r/dev • u/diggz5fk • 6d ago
Software development outsourcing saved us money but RIP velocity. Anyone else?
Don't get me wrong we're thankful for the partnership. We still got our mobile app at ~6mos at roughly 30% our local rate so it's as good as deal as any but it's taking us more time than necessary to make new feature additions because we have to decipher their code first. It's like being in an archeology dig.
Now I'm wondering if this is normal or if we messed the handoff. We might work with them in a new project so I'm partly daunting the post-launch already.
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u/UMIUSCreativeInc 11h ago
Oh man, "archeology dig" is painfully accurate haha. And yeah, this is super common with outsourced builds, so you probably didn't mess up the handoff as much as you think.
Honestly the velocity thing usually has nothing to do with how good the devs are.
It's almost always about what you got handed at the end. Like, did you actually get docs? An architecture overview, the "here's why we did it this weird way" notes, where the bodies are buried? Or did they just toss you a repo and peace out?
Because if it's just the repo, congrats, you're now a code archeologist, that's the whole problem right there.
The other sneaky one: there's a difference between owning the code and just having access to it. A lot of shops write stuff that technically works fine but is only really readable by them. Not always on purpose, but hey, it does keep you coming back for the next contract 👀
Here's the actually useful bit though. You said you might do another project with them, which is perfect leverage. Before you sign anything, ask them to do a proper documentation/handoff pass on the current app as part of the new deal. Frame it like "we wanna move faster on the new stuff.
" A good partner will go "yeah totally, makes sense." And if they get weird about it? That right there tells you if the velocity pain is a one-off or your whole future haha.
Anyway you're overthinking the "did we screw up" part. This is normal. Just don't sign round two without fixing the docs situation first.