We receive calls almost every day from outsource companies in India and elsewhere in Eastern Europe and Asia with offers to do our website programming.  Sometimes I have trouble understanding the callers, but none-the-less my standard response is “We do not outsource.” Now these callers are seasoned sales people so they generally reply with “Why not?  Its cheaper.” Yes it may start out as cheaper, but with less project control it’s likely the project could creep beyond the quoted scope. But even beyond these pricing considerations are a host of potential communication and timing problems.

We prefer to do all of our design and development in-house relying on our permanent staff and local contractors. We like the face-to-face meetings and the ability to bring our programmers along on client visits if appropriate. Furthermore we appreciate working with staff in the same time zone for easy daytime business hours communications.

As the adage goes “You get what you pay for.” Our experience has taught us that awarding projects to web developers who simply have the lowest price often backfires for clients. As custom website designers and developers we prefer to be awarded projects that fit our in-house capabilities and with clients who appreciate the value-added services we can bring to the table.

In summary here’s a brief list of pros and cons to outsourcing:

Pros:

• Lower cost, if all goes well.

Cons:

• Less project control.
• Communicating with people whose English may be hard to understand.
• Time difference with distant countries.
• Not “Made in America”.

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