Save a Dollar. Lose 100 Dollars.

After seeing all the blog activity on Liferay.com as of late, I was looking for something to really reach out and inspire me to write an entry as well. Well, today a fellow froworker (friend and coworker) emailed me the following link to a MySQL blog:

http://www.mysqlperformanceblog.com/2008/04/30/can-having-information-public-hurt-consulting-business/

Within the blog entry, a particular paragraph stuck out to me:

"We know extensive knowledge is important for complex cases. If we get sore throat (simple problem) we just go to the store and get over counter drug. However if we get red dots on the skin the way we did not see before we would likely go to the doctor to for advice. There are many things which causes such symptoms and special skills is required come with diagnoses. There are surely a lot of information on the Internet which would fit description “red dots on the skin” but special skill is required what you’re dealing with."

That's exactly right. I see this happen so many times where a company tries to save a money by going with a third-party firm. The reality is, however, that by trying to save money in the short-term, companies can potentially hurt themselves in the long-term. Now, that isn't to say that third-party firms can't deliver a successful project. Look at our partners - they work together with us to deploy quality applications. 

There's the adage of "what you pay for is what you get". Sure, you might be able to get a $100/hr rate. But if it takes 1500 hours to complete, wouldn't you have been better off paying $200/hr if it would've only taken 500 hours to complete? Or even, let's assume that it was $100/hr at 1000 hours vs. $200/hr at 500 hours. Cost-wise, they'd be exactly the same. But you'd finish in half the time AND have the reassurance that you're getting quality code from people with the right experience.

The truth is, having written the code ourselves, or at least having the communication channels open to those who did, we can not only diagnose issues that may arise from our product (or customizations), but also have the capability to resolve them. And that only comes with expertise and experience.