• If you decide to buy software development, should you use a large software development company, a boutique shop or freelance workers?
o Large companies can do everything, but cost and flexibility can be issues. They may also be difficult to move away from should you want to move things in-house.
o Boutique developers will plug into your
organization and become more like partners than vendors, but you must have an in-house project manager to coordinate their work.
o Freelance workers perform specific tasks economically, but won’t have the involvement or commitment to identify missteps or make suggestions.
• You might use an existing software or a vendor to get started and then build on that, tailoring it to your company with contract
dev resources and in-house team members.
o Plan for updates, maintenance, internal and external user support, upgrades and security.
o Coordinate in-house dev staff who are loyal, committed to making sure the project is successful and highly motivated by building something new and cool.
o Be flexible. If something isn’t working, stop, go back a couple of steps and start
again.
