What Large Companies Use Outsourcing for Web & Mobile Development?
January 31st, 2017
Every business starts out as a small company with a potential to grow. Some grow slow, some grow fast - the rate of growth depends on a huge variety of factors. In this article, we wanted to focus on those companies that have outsourced their web or mobile development.
We will admit from the outset: having your personal team of software developers has its benefits.
Outsourcing web and mobile development, however, is a widely used practice - even in big enterprises. We have written when to outsource, what mistakes to avoid, where to outsource, so now you can check out what companies use outsourcing as their reliable development partner and see whether you want to follow their example.
List of Companies that Outsource
Github: how people build software
The very idea behind GitHub is to create a community of developers and create a place for them to share open-source code. Therefore, outsourcing web development to other developers was a smart move, since people could do the work from their home or any other remote location.
At the moment, over 10 million people use GitHub, and it is the largest code host.
Visit their website here.
Slack: where work happens
Slack helps you bring all your communication together in one place by making real-time messaging, archiving, and search available to its more-than-one-million users.
This company is valued at nearly $3 billion, but in its earliest days, they used outsourced workforce to develop the program and test it out.
Their website is here.
Skype: free calls to friends and family
You'd have to look hard to find a person who uses the Internet yet is unaware of Skype. These days, it belongs to Microsoft (that bought the company for $8.5 billion back in 2011), but back when they were just beginning the adventure of free audio and video calls, they used a team of developers based in Estonia to help build out their business.
Don't have Skype yet? Check it out. (They also have a Skype for Business now, which is a convenient way to share documents and set up calls.)
Klout: be known for what you love
Klout is a website and mobile app that gets deep into analytics to rank its users, according to online social influence.
To get its technology right before launch in 2008, Klout relied on many outsourced developers while its official team was limited to just 40 people.
Want to know what's your social score? See it here.
Basecamp: manage projects, groups, and client work
Over 15 million people have used Basecamp for personal projects or work since the project's launch.
They began back in 1999 (under the name of 37signals) but then changed their name to Basecamp, to match the name of their most popular product.
The central office of this technology leader is located in Chicago, USA, but there are also many employees (as well as outsourced ones) who live all around the world in 26 cities.
Need project management tool? Basecamp might be it!
MySQL: The world's most popular open source database
The original developer of MySQL was MySQL AB, a software company that was bought by Sun Microsystems and then by Oracle Corporation in 2010.
The management believed that if a growth strategy includes mostly outsourced staff all over the world, this will boost operations in each location. It looks like they have proved their point.
You can learn more about this relational database system on their website.
Opera: fast & safe web browser
Used by 350 million people worldwide, Opera is a modern and light web browser. The headquarters of the company are in Oslo, Norway, but they also have outsourced developers in more than 25 locations around the world to create and implement its platform.
Looking for a new browser? Try Opera.
Solix: empowering data management
Even the companies that outsource technology sometimes rely on outsourced talent for the needs of their business. This is the case with many IT outsourcing companies who use other partners as peak resources.
Solix, the leading provider of enterprise data management solutions, decided to take the similar path as well. The main rule in outsourcing: do not outsource your core business. Everything else is up for discussion.
Need data platform? Here's Solix.
CloudMunch: DevOps Intelligence
CloudMunch is a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) company at the intersection of Cloud, DevOps, and Agile development.
They used an IT outsourcing company stationed in India to accumulate talent CloudMunch required for its operations' start.
Get analytics for Development and Operations.
Mindspark: interactive network
Better known by its 80+ products than by its name, MindSpark's portfolio focuses on the browser and mobile applications as well as desktop utilities.
Like the other companies in the list above, this management banked on outsourcing providers to create its business and many of its apps.
Interested in hiring Grossum as your outsourcing provider?
