Jul 7, 2025

When to build an extended IT team instead of hiring in-house developers

Do you have to choose between an extended IT team and hiring in-house developers? Your decision will depend on your company’s needs, the project’s nature, and the availability of skills. Read the article and discover the essential information. 

When is IT outsourcing a good choice for business? 6 situations 

Sometimes bringing in external developers just makes more sense – especially when time, budget, or access to talent is limited. If your company is facing one of the situations below, outsourcing might be the most practical and effective option. 

You need to expand your team quickly 

When you need to hire more developers quickly, e.g., due to a new project or a sudden workload increase, hiring external specialists allows you to expand your team immediately without a lengthy recruitment process. 

Your project has a specific end date 

If your project is time-limited or you are unsure about the long-term need for specific skills, working with extended IT teams allows you to scale your resources flexibly. With IT outsourcing, you hire experts only for the duration of the project, and once it is completed, you end the contract and move on to other tasks. 

Your in-house team lacks specific competencies 

Your in-house developers may not be familiar with specific technologies, such as AI or blockchain. Working with an IT outsourcing company allows you to quickly access experts with specific skills that are hard to find in the local market. 

You need to reduce fixed costs 

By hiring external developers, you avoid paying for long-term recruitment processes, training, benefits, equipment, and office space for extra people. The costs of working with an extended IT team are predictable and limited to the actual project needs. 

You require a flexible approach to cooperation 

While working with an IT outsourcing company, you can easily increase or reduce the size of your team depending on your current business needs. When there are no tasks for extra developers in your project, they get assigned to work with other clients. 

You want to speed up time-to-market 

A quick start of cooperation with external IT specialists significantly speeds up project launch. 

When is it better to choose in-house hiring? 

There are cases where building your own team from the ground up is the smarter move – especially if you’re thinking long-term and want full control. Here’s when investing in in-house developers might work better for you. 

You will be building and maintaining your project for years 

If you are planning long-term development of your product and want to build know-how and organizational culture within your company, hiring permanent programmers may be a better solution for your business. 

Your project has specific security requirements 

When you are working on a project that requires strict control over code, data, and processes, you can focus on building an in-house team to feel confident and secure. 

You need people with specific skills permanently 

If you will be working with a specific technology stack for many years, investment in a team of full-time engineers who know your project inside out is a good option. 

Choosing between outsourcing and in-house teams – what works best for you right now? 

If you want to quickly increase the number of people working on a project or need specialists with skills that are lacking in the local labor market, IT outsourcing will solve your problems instantly and let you finish the project. However, if you want to build a permanent and well-coordinated team of engineers, you can choose to hire in-house programmers. Remember to always tailor your decision to the current company situation.