Front-End Developer Outsource: Finding the Right Software Talent

Some companies still hesitate to outsource front-end developers simply because they think outsourcing is merely a trend. That’s far from the truth, as outsourcing software development has proven to be a reliable business practice, allowing organizations to save time and money and opening up new verticals in the development world. The numbers agree, too, as indicated by Statista’s report, which indicates that global outsourcing marketing produced $92.5 billion in revenue in 2019.

In this blog, we will discuss how outsourcing front-end developers can benefit your business, how you can find them effortlessly, and the key things to keep in mind before hiring skilled developers via outsourcing.

Before diving into the why and how of outsourcing front-end development services, it’s important to understand who these professionals are and the broad categories they’re divided into.

Front-end developers design and develop applications or websites using web technologies such as CSS, HTML, JavaScript, and DOM. Primarily focusing on user experience, these developers form a crucial part of every web development team, responsible for creating the overall look of a software solution or product.

When considering your options for front-end developer outsourcing, there are three main categories you can choose from, depending on your needs: junior, intermediate (mid-level), and senior front-end developers.

Usually, a junior front-end developer possesses 0-2 years of experience. While they’re familiar with some programming languages, they know CSS, JavaScript, HTML, and occasionally other frameworks, such as React, Angular, etc. Such a professional will suit you if you’re looking to outsource a front-end developer with a low salary and small projects. More often than not, these junior developers have the hunger to prove themselves and will work hard. However, lacking the experience of their senior counterparts, they work slower and might not possess the complete skillset your project may require.

Seniority is a product of several years of experience, so a mid-level or intermediate front-end developer is a safe bet for most companies. Apart from the basics, these developers also have a thorough knowledge of jQuery, version control systems such as Git, process automation tools, task builder and runner tools, cross-browser development, and other advanced areas. It would be beneficial to have a higher budget for outsourcing an intermediate front-end developer. These professionals can examine your business goals and budget and propose the best-suited alternative solutions.

On the contrary, if you have the budget and are looking to fill a senior position to handle big projects, then a senior front-end developer is your only option. They are not only a quick and efficient developer but also a professional with the expertise needed to build high-quality code for a seamless UI for your product. Moreover, these outsourced developers wouldn’t require much time for onboarding and can work with minimal supervision.

Irrespective of your business size, there are various advantages when you choose the route to outsource a front-end developer. Apart from reducing the burden of software development from your shoulders, outsourcing also helps you to avoid resorting to entrusting your organizational and development-related processes to an entirely different entity.

Let’s take a closer look at the major benefits of outsourcing front-end developers.

Recent statistics from Deloitte show that companies that outsource talent can save almost 70% on expenditure.

If you’re wondering why, it is because an outsourcing company will save you time and money. Usually, you would spend a hefty amount on hiring and onboarding talent, along with their insurance and retention programs. However, a front-end developer outsourcing can cut down that cost drastically. The outsourcing vendor/company will usually provide you with a developer directly, eliminating the need to spend your time and resources on hiring, onboarding, and other aspects of employing a developer.

In today’s IT market flooded by innovation, the rush to launch products and stay relevant can create massive pressure. This is where time-saving can provide a major advantage, allowing you to beat your competition to the finish line by launching your product faster. This is a key benefit you get through outsourcing developers, as it will allow you to save crucial time that would otherwise go into sourcing and hiring developers, building your development team, and managing project-related procedures. Upon choosing a front-end developer, the outsourcing company can easily handle these for you and hence, help accelerate your software development processes.

The entire product development lifecycle is undoubtedly essential, but it is also where you will be getting bogged down tremendously. However, you can easily avert this if you choose to outsource a front-end developer. This would allow you to outsource your project to a skilled developer who can develop your desired front end and meet the pre-established requirements. You can focus your efforts solely on your core business objectives, marketing goals, and sales activities. Ultimately, this will help you gain a better overall outcome as you hand over the development process to a trusted professional.

A product you’ve already released often requires improvements if it doesn’t fulfill your company goals or meet your quality standards anymore. For instance, the product’s back-end may operate well, but the client side might lack certain features or simply may not be very acceptable. Companies usually choose the front-end developer outsourcing option to fix the client side if it’s not performing well or requires improvement. Doing the same can fix what you’re dissatisfied with and avoid draining your resources on redoing the product entirely.

It’s a misconception that the entire front-end development process has an equal load. In any given cycle stage, it can be unequal, and you may need to scale your staff up or down, which is what many businesses struggle with. Taking the front-end developer outsourcing route can easily tackle this as the outsourcing company will rapidly add team members or withdraw them from your project. Hence, outsourcing is a rather convenient option regarding staff augmentation and relieves you of the worries of hiring teams.

Yes, outsourcing developers from front-end development companies is a lucrative option. However, it entails certain risks, so we’ve listed the key things you must consider before opting for front-end developer outsourcing.

When procuring front-end development services, you must keep one vital aspect in mind: seamless integration of the developed front end with your back end. After all, that is the ultimate goal leading to an efficient end product. Therefore, you must ensure that your outsourced developers provide the API documentation to integrate your back end with the front end.

Front-end developer outsourcing ultimately means relying on an external party, in this case, the developer himself, for front-end development. Thus, it becomes crucial that you convey your vision, ideas, and project requirements as precisely and clearly as possible. More importantly, back-end and front-end development always go hand-in-hand. For a successful outcome, you must understand the outsourced developer’s process, work pattern, and method for effortless collaboration.

When you outsource front-end developers, you will most likely outsource from countries with different time zones. After all, hiring dedicated front-end developers allows you to access global talent, so why not make the best use of it?

However, this also means you will work with a team operating in different time zones. For example, you might be located in the USA, but your freelance front-end developer might be in India, which is quite the time gap. As such, it’s key to consider time differences and figure out a suitable overlap, allowing you to coordinate effectively and maintain peak engagement.

Now that we’ve covered the specifics of outsourcing, you might have decided to outsource front-end developers for your next project. However, if you’re wondering where to begin, listed below is the step-by-step guide to ensure a seamless front-end developer outsourcing process.

The first step of front-end developer outsourcing can make or break your entire developers' outsourcing process. Choosing an ideal outsourcing vendor is key to finding the right developers for your project. Your chosen workforce will drastically impact the entire development cycle, so your first goal must be finding talent who can positively impact your project. When choosing developers, you must consider professional skills and personality traits, as you wouldn’t want a skilled professional who unsettles your company’s atmosphere.

The procedure here is pretty straightforward. If you have the desired region in mind, conduct a simple internet search for it. You’ll find popular front-end developer outsourcing companies in that country. Next, you can check the company’s reviews on platforms like Clutch, Glassdoor, Indeed, etc., and their website to run through their portfolio.

Once you’ve found a suitable vendor for outsourcing developers, you must get them in the loop and send them your development plan. This stage is often deemed the ‘discovery phase’ and involves sharing a plan comprising user stories, roles, permissions, acceptance criteria, wireframes, etc. These details will allow the potential vendor to understand the product you’re currently working on and suggest developers accordingly.

Your vendor’s pre-sales team will usually handle this phase, coordinating with you or the project’s tech team leader to create the estimate. This estimate will contain data about the developers provided for your project and the time they will take on it. This estimation will help decide the costs, and the next stage can begin if the proposal suits you.

After you agree with the estimates, you and the vendor must lay down a contract with clear deliverables, timeframes, payment terms, failure repercussions, etc. Once established, you can sign the contract and begin with development.

Constant and effective communication is vital when choosing front-end developer outsourcing, as it involves collaborating with an external team. Even if some of the work is assigned to other developers, you will still be responsible for your end product. Hence, it would be best if you keep track of the development progress and conduct frequent calls with the outsourced front-end developers to stay on the same page.

After you’ve received the final version of your application’s front end, it’s important to revise if everything is working together like it is supposed to. The front end cannot be stand-alone; instead, it must work with the back end to produce a well-functioning product per your pre-established requirements. Once you’ve ensured that the application operates as per the formed documentation, you can proceed to payment.

So, this is how the ideal process should look when you outsource front-end developers. Keep in mind that once your application is up and running, the outsourced developer will work on front-end support and maintenance. Alternatively, you can assume responsibility after the developers’ work is done, depending on your pre-established agreement with the outsourcing vendor.

Many organizations overlook the front-end's importance, deeming it relatively easy. However, the front end portrays the first impression of your application or website, bringing in downloads, web traffic, signups, and other customer interactions. A simple, intuitive, and attractive interface can boost user engagement, which is why the front-end development deserves your full attention. And to do all this the fastest way without compromising quality or results, opting for front-end developer outsourcing is essential.

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