Contract with an agency or hire full time employees? This is a debate many companies have at various points in their life cycle. While the initial thought for many is to exercise due diligence and select one or the other, the answer isn’t black and white. Most companies inevitably arrive at the conclusion they can and should adopt a hybrid approach, which typically yields the best results and maximizes value for all stakeholders.
Many of our clients (particularly at the enterprise level) have their own FTEs who possess a similar skill set as our team at Calibrate; yet they still work with us for a myriad of reasons including ramping up resources to help tackle critical features in their product backlog and transforming the UI/UX of their web or mobile app to refresh their brand & create a more frictionless end user experience. Many companies also opt for this hybrid approach for the reasons detailed below:
-
Objectivity and Expertise. Agencies provide objectivity and expertise. They have a team of experienced professionals with diverse skill sets, including developers, designers, project managers, and quality assurance specialists.
-
Challenge status quo and Innovate. Working with an agency brings fresh perspectives and innovative ideas to the table. Since agencies work with a variety of clients across different industries, they can offer insights and best practices that might not be readily apparent within an internal team. This external viewpoint can lead to creative solutions, improved outcomes, and greater ROI.
-
Flexibility and Scalability: Agencies can scale their resources up or down according to project requirements. This allows companies to benefit from an entire team of experts (ie Designers, Devs, PM’s, QA’s, etc) without having to incur the cost or lead time of onboarding and retaining full time resources.