Choosing a RoR Development Company or Developer

Ruby on Rails is a reliable and powerful tool used by companies like Airbnb, GitHub, and Shopify. RoR (as it is also commonly referred to) enables you to create high-quality products while promoting fast development. Even though it is pretty straight forward, finding the right Ruby on Rails Development Company can be a daunting task. Here is a list of things you need to consider when finding a company that fits your needs.

A Reminder, What is Ruby on Rails?

Ruby on Rails, Rails or RoR, is an open-source framework used for the creation of web applications. This framework is known for using readily available solutions to common problems, which helps you save time and energy.

It was initially developed as a side project by the founder and CTO of Basecamp, David Heinemeier Hansson. Basecamp was the first application built with Ruby.

H2-How to Hire a Ruby Developer or Company?

There are several roads you could follow when hiring a Ruby Development Company or developer; you could hire an in-house, programmer, a freelancer, or a development company. Here are some of the compelling things about each and their potential contras.

Hiring an In-House Developer

This is when you hire an individual to work on your web application project from your own office or while working remotely.

Benefits of an In-House Developer

Focus

A full-time Ruby on Rails developer will work on your specific requirements when you need them. If you employ an in-house developer, you can rest assured that this person will dedicate all their time to your project and will not multitask between different projects.

Communication

Communication is accessible with an in-house developer. You can surpass having different time zones and communication silos since personal interaction will make it easy for you. You can explain your expectation thoroughly, making sure you are being understood.

Management

It is easy to manage an in-house developer’s workflow. You will be able to accomplish each task faster, especially if you are using agile software development principles. This way, you won’t have to worry about increasing hourly rates.

Cons of an In-House Developer

Finding the Right Candidate

Hiring someone is especially tricky if you want a talented developer to join your team at your office. You are limited by proximity, and finding people in places where access to specialized knowledge is limited can be hard.

The Size of the Project

If your project is small, it is hard to get someone motivated to join your team just temporarily. People avoid having to switch jobs every couple of months. If your project is a one time job, it doesn’t make sense for you to hire someone directly, as onboarding somebody new can take some time.

It’s Difficult and Expensive

You need to provide your workers with all guarantees of the labor code of your country or state; this makes it especially difficult and expensive to hire workers if you are a small company with a low budget.

Hiring somebody in-house is a lengthy task that requires a lot of patience. Additionally, you need to have legal assistance so you can comply with all the local labor regulations. This means you need to pay for that legal assistance and an accountant with an already limited budget.

Hiring a Ruby on Rails Freelancer

Your second option can be to hire a freelancer who will develop your application remotely. Here are its pros and cons:

Benefits of a Freelancer

Lower Costs

Hiring a freelancer might be cheaper than hiring a developer in-house or a company. You can scan through different profiles and compare their skills, rate, and experience before working with them to select the one that fits your company the most.

This option enables you to only pay for the time a freelancer actually spends on your project if you agree on an hourly rate. You can also negotiate a flat fee for the whole project.

A freelancer will work on his/her own, meaning you avoid having to pay for a workplace, equipment, or any social protections.

Easy to Find

Location is not a limiting factor when working with a freelancer. It is easier to find a talented RoR freelancer that matches your requirements. Even more, you can find freelancers with highly specific backgrounds or experience similar to your project. It is obvious to say that the more precise the experience, the higher the rates a freelancer will have.

Cons of a Freelancer

Difficult to Manage

Distance and time zone differences can cause issues when hiring a freelancer since you have less influence over them. Performance, communication, and feedback can be delayed.

Trust issues might arise if you don’t have complete visibility of what a freelancer is working on. It is hard for a company to review how much time a freelancer spends on their project.

Lower Motivation Levels

In most cases, freelancers are accustomed to working on specific tasks rather than large projects. You risk them not understanding the overall scope of the app and its target audience. It is hard for freelancers to stay focused and motivated on the project if they do not have a clear idea of what it entails.

They might also be unwilling to stay on top of new tech trends and updating their skills. This is made even worse by the fact that a freelancer’s work isn’t usually reviewed by more qualified individuals, robbing them of the chance to check their code quality and learn.

Hiring a Ruby on Rails Development Company

You should consider hiring a Ruby on Rails development company if you need a team of developers to quickly and extensively work on your project and if you don’t have an in-house developer.

Pros of Hiring a Development Company

Flexibility and Scalability

Scaling up when working with freelancers is difficult. If the scope of your project grows, you will have to find additional freelancers and ensure proper integration with the rest of the development team.

Full-stack development companies count on different types of professionals ready to be added to your projects as the need arises. You can easily and quickly expand your team of specialists to make sure they can work on your project from the very beginning to its completion.

H5-Management Processes

A software development company count on their own communication and project management processes, which significantly reduces the amount of work you need to take on. By having one project manager from the software company, all stakeholders can remain on the same page and promoting transparent means of communication.

Development companies have their own inner workings specifically designed to make them as useful as possible. Taking advantage of already existing systems makes more sense since you will avoid having to figure out all these things out on your own.

Such workflows enable information to be passed to the right people, thus, avoiding bottlenecks or issues.

Motivation

Since a development company takes part in the complete software development lifecycle, those on the team will feel more motivated to successfully finish a project due to their business-oriented approach. They want to build fruitful and long-lasting relationships with their clients.

Validated Experience and Skills

It is easy to validate a company’s experience and skillset by looking at their portfolio and reviews from previous customers. Additionally, it is easy to find enough information about a company’s culture, goals and values online; this will give you a better idea of the type of company you will be dealing with on your RoR development project.

You will easily find employee feedback, client testimonials, and former employee comments to help you learn more about the quality of their work, expenses, reliability, and many other factors.

Cons of Hiring a Development Company

Higher Costs

Since you have more resources at your disposal, a team’s costs are most likely to be higher than those of freelancers or developers. However, these costs may differ in different countries. For example, the prices of a nearshore development company will be significantly lower than those of US companies.

Sometimes, hiring a development team can even be more cost-effective as you avoid paying additional fees like taxes, benefits, or training that you would have to take care of when hiring freelancers or in-house developers.

Not Worth it for Small Tasks

If what you need is a small piece of work, it makes more sense to hire a freelancer as it is not cost-effective to hire a company’s services. It will also be faster working with a freelancer for such tasks.

Why Hire a Ruby on Rails Development Company?

It is better to hire a development company if you need a team of specialists with different skills for your project, and you don’t have the technical knowledge required to validate their expertise. This is also a great option if you don’t have experience working with freelancers and would like to have your communication run smoothly.

Getting in touch with a company who will point you in the right direction is the best option if what you require is guidance, in addition to the actual work.