Forum Moderators: buckworks
i hope you can help me with this question -
basically we are running a high volume e-commerce site and have up till now been using a third party web development company to handle all of the technical aspects of the operation.
However - relations with this company have broken down and we are now faced with the decision of whether to go and find ourselves another web development company, or use outsourcing services such as elance, or simply hire someone with the skills we need.
Each option has pros and cons -
As we have found, using a third party company ties you to them and basically puts you in a position where they can charge what they like and do not have to try very hard to please you. Once you are tied in they may lose the enthusiasm they had when you had your initial discussions. This has been very frustrating.
We are now looking at migrating to a more widely used shopping cart platform (oscommerce) to try and avoid being tied to any future person or company. The theory is that the more widely used it is, the more easily we can migrate to another company etc. Does this seem reasonable?
The question we are now facing is - do we look to finding another company to manage the technical aspects for us, or do we bite the bullet and start to coordinate things ourselves - outsourcing technical jobs on an ad-hoc basis?
The other option is to look to recruit an idvidual with the skills we need. The only draw back with this is that if they turn out to be less than we hope for then we find oursleves in a similarly tied scenario as the underperforming third party company.
What are your thoughts on this?
I hope it all makes sense...
P.S. - if there are any OsCommerce experts in the north of england that would like to discuss this further please do get in touch ;-)
Sounds like a nasty dilemma you have found yourself in. I don't have an out and out answer for you, but since you have asked for some advice / opinions, I thought i might as well let you know my thoughts.
Firstly, third party companies can sometimes be a pain, especially if they are contracted over a long period of time. The company i now work for were in a similar dilemma just before i started.
They are a web management company i.e. they don't just build you a site ... they manage all of your web requirements from hosting right through to virals and PR etc. Most of this is done not just for a front facing image, but as part of the overall objectives of the company whether it be sales, brand awareness etc.
They used to use a third party company to do all the technical work. My bosses are all business men i.e. marketers, managers etc, and didn't have the knowledge needed to build sites etc themselves. They found themselves in your position. They were paying a 3rd party company who seemed to be losing interest, and were doing things at their pace, when they felt like it.
I was hired, so that all work could be done in house. This gave my company complete control over what could be done and when it could be done. All they would then have to pay was my salary.
It seems to have worked out well, as I have been there for almost 3 years now, and business is booming.
I think bringing someone in house could be a good option .. although it does depend on exactly how much work they would be doing whether or not it would be justified. Perhaps taking someone on part time at first would be ideal.
I think whichever root you choose you will be 'tied' in someway. For instance, choosing OScommerce would still tie you to that peice of software. What if after changing over to OScommerce they suddenly hike up prices for upgrades etc .... i don't imagine it would be to easy(or cheap) to just move to another peice of software.
I would (depending on how much stuff you are actually selling online) go with either hiring a new member of staff or a third party company.
If you choose the 3rd party company, just make sure you get to know them first ... and create a water tight contract so that if they fall below a certain standard you can do something about it.
Anyway, i have probably just confused the situation more, but i hope i have given you some other things to think about!
Cheers,
Webboy
