, a flexible passenger ride option, and multiple payment methods costs $2,294 hours. Developing outsourced apps for iOS and Android would be around $114,700. Cross-platform development will reduce the price to $63,000.
If you hire a qualified mobile app developer, a simple eCommerce app with a product list, a cart, and payment gateways will typically take 2,500 hours. The production cost for both platforms would be $125,000. However, if you want a cross-platform approach, the cost would be around $68,700.
Edtech like Coursera costs between $50,000 to $70,000. Real Estate and booking apps like Airbnb can cost between $140,000 to $200,000. Customer loyalty and retention apps like McDonald’s cost from $60,000 to $120,000 per platform. Photo-sharing with social media functions like Instagram – costs between $70,000 to $100,000.
Simultaneously, the cost of outsourced app development is affected by location. Here’s how much it costs to outsource app development in different areas of the world.
App outsourcing cost by regions
| Regions/project price | Netflix app | Uber app | E-commerce app | Ridesharing app |
| North America | $455,700 | $798,600 | $375,000 | $477,300 |
| Oceania | $446,586 | $798,600 | $375,000 | $477,300 |
| Western Europe | $303,800 | $532,400 | $125,000 | $318,200 |
| Eastern Europe | $151,900 | $266,200 | $125,000 | $159,100 |
| Asia | $148,860 | $262,100 | $123,800 | $155,100 |
Wrapping Up
Mobile development outsourcing may be a more cost-effective and risk-free option for a one-time build. In contrast, an internal team may make more sense in the long run if you’re developing a scalable product that will be updated frequently.
In this guide, we have attempted to provide you with the essential tips and advice on how to outsource app development.
We are here to assist you if you are looking for a dependable partner who understands how to develop your app to help your business grow.
We are InApps Technology which has continually evolved over the past years to reach the forefront of being the best software outsourcing company in Vietnam.
InApps works across the entire lifecycle of taking an idea to market with ideation, validation, product strategy, engineering, ongoing maintenance, and growth. We partner with startups and SMEs as well as enterprises globally to help them solve their toughest challenges, mitigate the risks and bring their great ideas to life.
Contact our experts to learn more about the values we can bring to you and your company.
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