We’ve all heard our fair share of outsourced software engineering horror stories: low-quality output, stolen ideas, late deliveries, flimsy excuses. Yes, some of the stories may have been slightly exaggerated for the sake of drama, but there is undoubtedly a kernel of truth to all of them.

Finding a reliable and highly-skilled software developer for your project can be quite difficult. For starters, you need to filter through the vast pool of fresh, talented hopefuls and narrow your options down to the ones who a) have the right experience, b) show a genuine interest in the position, and c) are a great cultural fit for your team. Once you’ve made your decision, your work doesn’t end there. You then need to invest time and effort into engaging and retaining your new hires.

In recent years, more companies are choosing to fulfill their software development needs through outsourcing. Of course, to ensure that the quality of the output meets their standards, it’s important that such organizations clearly understand the factors to consider when selecting a software developer to work with.

As the economy moves towards globalization, more companies will need to step up their game—particularly where software engineering is concerned. They need to work harder to gain a competitive edge over other companies by becoming more efficient, providing stellar customer service, and cutting their overall costs.

As a startup, you typically have a dozen different things to worry about and not nearly enough hours in the day to handle them all. On top of spreading brand awareness, you have to put 500% of your effort into securing sales and attracting leads—and that’s on top of nurturing relationships to build a loyal consumer base. With everything that you’ve got going on, are you sure you want to relegate a portion of your (already limited) time to software engineering?

As the economy moves toward globalization, companies are driven—now more than ever—gain a competitive edge through high-quality products and excellent customer service. These seem to be typical business objectives, easily achieved through technical recruitment solutions, but the corporate landscape has changed. Market oversaturation and a sharp rise in consumer’s standards have increased the pressure for brands and businesses to be “perfect.” They want to accomplish their goals without needlessly sacrificing resources.

With the demand for groundbreaking programs and innovative technologies at an all-time high, many businesses now find themselves in need of capable, competent software engineers. As such, this pressing necessity has given rise to more companies choosing to outsource processes such as software engineering to onshore, offshore, and nearshore agencies—regardless of whether or not they already have their own existing in-house development team,

Outsourcing is generally hailed as one of the most cost-effective options for businesses looking to hire specialized help for specific projects. Aside from the fact that it eliminates all unnecessary expenses—like overheads, training fees, extra supplies and equipment—outsourcing is, ultimately, the option easiest on the finances. Rather than paying software developers every week (or every month) regardless of whether or not they had something to work on, managers only need to pay a one-time fee upon project completion; no monthly charges, no annual costs, no tax additions … nothing.

Generally speaking, technical recruitment is a logistical nightmare. From the moment you post the job listing up until the end of the on-boarding process, your company has to devote a hefty amount of resources (both material and human) just to pick and choose the new employees. The oftentimes wasteful inefficiency of this option is what drives most business owners to outsource a dedicated software developer for most of their major IT projects rather than create their own in-house team. In fact, outsourcing is widely considered to be one of the best technical recruitment solutions available.

There are multiple advantages to outsourcing your software development projects, primary of which are cost-effectiveness and efficiency. By having an outside team of professional software developers turn your abstract concepts into working programs, you save a good amount of resources (like time, money, and human talent) you would have otherwise spent on finding, hiring, and training your own in-house team.