The decision about whether to produce a project internally or externally is an important one that merits thorough consideration of many issues. A sound place to begin is with the three dimensions of project management time, task, and resources. The project needs within the context of the organization s overriding Web strategy should guide the decision.

A company getting ready to launch its first website will probably opt for a significant amount of assistance from an outside development firm. Once the site is up and running, maintenance duties can usually transfer to the client (often with the ongoing assistance of the original development firm). Internal personnel often maintain and develop intranet websites, which run on a company s private network, but this function can also be outsourced. Most commonly, a hybrid approach is used, in which some aspects are handled by the client, some by the developer, and some cooperatively, as shown in Figure 7.1.

Figure 7.1: Internal/external/hybrid development tasks, a commonly used strategy.

We ll compare inside versus outside development in the following areas:

• Expertise

• Cost

• Control

• Teamwork

• Time and scheduling

• Investment and core functions

Table 7.1 provides a quick overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the two different approaches.