Outsourcing is highly beneficial, but only if it is provided by a reliable brand. Since we don’t want you to join the list of companies that have been burned by unreliable IT talent hiring, we’ll explain what to keep in mind when you’re looking to choose an outsourcing partner.

By hiring top talent around the world, a company significantly reduces labour costs and maintains impressive profitability. Would you expect that it’s Google we’re talking about? Even though the company is a tech giant and seems like it could easily handle all operations in-house, it still opted for outsourcing. Since 2018, the number of its external contractors has even exceeded the number of in-house people. Thus, in addition to working with the IT leaders it lacks, Google is also filling the gaps in its teams due to parental leave.

From a business perspective, outsourcing IT specialists is coming into the spotlight as a popular strategic solution to many of the problems that companies are currently facing in the marketplace. This is supported by the fact that the value of outsourcing will rise to more than $238 billion by 2029. Would hiring a reinforcement for your IT projects help you too, but you’re not sure how to spot the right outsourcing partner? At TITANS, we’ve summarized the criteria worth considering when making your decision:

1. Reputation of the outsourcing partner

Nowadays, it is easy to find out what others say about a company. However, you shouldn’t limit your research to websites and forums with extensive customer reviews. If you have any doubts or you are considering a lot of suppliers, contact at least a few of their previous clients to learn more about their experience. It’s important to consider whether the outsourcing partner you choose will be a philosophical fit for your brand and whether you’ll be able to have a long-term strategic relationship with them. They should understand your business, mission and goals. Even if the search takes time, it will be worth it because the right company will guarantee greater efficiency and allow you to focus on your business goals.

Pay close attention to the service model as well. Ensure that the potential partner offers a competent representative available whenever your business needs support. Most outsourcing relationships fail because expectations aren’t clear, the project owner is in a hurry to get it off their chest, or the company is too busy selling to know what to deliver. However, if you get clear on the needs and expected outcomes – such as your cost savings, quality improvements, efficiencies, or skill enhancements – you’ll get a mutually beneficial and long-term relationship.

2. The expertise of the outsourcing partner

Everyone needs top-notch software, but only qualified experts can create it. You can choose a company from anywhere for outsourcing, so consider regional differences and the necessary level of technical knowledge of experts in the sphere you plan to outsource. When choosing the right outsourcing partner, it is advisable to talk to people in your industry and, above all, not judge suppliers based on what they say, but on the results they have achieved.

Case studies can tell you a lot about what clients the IT company has worked with in the past, the tools that the talent supplied by them uses, and whether it is familiar with common programming languages that could be used in your project. For example, TITANS senior professionals regularly use their own relevant experience in IT roles similar to those clients are looking for. They attend job interviews to supply clients with external talent that best matches their requirements.

We also recommend that you check in advance whether the company you are planning to work with provides all the experts you will need to solve your problems. When you have an urgent project deadline and your partner doesn’t have enough experienced people available, it doesn’t pay off to wait a long time to find a DevOps specialist or for a developer to become available to you. At TITANS, expert recruitment teams only seek out proven and highly skilled people with a global market reach. What’s more, with the help of our unique software developed in-house, we can reach the right candidates for projects faster.

3. Budget

Although the main advantage of outsourcing is cost savings, you shouldn’t choose your partner only based on the price of the services. Companies differ in terms of the IT talents they offer, their knowledge and experience. Your challenge is to find the best value for your money. To give you an illustrative example: after TITANS allocates an IT specialist for a project, we continuously oversee a seamless collaboration between the company and the outsourced IT reinforcement. In the event of dissatisfaction with the performance or quality of the selected person, we find a suitable replacement within 20 days. In addition, our colleagues are in regular contact with all the Titans on board. They build long-term relationships with them and motivate them to perform at their best with a system of benefits and customer satisfaction ratings.

It is important to emphasize that outsourcing companies provide a high guarantee of the quality of services delivered and less risk than hiring freelancers directly on your own. In terms of security or reliability, they represent stability, which is essential for key projects, as well as the possibility of long-term cooperation. In addition, hiring IT talent through an outsourcing partner is charged as a service (investment cost) and therefore the labour costs are even lower.

4. Data ownership and security

It is better to avoid a scenario where your entire code or product is 100% controlled by an external company. Some companies are also concerned about the disclosure of sensitive data and information. The solution is to choose a reliable vendor that guarantees the protection of intellectual property and always leaves the code fully in your control, as is the case with TITANS.

We believe that if you decide to outsource IT specialists who come into contact with important data, you should enter into a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with them and make sure that the supplier is aware of and adheres to your privacy policy. If you are worried about losing the expertise of your professionals after the project has been completed, we recommend that you carefully arrange the handover of know-how and the preparation of project documentation before the collaboration is concluded. This approach ensures that the details of the solution being developed, and all the necessary information remain in your company.