Outsourcing: The Newest Internet Scandal
There’s no doubt that outsourcing is hurting U.S. website developers. People are turning to others in countries like India or Malaysia to create applications and websites for them. They have much lower living costs, thus allowing them to provide their services at prices that are dirt cheap. But when a concept or idea gains popularity as quickly as outsourcing is, it’s important to take a step back and evaluate whether outsourcing is the best option for you.
Whenever I meet a client on the forums, about 2 of every 5 people have a story about being ditched and stolen from by previous developers and designers that they outsourced to. Many of these programmers and designers agree to do work, take your money and run. Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do about it. They’re in a foreign country. You can’t legally put them through the U.S. court system, as you would be able to with a U.S. developer. The point I’m trying to make is that U.S. developers are simply more reliable than foreign developers because of their location and common knowledge of the law.
I’m a big believer in the idea that you get what you pay for. What I’ve found with foreign programmers in particular is they do a horrible job in general. Sometimes, this is because they don’t understand what you want (due to English not being their native language). But often, it’s because they take such a large number of jobs that they need to program websites quickly. As a website developer, I know that programming websites is probably the most important part of the website development process. The quality of the programming determines the functionality of the website. If a programmer doesn’t take his time, a website won’t function well. And when you’re racing to get a website programmed like foreign developers do in order to get in as many jobs as they can, you’re not going to get quality programming.
Before I end, I’d like to address one of the main reasons I wrote this article. I want to warn you when using foreign developers by advising you to choose your developer wisely. Don’t get me wrong, there are some legitimate foreign developers out there. But the popularity of scams in the outsourcing industry in regards to website development has increased dramatically. While I do have a bias writing this article because I am a U.S. website developer, I’m writing what I’m seeing and hearing from clients everyday. I look forward to your comments.
Unfortunately the 2 times I have been ripped off both of the individuals were in the States. I am still waiting for a promised refund after 10 months. The legal system is not much help as the amounts are usually low. But rip off 100 people for $500 and that’s some serious cash. A wall of shame is in the works but hopefully the refund will appear before the wall is done.
Good developers are always in demand and charge accordingly. When it comes to Internet development, you definetly get what you pay for.
That’s so true, especially here in the Philippines. I’ve known tons of web devs and designers which have done this. nonetheless, there are still lots of really good freelancers and companies who can do an excellent job. It’s all about trust and knowing who you outsource your tasks to.
Although I can’t stand domestic web designers because they are slow, don’t usually deliver a product on time and give you a,b and c when you ask for d, e and f, you do have a point.
I used a foreign web designer once and had to have the back end fixed by a domestic web disigner; he told me the back end was a mess.
That’s why you use a service like elance that has ratings and reviews. If the guy has no ratings, run away. If they have 100 ratings and they are all postitive – there is a pretty good change you’ll be ok.
I agree but all are not scammers.
Yes but if you want to outsource a project that costs 5000 USD and want to get it developed for 100 USD by oursourcing it then you are inviting trouble for yourself.
A good developer always knows his value and charges according to it.
I am myself from India but that doesn’t means that I do code for 5% of the market price. It is not worth it. It is just a game for guys who think they know programming but in real they don’t know anything. They are just trying to earn money out of it.
If I live in India it doesn’t means I don’t want to earn more
I have hired many overseas programmers and many IS ones, and I found they both have problems, but at least I lose a lot less money when there are problems with the overseas workers.
“US” ones, I meant.
Most of the work I get is from clients who have already tried the cheap and fast route, or even worse, the local but unproven talent route. The former costs alot less but does almost nothing for you, whereas the latter costs as much as any real design company with seriously bad flaws and major performance issues.
Either way, it seems people need to learn these lessons on their own. Being naive about the web and how it works should not be an option for anyone.
This is true in all areas of freelance. I am a US based writer, and Im being forced to charge very low prices in order to compete. Hopefully my current customers can see that I provide good quality work in a time frame that is suitable for both of us. I always like being able to deal with honest people.
There is also the problem though of US based designers assuming they can charge $50 an hour for basic work just because they live in the States. It’s ridiculous and not always worth that amount. I’m not very technical, but I know what is and isn’t hard to do on a site – lots of tasks that people want to charge hundreds of dollars for are not that complicated – and don’t take that much skill. Designers should charge less for that…and will get more business.