Learn how to save on cost and time by outsourcing software development projects and yet ensure seamless integration, testing and timely completion

Outsourcing software development is a better use of time and resources.

A custom software solution can lead to faster, more focused growth.

Outsourcing to a company like HST lets you access years of expertise through a flexible working relationship.

Ireland is enjoying a startup boom, with new ideas disrupting niche markets as well as the mainstream. For some, success means acquisition by one of the bigger tech firms. For others, it’s measured in almost exponential growth. But, for the other 90% of startups, success isn’t even on the menu.

With extensive experience developing custom software for startups, we know the advantages to hiring a team of experts. But it’s not just bias: there’s hard data out there which proves outsourcing your software development saves startup headaches.

Startups are lean and agile out of necessity, and out of nature. When startup founders are already filling various roles, that leaves little to no wiggle room for learning new coding languages and setting up bespoke software.

Not only that, It usually takes 35 days to hire just one software developer. And what if you need five of them, a QA engineer and a project manager… and you’re already marketing expert, HR and vice president all in one?

When you call HST Solutions, we’ll help you design your project, then implement full testing including bug identification and fixing. We maintain your software with regular updates according to your needs. All this happens while you talk to investors, grow your company, and do what you do best.

Enterprise level software such as Salesforce and Slack are big because they’re great at getting tasks done – but they might not do everything you need.

Custom software that complements your existing workflow saves you time and money. You won’t spend hours learning another software solution with hundreds of features when you’ll only use one or two, and it’s far more economical to plug gaps in your workflow, rather than hunting endlessly for the perfect all-in-one solution.

There’s no point in reinventing the wheel, at least while you’re still in the startup phase. In its infancy, file-sharing giant Dropbox actually used Amazon cloud infrastructure to host customer files. But even though Dropbox has since built its own storage solution, that move is not for everyone. “The right answer is to actually not do this yourself,” says Urs Hölzle, the former University of California professor and Google employee. Most startups, he explains, will never reach the lofty heights of Dropbox’s success. For this reason, big moves like engineering everything you need from scratch may come back to haunt you.

A better idea? Keep using the tools you love while working with software developers to fill in the gaps you need.

There’s a saying in the startup space: “Move fast, and break things.” While agility is definitely important, what happens when “breaking something” could spell the end of your company?

Online payment giant Stripe foresaw this issue early on in the startup process. As a payment processor, “breaking things” would involve customer transactions. As their software engineer Evan Broder says, ‘I don’t want people moving my money to break things. And this means that reliability and stability is much more important for Stripe than for a typical start-up.’

Imagine if Stripe hired inexperienced, in-house software developers who were more agile than good at their job. When you’re trying to challenge PayPal, downtime isn’t an option and the less time you spend on live chat to tech support the better. Outsourcing software development means that if disaster strikes, you’re always at the front of the queue for personalised tech support.

And if you’re a client of a major vendor, you are dependent on the master cycle of patches and upgrades and are unlikely to have guaranteed 24/7 on site support unless you are signed up to the personalised support package. As a customer of ours, you get all of this as standard.

According to Industry 4.0, published by Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering ,14% of funded startups fail because of mistakes in the hiring process. In other words, not having the right team is a serious indicator of startup failure.

When you outsource software development, you are taking on an external workforce with in-built chemistry, workflow processes and culture. You don’t have to onboard a brand new HR manager who isn’t clear on where your company is going or what is required from developers, and you avoid hiring problems down the road.

Not only that, but with another company with its own infrastructure taking care of your software development process, you never have to take care of training, vacation, tax and employee benefit costs. It’s all done for you.

When he invented corporate chat app Slack, Stewart Butterfield knew he was onto a good idea. He also knew he couldn’t do it himself – he needed to outsource a software development team to turn his dream into reality.

In 2012, Slack was born out of a partnership that leveraged secondary expertise and a fresh pair of eyes. Butterfield was able to concentrate on marketing and funding, without having to assemble a team with years of expertise from scratch.

And while you might think Microsoft is old enough to know everything about software development, even this tech giant outsources tasks to take advantage of years of expertise outside their offices.

Two heads are better than one, especially when it comes to growing your company. With HST Solutions, you’ll have instant access to a wealth of industry knowledge, without having to learn it yourself.

Outsourcing is a fast and efficient method to scale up and down in a nimble, flexible way… which can be essential not only for startups, but for tech giants.

Google famously has a team of 89,000+ in-house, formidably clever employees – but even they get sick once in a while, or need to go on parental leave. When this happens, or the company foresees a spike in work in the near future, Google outsources its software development to remain a household name.

According to a Bloomberg report, 2018 marked the first year Google’s contract workers outnumbered their direct employees. And in a competitive, high-pressure startup environment, the ability to react to challenges becomes even more important.

At HST, we don’t need to own a share in your company – or drink your coffee. We work on your project, and can scale up and down to your requirements. You can ask us to do more, or less, and we’ll always come back if needed.

It’s no secret that the failure rate among startups is frighteningly high – but it is possible to tip the odds in your favour. Even big players like Google and Dropbox were startups once, and one of the key factors in their success was knowing when to settle for off-the-shelf software, and when to leverage the expertise of an established development team. At HST Solutions, we’ll work with you to make your dream a reality.