[How and Why] Outsource Your Mobile App Development?

To help you understand app development outsourcing deeper, we’re going to like to fill you in on all the benefits you might get, outsourcing options, and what the steps to development outsourcing are. So, if you find any of these relevant to your use case or you simply need some structured information to supplement what you already know about outsourcing — welcome!

😀 Benefits of Mobile App Development Outsourcing

If you aren’t sure in what way outsourcing mobile app development can help to build your digital product, it’ll be great to take a look at key benefits of this approach.

# 1: Cost-Effectiveness 💲

Outsourcing can help with minimizing costs in several ways:

1. You don’t have to spend a budget on creating an in-house development team or building the needed expertise.
2. There won’t be a necessity to purchase equipment or service subscriptions for the development since development companies already have everything. Even if they don’t, it won’t be your concern.
3. Outsource teams’ hourly rates are usually lower than wages you’ll have to pay your in-house workers to stay competitive.
4. Development companies have a full-cycle product delivery process established, thus, this weight is off your shoulders.

When outsourcing them, you don’t need to allocate time and other resources for micromanagement. Development agencies usually have a person (a project manager in most cases) who constantly supervises the whole process, discusses its details with you, reports on its progress, and so on.

📑 Outsource App Development Options

There are several options for outsourcing app development:

• Buying an off-the-shelf solution.
• Hiring a freelancer.
• Partnering with a development agency.

Let’s take a look at each one of them separately.

Ready-to-Use Apps

This option implies that you don’t write the code for your app but simply purchase a pre-built app template and slightly adjust its UI design to meet your brand style as much as possible. However, the functionality isn’t changeable in most cases. This type of digital product is also called a white-label app.

This option might be the most suitable for you if you:

• prioritize quality over speed;
• have enough budget to cover agency fees;
• have 1-4 months to build an app (depending on the scope of work and tech complexity);
• want to have a formalized partnership;
• are planning to build a technologically advanced app or require niche specialists (for AR/VR, machine learning, etc.).

How to Choose the Right Option?

In case those factors and use cases we’ve listed in each subsection didn’t help you identify what’s the most suitable option for you, we’ve created this quiz that will help you decide:

Follow the Link to Take the Test! 🚀

Surely, the results aren’t absolute and you can go for any option you want. They only match you with the option that’s most suitable for you based on your answers. If you’d like a more detailed explanation, you can share the details of your use case with us!

📋 Step-by-Step Guide on Outsourcing Mobile App Development

So, if you’re planning on outsourcing an app with the help of freelancers or development agencies, these are the steps you should take:

1. Think your idea out and specify requirements for the app.
2. Search for the perfect partner.
3. Interview them and make the final choice.
4. Draw up a plan of development and define the milestones.
5. Sign a contract and an NDA.
6. Build and test the app.
7. Release it!

So as to be aware of potential pitfalls, you can check out our article on 8 critical mistakes when outsourcing your app development:

If you’d like to maintain your app post-release (fix new bugs, make sure the app is compatible with new OS versions, release updates, add new features, etc.), you can continue your cooperation with this team/freelancer. Moreover, it’s a preferable solution since they already know your app perfectly.

💡 Takeaways

Even though outsourcing your app development is much easier, cheaper, and faster compared to building an in-house house team, it still requires effort.

Let’s briefly summarize the key points of this article:

• With the right approach, outsourcing can significantly reduce development cost, give you access to specialists with diverse expertise, shorten the TTM, and allow you to focus on more important tasks.
• There are 3 main outsourcing options: white-label apps, hiring a freelancer, or a development agency.
• Fundamentally, there are 7 steps to app development outsourcing: planning, searching, interviewing, building a roadmap, signing a contract, development, and release.

If you’re looking for reliable and experienced outsourcing partners or have any questions, feel free to drop us a line. We’d be happy to help you!