Skip to content
Webb Technologies

In-house, staff augmentation or a software firm: how to choose.

If you run IT or engineering at a mid-sized company outside the software industry, there's more than one way to get a system built. This page compares five of them on the same terms, including ours, and says plainly when we're the wrong choice.

Five ways to get it built

Five options, compared on the same terms.

These are general patterns, not rules. Contracts, providers and platforms vary, so check the specifics with whoever you’re considering, including us.

Hire in-house

Hire developers as employees and build the capability inside the company.

Best when: Software is ongoing, core work that justifies permanent headcount and someone to lead it.

Code and IP ownership
Yours
Who does the work
Your employees
Management load on your team
High: hire, lead and retain
Cost model
Salaries and benefits
Speed to start
As fast as you can hire
Handover
Not needed while staff stay
Main risk
Key-person dependency
More detail on each point
Code and IP ownership
Everything is yours, and the knowledge stays in the building for as long as the people do.
Who does the work
Your employees, hired for your stack, your systems and your business.
Management load on your team
High. You recruit, onboard, manage and retain the team, and set its technical direction.
Cost model
Salaries, benefits and recruiting costs: a recurring cost that continues between projects.
Speed to start
Depends on recruiting. Specialist skills, such as plant-floor integration, can take a while to find.
Handover
Not needed while the team stays. When someone leaves, what they knew leaves too, unless it was written down.
Main risk
Dependence on one or two people who hold the knowledge, and a permanent team is hard to size around a single project.

Staff augmentation or contractors

Contractors from a staffing provider join your team for a period and work under your direction.

Best when: You already have technical leadership and a clear plan, and you need more hands for a while.

Code and IP ownership
Usually yours, per the contract
Who does the work
Contractors on your team
Management load on your team
High: you direct the work
Cost model
Hourly or daily rates
Speed to start
Often quicker than hiring
Handover
Only if you require it
Main risk
Cost follows the hours
More detail on each point
Code and IP ownership
Usually yours, but it's set by the contract. Check that intellectual property is assigned to you.
Who does the work
Individual contractors, placed on your team and working in your tools.
Management load on your team
High. You direct the work day to day: priorities, architecture, code review and quality.
Cost model
Hourly or daily rates, paid for time rather than for an agreed result.
Speed to start
Often quicker than hiring, depending on who the provider has available and how quickly you can onboard them.
Handover
Knowledge tends to leave when the contract ends, unless documentation is a required part of the work.
Main risk
The budget follows the hours, and results depend on the individual and on how well the work is led.

A large agency or consultancy

A larger firm delivers the project with its own team, process and project management.

Best when: Large, multi-discipline programs that need many people at once, such as research, design and several engineering streams in parallel.

Code and IP ownership
Per the contract
Who does the work
A team with defined roles
Management load on your team
Moderate: you manage the engagement
Cost model
Time-and-materials, fixed price or retainer
Speed to start
Can staff up; contracting takes time
Handover
As the contract specifies
Main risk
Coordination across many roles
More detail on each point
Code and IP ownership
Set by the contract. Ask who owns any frameworks, components or tools the firm brings with it.
Who does the work
A team with defined roles, often including account management, project management, design, engineering and QA. Ask who will be doing the engineering day to day.
Management load on your team
Moderate. The firm runs the day-to-day work; you manage the engagement, the contract and the decisions.
Cost model
Time-and-materials, fixed price or a retainer, often with blended rates across roles.
Speed to start
Larger firms can staff up quickly, though contracting and onboarding take time on both sides.
Handover
Depends on what the contract requires. Put documentation and knowledge transfer in writing before you sign.
Main risk
Coordination across more people and roles. Project and account management are part of what you pay for, which suits large programs but adds cost on small ones.

A low-code platform

Configure apps on a low-code platform, often one that comes with tools you already license.

Best when: Simple forms, approvals and workflows inside tools your company already licenses.

Code and IP ownership
Your data; the platform is licensed
Who does the work
Your staff or a platform partner
Management load on your team
Moderate: governance and licensing
Cost model
Per-user or per-app subscription
Speed to start
Fast for simple workflows
Handover
Within the platform
Main risk
Platform limits and dependence
More detail on each point
Code and IP ownership
Your data and configuration are yours; the platform is licensed, and the apps only run on it.
Who does the work
Your own staff or a platform partner, configuring rather than writing code.
Management load on your team
Moderate. Someone has to own governance, licensing and the apps people create.
Cost model
Per-user or per-app subscriptions, plus the time of whoever builds and maintains the apps.
Speed to start
Fast for simple forms, approvals and workflows, especially on a platform you already have.
Handover
Simple apps are easy to pass on within the platform; complex logic can be hard for the next person to follow.
Main risk
Platform limits on integration, performance and complex logic, licensing that grows with users, and dependence on one vendor.
How we work

A senior-led firm, like Webb Technologies

A senior-led firm scopes and builds a defined project you own. This is how Webb Technologies works.

Best when: A defined system, such as an integration, internal tool, portal, dashboard or app, that your team will own and run afterward.

Code and IP ownership
Yours, in your accounts from the start
Who does the work
Senior-led, in direct contact with you
Management load on your team
Low to moderate: answer questions, review progress
Cost model
One fixed price per written scope
Speed to start
Once you accept a written scope
Handover
Planned from the start
Main risk
Not built for large or open-ended teams
More detail on each point
Code and IP ownership
Yours. Code, infrastructure and documentation live in your repositories and cloud accounts from the start.
Who does the work
Senior-led. You talk directly with whoever is writing the code.
Management load on your team
Low to moderate. You answer questions, review working software and make decisions; we run the build.
Cost model
One fixed price against a written scope. Changes are priced and agreed with you in writing before any work on them.
Speed to start
After a scoping call and one to two weeks of working sessions with your key people, once you accept the written scope and fixed price. The start date is agreed before you commit.
Handover
Planned from the start: documentation, training and knowledge transfer, so your team can run the system without us.
Main risk
Not built for large teams or open-ended staffing, and a fixed scope means changes go through a written change and price.

Rules of thumb

A quick way to decide.

The options also combine. A firm can build a system that an in-house team then runs and extends.

  1. If the work is permanent and core to the business, and you can recruit and lead developers: build an in-house team.

  2. If you have the technical leadership and a clear plan, and just need more hands for a while: bring in contractors through staff augmentation.

  3. If you need many disciplines at once, or a large program with several teams in parallel: a larger agency or consultancy is built for that.

  4. If it's a simple form, approval or workflow inside tools you already license: try low-code first.

  5. If it's a defined system your team will own afterward, and you want a fixed price in writing and direct contact with whoever writes the code: a senior-led firm like Webb Technologies is worth a conversation.

Is it a fit?

When we’re a good fit, and when we’re not.

Webb Technologies takes on defined projects at a fixed price and hands them over to your team. That suits some projects well and others not at all.

A good fit when

  • You have a defined project: an integration, internal tool, customer portal, plant-floor dashboard, mobile app or AI workflow.
  • Your IT team is at capacity, but you want them to own and run the result.
  • It has to work with systems you already run, such as SQL Server, Oracle or Rockwell FactoryTalk.
  • You want one fixed price in writing before work starts, and the code, infrastructure and documentation in your own accounts.
  • You want to talk directly with whoever is writing the code.

Not a fit when

  • You need ongoing staffing: developers placed on your team long-term and billed by the hour, or a large team working in parallel.
  • You need a vendor to provide 24/7 on-call support. We can host, support and maintain what we build as you need, quoted separately, but not around the clock.
  • The project is an ERP implementation or ERP replacement.
  • You need design on its own, such as branding or visual design with no software behind it.
  • Off-the-shelf software already does what you need at a sensible cost. In that case you should buy it, and we'll say so on the call.

Frequently asked

What's the difference between staff augmentation and hiring a software development firm?

With staff augmentation, contractors join your team, you direct the work, and you pay for their time. With a firm, you agree a scope and the firm takes responsibility for delivering it, with its own process and management. The deciding question is whether you have the technical leadership to direct the work yourself.

Is it cheaper to hire an in-house developer than to use a firm?

It depends on how long the work lasts. A salaried hire is a recurring cost that makes sense for continuous work; a firm is a project cost that ends when the project does. Compare the full cost over the life of the system, including recruiting, management time, handover and what happens if a key person leaves.

When does low-code make sense instead of custom software?

When the need is a simple form, approval or workflow, the platform is one you already license, and the app doesn't need deep integration with plant or line-of-business systems. Once you need complex logic, heavy integration or many users, check the platform's limits and licensing carefully before you commit.

Can we combine these options?

Yes. A firm can build a defined system and hand it to your in-house team to run and extend, or a low-code tool can handle simple approvals while custom software handles the integration behind it.

Why doesn't Webb Technologies offer staff augmentation?

We take on defined projects at a fixed price against a written scope, and hand the result over to your team. That depends on being responsible for delivering an agreed scope, which is a different arrangement from placing people on your team to direct by the hour.

How do we find out whether our project is a fit?

Request a 30-minute scoping call. We talk through the problem, the systems involved and what your team needs, and tell you plainly whether we're the right choice. If we aren't, we'll say so.

Before you decide

See what you’d get, on paper.

Two illustrative sample documents for an invented project, not client work: the written scope you’d review before accepting a fixed price, and the handover package your team would sign off at the end.

Illustrative sample

What a written scope looks like

Goals, what's in and out, the systems and access involved, measurable acceptance criteria, milestones, the change process and what the fixed price covers.Read the sample scope →Illustrative sample

What you get at handover

Repositories, infrastructure as code, the pipeline, runbooks, a data dictionary, the credential handover list, alerts, known limitations and sign-off.Read the sample handover →

Further reading

Related guides

All insights →

Not sure which option fits? Talk it through.

A 30-minute scoping call. We go through the project, the systems it touches and your team's capacity, and tell you plainly whether we're the right choice, whether or not you hire us.

Request a scoping callinfo@webb-technologies.com