When Should a Startup Outsource Ruby on Rails Development?

Ruby is a programming language with an open source and scripted nature. Because of its myriad of frameworks and libraries, it is useful for a wide range of tasks. GUI design, automation via scripts and web apps are just some of the things that it can be used for. Even though Ruby has been around for a while, it is up to the task when it comes to modern software design and continues to improve with updates. This is why you should consider hiring a Ruby development outsourcing company if you have no Ruby in-house developers available.

Ruby on Rails (Rails) is a server-side framework with a focus on web applications that derives from Ruby. Rails offers developers the ability to work together effectively due to the easy-to-read nature of its modular code. Combined with its strong automation features, including batch processing, it can be a great tool for web app development.

Why Add Ruby to a Company Portfolio?

Developers specialize in different languages and tasks. The larger pool of languages you have at your disposal, the more options you have in terms of building your company’s portfolio to serve client needs. This is why you should have at least one developer specializing in Ruby available.

By hiring an outsourcing company for Ruby development, you are expanding your talent pool. Depending on where you live, this means your company can start working on Ruby software a lot faster than if you were to find this talent in-house.

Why Add Rails Development to Your Team?

Rails can be used for very robust and effective web app development. It comes with the bonus of providing automation via scripts and open source code to draw from. Thus, collaboration is great and is ideal for startups that have team members working alongside an outsourcing company due to how easy the code is to follow. It is self-documented, after all.

An example of this is the software as a service (SaaS) business model. Applications that fall in this category run as web apps and are accessible across any browser or operating system. Companies running these web apps offer a recurring subscription-based model for their clients.

This is a good model for startups as it has low upfront and upkeep costs, is flexible and allows startups to modify code constantly. The apps do not have any system requirements or installation requirements. Thus, they can be used by a wide range of users and businesses. Updates can also be done instantly.

Ruby is great for this model because it is a framework designed for web app development and not just web development like other languages as a whole. Rails’ easy to follow nature and self-documentation feature also fit well with the SaaS model due to how easy it is to implement changes and updates: something constantly occurring with effective SaaS solutions.

Outsourcing Ruby Work: A Great Solution for Startups

Startups are companies that may sink or swim easily. They're often limited by venture capitalist funding and are pressed for funds. Thus, both cost savings and productivity are always crucial at this initial stage.

Outsourcing work thus makes a lot of sense for startups. Depending on where the company is headquartered, collaboration doesn’t have to take a hit. Nearshore companies will operate in the same geographical time clock as the startup’s headquarters. This proximity in terms of time zone can also reduce the language barrier.

Startups are often pressed in terms of operational space. They either rely entirely on freelancers and remote workers and find it difficult to hire more developers due to their limited office spaces. By working with a development company, they can still reap the rewards of Ruby development without having to expand their office space to bring new teams in.

However, time is a word that may have startup management interested. The time it takes from a concept to be transformed into a developed software product can be greatly shortened with Rails. The longer it takes to release a product onto the market and update it periodically, the more expensive a startup’s operational costs will be. Ruby offers code that is easy to follow, quick to implement and a vast section of libraries (gems) that will speed up the development time even further.

A Modular Method of Thinking & Coding

Because of the fact that Ruby, especially with the Rails framework, offers code that is easy to read, follow and interpret in modular chunks, outsourcing work for startups may make more sense than outsourcing work in other programming languages. An in-house team can work sections of software and the remote teams can focus on other sections in modules. Over time, this code can be combined from modular chunks into the whole package.