As we move into the global market many companies want to transform their businesses into digital ones. In order to do this they require a strong backing from a dependable development team. Making the wrong choice and setting unattainable goals could result in lower levels of competitiveness, as well as unexpected economic or social costs (e.g. the loss of loyalty to customers or the need to test).
What Are the Pros and Cons of Freelance Software Development?
Today, business owners have many options for selecting the best people to join their teams for development by employing full-time staff and outsourcing companies, and even having software that is freelanced by individuals.
Employing employees in-house may sound cheaper, but over the long term it can cost you a significant amount of money for training employees to create the product you want to sell. In contrast, the second approach is more popular due to the wide variety of options (e.g. digital cloud computing, business solutions, etc.)) and technology (e.g. Python, Java, or PHP) are offered. Costs are largely based on how outsourcing companies become involved in the project and on the scale of the project. So, adding additional employees to perform certain tasks is usually less expensive than hiring companies for a complete project.
Software development on a freelance basis is the only option available to develop software products. It is the subject of this post. Learning the basics will help you understand the way software freelancers operate and the advantages or drawbacks you could reap when you hire them freelancers.
A brief overview of Freelance Software Development
The idea of using an independent developer or team to develop software has recently gained popularity. There are lots of websites for freelance software development which allow you to find developers of various levels with a variety of technical abilities.
As per Evans Data Corporation, the 2022 year saw a total of 36.4 million software developers around the world. But, there isn’t data from a statistical study on how many of them worked on software development on a freelance basis, yet it’s certainly not an unimportant amount. Similar to full-time employees or outsourcing companies freelancers are generally responsible for developing the software, testing it up-to-date, and even making improvements to the software.
The 4 Benefits when it comes to hire freelance software developers
1. Sometimes you can save money
The cost for full-time software developers may be significantly higher than freelance counterparts. To be clearer, we must conduct some calculations and make comparisons basing them on their salary within the USA.
A full-time worker with a minimum of 5 years experience earns USD$112,921 as the median annual salary. A freelancer’s annual pay is calculated by multiplying their hourly rate by the average amount of working hours (1790 hours as determined through the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). In other words the Australian software freelancer could be able to charge you as much as USD$132,000, whereas that of a Ukrainian has a minimum amount of $76,970.
Another factor to take into account is that you don’t employ freelancers full-time. Thus, investments in developing applications that are freelance may be significantly lower. Additionally, business owners will have to deal with other expenses like company-sponsored benefits (e.g. insurance, paid time off, or tax on training for employees) or overhead costs when they employ full-time developers. So, using freelance services is cheaper.
2. Spend more time with business
Like outsourcing software companies, freelancers could assist clients in focusing on the core business tasks. Particularly when creating software using diverse programming skills isn’t their forte, outsourcing will prevent any unexpected costs from arising in the process of development.
3. Get a chance to connect with an array of talents
Software freelancers are rounded as a result of 5 platforms (e.g. Guru, Upwork, LinkedIn, Indeed’s Resume Board, and Peopleperhour) in the USA by themselves, not to mention any other software development websites. This means that working with these freelancers is an excellent way for you to connect with professional experts in the field of technology and also to collaborate on various projects.
4. Freelance software development is able to make products more efficient
They are self-employed and have an unstructured timetable. This means they are more driven to complete the final product in a shorter amount of time.
The 4 disadvantages in Freelance Software Development
1. Unreliability
Independently working is a two-edged sword. In addition to the benefits that are provided freelancers may also fudge around with their time, failing to complete their tasks in time. The reasons behind this issue may differ. Many of them are able to have multiple projects to complete simultaneously or find the current project difficult and boring. This is why they are unable to finish their assigned tasks and then drop projects half way through.
Thus, businesses themselves need to sign non-disclosure agreements with specific terms and conditions to ensure that everything runs smoothly; or A Plan B must be in place in the event that freelancers fail to finish projects on time.
2. Quality
Employing freelancers with experience will not guarantee the efficiency of software development. If you need them to take care of more work than they are able to handle, or both parties lack communication, they’ll offer low-quality service.
3. Planning
A company that outsources usually works in a specific schedule and time frame. Freelancers are also able to do this however, some don’t and do not plan their workflows well. They are then unable to meet no deadlines.
If you work with independent developer, you must consider them full-time employees. This means that you must develop and adhere to a thorough action plan in addition to including specific clauses in confidentiality agreements, if they exist.
4. Confidentiality
This is perhaps the biggest issue for all businesses. The survival of companies depends heavily on the confidentiality of their data and privacy, and nobody wants their information about their customers or personal data to be hacked. This is the reason why hiring an independent contractor can carry greater risks.
To avoid any issues regarding secrecy, it is better look over reviews of freelancers through an online platform before making any employment decision.
