Keep It In-House or Outsource? The Pros and Cons of Both Models

As a business grows, its needs and requirements will naturally need to expand, but there are many different ways to respond to this. A lot of business owners will have to consider the choice between keeping developments in-house or choosing to outsource them to external providers. Read on to find out about the advantages and disadvantages of each, to help you decide the best approach for your business.

Keeping it in-house

One of the biggest advantages of keeping it in the company is that your business will easily have access to services at any time. If you’re working on-site together, then there is a great advantage to having face-to-face contact and communication, which can often greatly simplify problem-solving. Instead of having to go through a lengthy series of email requests, calls, and discussions, simply being able to walk over to a colleague’s desk to address an immediate problem is much easier.

Of course, keeping services in-house will often require some investment in training, support, equipment, and more. This often requires careful consideration about where to invest resources to grow your business in the best way. While keeping services in-house can be costly, in the long-term, this can be beneficial if this is a service you will need on a long-term basis.

Deciding to out-source

Out-sourcing, by contrast, involves enlisting an external provider to meet service requirements as and when you need them. This can be highly advantageous when it is a specialist service, such as needing IT support from a company like Online Computers. If your business does not already have the technical capacity to meet a service like this in-house, then it can end up being expensive and time-consuming to train or hire staff and design the right kind of internal support for what is needed.

Of course, with out-sourcing, there is a certain lack of control as you cannot easily determine how and when things are done. As a client for an external provider, you may face some delays in addressing issues if they happen to have a busier workload than usual. It also requires more diligent and transparent communication, and you will need to be extremely clear in what needs to be addressed to avoid delays and miscommunication.

These issues can often be addressed by partnering with a diligent and experienced service provider who is willing to communicate with your business and liaise with the relevant partners in your organization to get tasks resolved. While this might take a little more time to find the right external provider, it can over time be a great partnership, as it can save time and money, as well as give you the confidence that you have trained experts to meet your needs whenever required.

While there are both advantages and disadvantages to keeping things in-house versus outsourcing, when it comes to services, it will often depend on individual circumstances and requirements and what your business needs.