Comments on: The Ethics Of Outsourcing Web Development

By: Floyd Buenavente

Floyd Buenavente — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 02:47:08 +0000

I think it all boils down to getting the work done.

By: Takuya

Takuya — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:45:35 +0000

Most of the time, clients will not be questioning as long as the delivered product/service meet to their satisfactory. For instance, Company A wants a web site, and hires a group of ppl to build it. But that grp runs into some trouble, and they outsource it to another web design services provider. As long as the terms and privacy are cleared listed, there should not be any problem, coz it's not like we are outsourcing to an idiot or anything, we are outsourcing to a PRO. That's the way I see it, a PRO getting help from another PRO should not cause any problem.

By: Jason

Jason — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 20:03:05 +0000

My experiences with outsourcing have been wholly positive. I’m primarily a graphic designer, and while I can usually figure out how how to get the functionality I need on on the web, I serve my clients better by focusing on design.
From a client relationship perspective, I haven’t found this to be problematic at all. I am earnest in explaining to my clients what I can provide for them, how much it will cost and when I can deliver. I complete the work on time, within budget, end of story. When they hire me they know that I will use all the resources available to me to get the job done. They may not be aware that I am outsourcing pieces of it, but I don’t think it matters. As an aside, I do include the sub-contractor clause in my contracts, but I’ve never once been asked about it.
Where I have questions are really around my relationship with my sub-contractors. I pay them $15 per hour for web dev work, and they do an excellent job. But then (in the spirit of capitalism) I charge the client $50 for the time spent on those tasks (still a good price in NYC) and still come in much cheaper than other people they use. My sub-contractors are pleased as punch with the situation because where they live, the average monthly wage is $20. They are getting paid HUGE compared to most other people in their country. But still- It doesn’t feel quite right to me. I could pay them more, but then that’s less for me, and doesn’t that contradict one of the main points of being in business?

By: Angel

Angel — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:13:55 +0000

I’m working with AOV outsourcing service a webmaster staffing company based in the Philippines. So far, I can see that we are doing great though some of our clients are really skeptical at first we prove that we are worth what they are paying for.

Sorry for the first comment… kindly delete that one.. i hit the enter key. :)

By: gh3

gh3 — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 00:01:08 +0000

I think that outsourcing is not a mere trouble for the customer and for this reason i don’t think i have to warn about my decision to use outsourced resources, due to the fact that for it/him/her the satisfaction is directly connected to the evidence that the product i’m selling respects all their requirements and it’s fully functional.

The decision to externalize some part of the production so it’s at least a problem for me, i’ll have to pay lot of attention on people i want to work with, and the risk is directly connected to me or my society at first, and then to the project itself, but if something goes work i’ll have to pay the consequences of my decision.

By: Gabrielle

Gabrielle — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:00:41 +0000

I’ve done this a number of times. Although I own a small company with two employees we certainly can’t do everything and I find that outsourcing is definitely the way to go.

The easiest solution to the ethical dilemma is to put a small clause in your contract that allows you to do this without compunction. Mine reads:

10. Assignment of Project. 12Strong WebSolutions reserves the right to assign subcontractors to this
project to insure the right fit for the job as well as on-time completion.

As long as you are providing exactly what they asked for and choose your subcontractors wisely there should be no issue.

By: Chris Poteet

Chris Poteet — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 23:35:36 +0000

I recently did this for the first time. I had a deadline coming up, I couldn’t figure out this stupid PHP script, and I was stressing. I started looking around for somebody, and I did find somebody.

He charged what I believed a very reasonable price, responded quickly, and delivered. I even botched it up and had to go back to him (note to self: don’t mess with it unless it’s broke).

I did end up telling my client about the outsourcing. I thought it might diminish my reputation, but then I realized that it wasn’t about that as much as it was about conveying to the client that I know when I need help, I seek after it, and I accomplish the task. I don’t know if he took it that way, but he never reacted negatively to it.

Good thoughts.