The DevOps approach to project management incorporates lean and Agile principles. Drawing together development engineers, operations, and quality assurance throughout the life cycle of a project. Like customers and business owners, the stakeholders collaborate to deliver the software in a constant manner. This approach, as is evident, enables businesses to maximize the speed and efficiency of delivery.

DevOps project management often raises the question of whether to outsource or hire a full-time employee into the team. Outsourcing has its pros and cons, as does dealing with projects in-house. The former entails hiring external resources, such as agencies and freelancers specializing in a specific type of project. On the contrary, the latter involves working with existing employees and assigning them to the project.

Let us first look at some factors that promote outsourcing project management and some of the pros and cons involved.

Factors that Promote Outsourcing DevOps Project Management

Several circumstances may motivate an organization to consider outsourcing DevOps project management.

  1. Scarcity of Skilled Staff – Whether it is because of the scale of your business or inadequate staffing, you may not have sufficiently experienced staff. This may be an obstacle keeping you from setting up a separate project management office or PMO.
  2. Business Model Variety — Certain business models, such as the ad-hoc or one-off variations, prompt outsourcing project management functions. Hiring in-house, in this case, may not be cost-effective and may become an added burden on administration.
  3. Cash Flow Deficit — If this is a persistent issue, it may be difficult for the business to employ project managers and other specialized staff. In this scenario, outsourcing project management to a vendor working on a per-project basis would be a wise decision.

The Benefits of Outsourcing DevOps Project Management

  1. Lower cost structure — Outsourcing your organization’s DevOps project management is often more affordable than dealing with it in-house. Different project management vendors may offer different price points. With some negotiation, you can find one that is most suitable for your company.
  2. Greater flexibility — Handling project management in-house entails lengthy hiring processes and will be time-consuming. Outsourcing would make this quicker and significantly more efficient. You can also optimize the work hours of the vendors according to your needs.
  3. Higher competence and experience — DevOps project management is an extremely specialized area that calls for great skill and experience. The ability to see the bigger picture and considerable attention to detail are indispensable in this area. Outsourcing offers greater access to competent and experienced vendors than working with in-house project managers with limited experience.
  4. Object assessment of the current situation — Objectivity is often lacking in internal project management teams. In DevOps project management, an outside-in perspective is crucial for the project to be successful. Outsourcing can give you this much-needed objectivity.
  5. Quicker delivery — Outsourcing can be a poignant solution if a company needs to deal with a project quickly. Since it has more resources to offer, project delivery takes significantly less time.

The Drawbacks of Outsourcing DevOps Project Management

  1. Lack of institutional knowledge — Vendors, more often than not, will not have a complete understanding of business objectives within the company. This may give rise to conflicts.
  2. Potential breach of sensitive information — The potential breach of classified company information increases with outsourcing project management. The wrong hands could misuse sensitive information.
  3. Internal Cooperation – There may be some of your internal team that feels threatened by bringing in a vendor.This is usually a very small percentage of people and can be handled through appropriate up-front communication and transparent reporting.

A Winning Decision

Outsourcing DevOps project management does often come with a few risks. However, you can mitigate these risks rather easily. Clearly defining company policies and maintaining consistent communication can go a long way in such a scenario. All in all, the advantages of outsourcing project management far outnumber the disadvantages.

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