Ask HN: Should we bring software dev in-house?

Freelancers.

I would prototype this by duplicating a vertical slice of the business that is (presumably) well understood and easy to teach. Don't start with the hardest thing and definitely don't try to plan it all up front. Hire some cheaper contract labor to begin with. If you find you can't even replicate a small part of something you thought you understood, you should probably abandon the overall effort.

The last thing I would do is make some grand decision, locate an 8-figure budget, hire a bunch of people, and then hope for the best. Incrementalism is the key to not blowing this idea up. You already have a ~working system. Leverage the hell out of that. At the end of the day this is probably going to be more of a people problem than a technology problem - managing scope and expectations throughout, etc.

> Besides, can we even attract experienced developers to a non-glamorous industry like logistics?

Yes!!! Nothing a developer loves more is getting into a new market where their work will drive the business and will be seen as valuable instead of a necessity (cost center vs profit center)

What's your core competency? Does it include this software? If yes, then yes you should make this a core competency.

You need to partner with an engineer with a good amount of experience that has worked both in startups and established companies. You need to discuss all the intricacies and then they can tell you what timelines you will be looking at, potential cost, and potential benefit. Do NOT HIRE a CONSULTING company. I worked at one of these and it's a good way to spend $millions without getting much in return.

There are probably providers out there - they probably aren't very good and that's why you're not familiar with them.

I work at an in-house software development team, although it's a very small one at a non-profit, so not directly comparable.

But I would say you should know you are not going to save money by going in-house. The success criteria should be getting a better product that supports your business, not saving money. It will cost more than your current software costs.

i don't know what size team you are considering, but you certainly can't do this with less than 3 people, and that's probably too small. (not all of them are necessarily 100% "programmers", there are management and other tasks, more below)

I don't actually think logistics is particularly unglamorous, I think it's as interesting as most and more interesting than lots -- but it may not be interesting enough to attract talent at significantly less than they can make elsewhere. So you're going to have to be paying at least somewhat competitive salaries -- good news for you of course is that the job market isn't great now. But still.

So think about how much it will cost to have 3-5 (possibly more) staff at competitive for tech jobs salaries... is it still potentially worth it to your business?

If it is, then great. You've got to hire good talent, including especially someone skilled at figuring out what the software should do. Product management/product ownership with a dose of user research thrown in. This may or may not be a developer (probably not, but maybe), it may or may not be a manager of developers (maybe). This will be the hardest part of execution. Just doing everything you think you as the boss need, counter-intuitively, won't actually lead to a successful product at an affordable price -- you are wrong thinking you know what you need. (Yes, I can say this with confidence not even knowing you, it's always true).

Trying to copy everything your existing software does but then adding more -- or trying to keep all the workflow exactly the same while switching software -- won't lead to a successful product at an affordable price. Part of the product design isn't really product design at all, but business/workflow design.

You could considering hiring a consulting firm to write and then maintain this software as well. That will probably not be cheaper than doing it in-house -- (although it could be if your in-house plan goes seriously awry!) -- but may have a higher chance of success than building an in-house team (and getting the right team!) if you pick the right consultant. It also of course gives you more flexibility to cancel or scale down the project at any time if it's not going well, vs the emotional and sometimes legal or financial pain of laying off employees.