Outsourcing vs. In-house Development: Why Romania is the Best Middle Ground

Outsourcing vs. in-house development—a classic dilemma that leaves many company decision-makers in a quandary. The good news? Both options have their own advantages, and the decision depends on your company’s specific goals and needs. What’s more, there’s a third path you can take: a hybrid model.

In this article, we will analyze all three approaches—in-house, outsourcing, and hybrid development teams—pointing out both the advantages and limitations of each. By the end of this read? You’ll get a clearer picture, and you will be one step closer to making the right decision for your development team. Let’s get started!

Pros and cons of In-house Teams

When you say “in-house,” you automatically think of organizational culture, a close-knit team, and a sense of belonging. Even the word “in” (in-house) makes everything feel safer and closer than the “out” in “outsourcing.” And that’s perfectly normal. 

Advantages of choosing in-house development

Full control over team & workflow

You have complete visibility over how things are going: how the team is working, whether deadlines are being met, and how the product is progressing. For a manager, this control can mean preventing costly mistakes, as well as being able to make informed decisions.

Aligned organizational culture

When you build your team from scratch, you can align it perfectly with your brand values. This synergy leads to better communication, less conflict, and an overall more positive team atmosphere.

Face-to-face communication & proximity

If the team works from the office, communication is faster, as questions that arise are resolved on the spot and delays or misunderstandings that can occur in remote communication are avoided.

Intellectual property protection

With all stages of development handled in-house, you have better control over source code, data, and documentation.

Immediate support

Was there a bug in the app launched yesterday? Your internal team can investigate it immediately. In the case of outsourced teams, delays may occur due to time zone differences or other projects the vendor is already working on.

Disadvantages of in-house development

Higher costs & longer time to fill positions

In-house teams incur higher costs, both in terms of time and money. According to brainhub.eu, it takes on average 40 days to recruit an in-house developer. Add to that the notice period (in Romania, usually 20 working days), onboarding, and training. So, in the best-case scenario, it takes about two months to get someone on your team.

Additionally, direct and indirect costs add up. According to Glassdoor, recruiting a developer costs around $4,000 — not including salary, extra benefits, infrastructure, equipment, etc.

Smaller talent pool

If you’re located in a smaller city, you might not find specialists for all the roles you need on your team. As a result, you may need to resort to relocation, which adds extra costs.

Fixed costs even without active projects

Even when you don’t have active projects, salary costs still apply.

Upskilling responsibility

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence shows how fast technology is changing. So, it’s your responsibility to keep your team’s skills relevant and up-to-date by investing in training and certifications.

High turnover rates

Good developers are in high demand. Even if you invest in them, there’s always a risk they’ll receive a better counteroffer. This can create ongoing pressure on employee retention.

Benefits and challenges of Outsourcing

Yes, outsourcing may lack the warmth of in-house teams, but it comes with advantages that are hard to ignore.

According to brainhub.eu, if you’re motivated, you can find an outsourcing partner within a week. If you want to look deeper, the process can take 3-4 weeks.

Benefits of Outsourcing

Lower costs

You no longer have to deal with recruitment, onboarding, payroll, equipment, or infrastructure. You can hire a fully trained and equipped team. Discover more about software outsourcing costs in our dedicated article.

Larger talent pool

You have access to a much larger pool of specialists from all over the world. You are no longer limited geographically or to your local job market.

Faster time to market

An already formed external team can start work immediately. This saves time because you don’t have to recruit, onboard, and train each employee individually.

Scalability

Need 10 developers next month? No problem. Want to reduce the team to 3 developers next season? You can. Outsourcing vendors offer the flexibility you can’t achieve with in-house teams.

Different outsourcing models

• Nearshore outsourcing—working with a team or company located in a geographically close country with a similar time zone. For example, if you’re in Western Europe, you can choose nearshore outsourcing to Romania, due to cultural proximity, a similar time zone, and better prices.
• Offshore outsourcing—involves outsourcing to more distant countries (example: America with Romania)

Challenges of Outsourcing

Lack of direct control

You don’t have the same day-to-day visibility into how things are working, so it’s important to set clear goals and expectations from the start.

Time zone differences

If you choose a partner from a different part of the world, communication delays may occur. Always establish overlapping time windows for communicating with the outsourced team.

Potential communication barriers

Here, we’re generally referring to language barriers. Choose a partner with strong English skills or proficiency in the language you use.

Quality may vary depending on the provider.

It’s true. Not all vendors deliver the same high-quality standards. So, choose your IT outsourcing partner carefully. 

Hybrid approaches that work

If you don’t want to be torn between outsourcing vs. in-house development, there’s a third option you can choose: the hybrid development team.

Here are 4 hybrid approaches you can take.

• In-house core, external execution: you keep critical functions in-house (architecture, product management, and security), while outsourcing more technical tasks like coding, testing, and maintenance.
• In-house leadership, external development: involves keeping the technical leaders in the company, and the implementation team external.
• Seasonal outsourcing: this approach involves using external resources only for specific peak periods when demand is high.
• Geographic distributed teams: you keep the core team in your office, while collaborating with developers in other countries for specialized areas.

Why Romania is the best of both worlds

When it comes to outsourcing vs in-house development, Romania is the sweet spot. Why? Because it offers every decision-maker’s dream: competitive costs + great technical value. The country has an active IT community with over 190,000 developers. Its education system produces thousands of engineers and IT specialists every year, all trained to international standards.

• Western-like work culture – Romanian teams are used to working with companies from Europe and the US, with a Western mindset and strong work ethics.

• Legal and financial stability – Romania is a member of the EU, which means compliance with EU directives on privacy and data protection.
• Global recognition – According to a Belatrix (Globant) report, Romania ranked 3rd in the world among the best countries for developers – ahead of the US, UK or France.

Learn more about why outsourcing in Romania offers the best of both worlds. 

Final takeaways

• In-house development offers control, organizational culture, and proximity, but comes with higher costs and lengthy recruitment processes.
• Outsourcing offers flexibility, scalability, and shorter time to market, but can pose challenges in terms of control and communication.

And yes, quality can vary from one provider to another. That’s why we — the BEE CODED team — build trust project by project, through real expertise and transparent work.

Which model do you choose for your development team? Contact us now and let’s talk about your project.