Web application development is becoming increasingly important to all who look to do business and use the Internet as a marketing tool. It is the way to automate and increase productivity within your organization. It has become almost a necessity for businesses to incorporate Web application development in to their marketing plan. Many companies struggle with the decision on whether to hire a consultant or conduct their web application development in-house. Unfortunately many companies lack the knowledge about web application development and assume it will be cheaper for them in the long run to hire someone "in-house". For some companies this may be efficient while others the overlooking the hiring of a professional firm to web application development can be costly. It is as critical to your business? health as if you were to feel that you could heal a fatal disease yourself because you have access to the Internet and books instead of going to a highly trained physician. Now you laugh and say that would be absurd, but is the growth of your company worth the risk.

Knowledge - Cost - Time = Your Success

Web application development is an ever changing business. With new technology being developed like Web 2.0 and AJAX as well as new web standards being put into place, it is difficult to stay up on what is acceptable. One has to have the resources to find this information and understand how to implement the changes. An web application development firm is more likely to be aware of changes that can directly affect your bottom line as well as productivity than an in-house individual. Many in-house individual will focus on developing and implementing you a simple web site but typically remain in the dark about what goes on outside your organization due to they do not work with other scenarios. Outsourced web application development professionals must perform these same functions while constantly studying the industry, staying current with changing trends and familiarizing themselves with the latest web application development techniques. It is a part of their day to day business and necessary if they intend to compete in the marketplace and wish to survive.

What about cost? Surely the cost of hiring an individual is substantially less than the cost of hiring a company, right? This is a common misconception. Let's look at it this way. You hire a web designer whose job is to develop and implement a company web site. First, he or she must staying abreast of changes in technology to best serve the objectives of the organization and adjusts development plans accordingly. He or she may even be responsible for overseeing other aspects of the website such as the advertising and content components. In most cases the individual will be wearing many hats spreading them thin. His or her base salary according to Salary.com on average would be $85,703. That is $7141.92 a month and roughly $42 an hour. This is for one individual with hopes that they bear positive results. Let's say they do not. It will take 3 to 6 months to start to truly see if the individual is an asset or not. That is $21,425.76 if you decide to let the individual go in just the third month. Not to include cost of taxes and benefits. And if successful, your company just paid $85,703 per year for the company's web site design.

The average web application development firm charges anywhere from $5500 to $35000 to perform the same task with a staff of highly trained professionals in the area of web design, graphic design, writing, optimizing, web development, software development, web applications and back office development, etc. Even on the high end you are getting a staff to develop your entire site for around what it cost you to hire an individual in-house for a quarter. And if it does not bear positive results and you decide to terminate the relationship you will only have lost less than $10,000 if prorated based on the $35000. In most cases, you can even get some of that back. This logistically saves you time and money.

Would you agree that having one individual do the job of five is rarely a good idea? Would you feel it cost effective?

Time is another concern with in-house web application development. Will one individual be able to design layouts, develop multiple pages, write content, optimize the pages and perform other web application development tasks in a timely fashion? One person can only do so much. Hiring more staff multiplies the expense. Would you agree that time is money? Most web application development firms can do in a matter of days what might take an individual weeks to do. Many companies who use in-house web application development personnel spend more than necessary to get the same amount of work done in a longer amount of time. Once again you have one individual doing many tasks versus many individuals doing one task effectively.

In any case, is outsourcing the right move for you or your company? Whether you choose to outsource or not, here are a few things to keep in mind:

Do your research by performing a simple cost/benefit analysis on what outsourcing versus in-house web application development will cost. It cost twice as much when you do it wrong the first time.

Results are all that matters. Ensure they can provide you with a functional web site that work for your business as well as a diverse plan of action regarding your marketing incentives.

Things to think about...

What do others say about the company or individual? Ask for references and check them. But even if they have limited or no reference don't panic. Many professional firms hold their clients in confidence and do no give their clients' contact information nor tag the bottom of their clients' pages. This is a benefit to you as well as the intellectual property is yours and you in turn will not be called by future prospects of the professional. having a conversation regarding your project is the best option to see if they are right for you. If there are still doubts, test them on a small project and see if they bear results for you. This is a true way to measure if they work for you. There are many variables you may not have privilege to in a reference such as their personal relationship or if they were a part of a team that was successful but they contributed little.

Remember, web application development is important to your business growth and time is money one way or another. Do the math and ask yourself what makes sense for you.