The global DevOps market reached $7 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $26 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 24.5%. This shows that so many companies and businesses are starting to understand the vast benefits and importance of it for business growth.
Modern software companies face intense pressure to deliver features faster without compromising reliability. DevOps, the melding of development and IT operations, has emerged as a key solution – 83% of CTOs say DevOps has boosted their business value. It breaks down silos between teams and introduces automation and continuous improvement, enabling high-performing organizations to deploy code hundreds of times more frequently with far fewer failures. However, not every company can build an in-house DevOps capability easily. In fact, only about 11% of organizations have the right talent to achieve a high-performing DevOps practice internally. This talent gap, along with the complexity of modern cloud infrastructure, is driving a surge in DevOps outsourcing – hiring external experts to manage development pipelines and infrastructure.
In this guide, we’ll explore what DevOps outsourcing is, why it’s so important, DevOps guiding principles, the benefits and cost implications, and best practices to make it work. Understanding these insights will help you decide if outsourcing DevOps and infrastructure management is the right strategic move.
DevOps isn’t just a buzzword – it’s a paradigm shift in how software is delivered. At its core, DevOps is guided by principles of collaboration, automation, continuous integration, continuous delivery, and ongoing feedback. By having developers and IT ops work together throughout the software lifecycle, organizations can ship products faster, with higher quality and reliability.
Several industry examples highlight why DevOps is so important. Amazon’s DevOps practices famously allow it to deploy code every 11.6 seconds on average – an impossible feat under traditional methods. Other tech leaders like Netflix and Google have credited a strong DevOps culture for their ability to innovate rapidly while maintaining stable services. In a recent survey, up to 70% of organizations identified DevOps as key to increasing speed-to-market, productivity, innovation, and service quality. In short, DevOps helps companies respond faster to market needs by streamlining everything from code changes to infrastructure provisioning.
However, implementing DevOps in-house comes with challenges. It requires not only new tools and automation, but also a significant cultural shift towards shared responsibility and continuous improvement. Many firms struggle to hire and retain the skilled DevOps engineers needed – DevOps was the second most in-demand IT skill in 2023, and talent is scarce. Building a full internal DevOps team and workflow can be time-consuming and expensive, delaying the very benefits companies seek. This is where outsourcing becomes the best option.
DevOps outsourcing means partnering with external specialists or service providers to handle your DevOps processes, toolchains, and infrastructure management. Instead of recruiting an entire in-house DevOps team, you leverage an outside team’s expertise to implement and run the practices that accelerate software delivery. This arrangement is often referred to as “DevOps as a Service,” where a vendor provides end-to-end DevOps support – from setting up cloud infrastructure and CI/CD pipelines to monitoring, security, and ongoing maintenance.
Importantly, outsourcing doesn’t change what DevOps is – it simply delegates the work. The outsourced DevOps team will still follow core DevOps methodologies and work closely with your developers. In fact, the workflow stages remain the same: continuous development, integration, testing, deployment, monitoring, and feedback in a loop. What changes is who is doing the heavy lifting. For organizations that lack in-house expertise, outsourcing provides “instant” access to seasoned DevOps professionals and established toolchains without starting from scratch.
In essence, a quality DevOps outsourcing provider becomes an extension of your team, handling the “ops” side of DevOps so your developers can focus on writing code. They bring in-depth experience with the latest tools (containers, Kubernetes, automation scripts, cloud services) and proven processes that would take significant time for an internal team to develop.
Outsourcing DevOps can deliver a range of compelling benefits if done right. It’s not a silver bullet, but for many organizations, it provides a fast track to DevOps advantages. Studies even suggest that companies that implement expert DevOps practices experience dramatically better IT performance – for example, one report found organizations that outsourced DevOps achieved 24× faster recovery from failures, spent 22% less time on unplanned work, and had 3× fewer deployment issues. Below, we break down the key benefits and outcomes you can expect from outsourcing DevOps and infrastructure management:
A reputable DevOps provider offers specialized skills and a diverse talent pool that most firms can’t easily hire in-house. DevOps spans many tools and technologies, from cloud platforms to CI/CD tools, and it requires experience to implement effectively. By outsourcing DevOps, you gain engineers well-versed in best practices across industries, including IaC, container orchestration, automation, and more. This means fresh insights and proven techniques are applied to your project from day one, rather than learning through trial and error.
Building an internal DevOps capability is expensive. You’d need to recruit, train, and retain engineers (with U.S. DevOps salaries averaging around $173,000/year for senior roles) and invest in tools and infrastructure. Outsourcing offers a cost-effective alternative. Instead of heavy upfront spending, you typically pay a vendor on a subscription or pay-as-you-go model to use their services. This eliminates large capital expenditures for setting up pipelines and data centers and avoids the ongoing costs of full-time salaries, benefits, and office space. As one analysis notes, outsourcing “eliminates the need for a full-time in-house team, reducing expenses on salaries, training, and infrastructure”. Providers often operate in lower-cost regions or leverage economies of scale, translating into further savings. Overall, companies can optimize DevOps spending and only pay for what they actually use, achieving similar outcomes for a fraction of the cost.
Today, speed is everything. DevOps outsourcing can significantly accelerate your development and release cycles. Experienced outsourced DevOps teams come equipped with automation frameworks and efficient workflows that eliminate bottlenecks. They can often set up continuous integration, testing, and deployment far faster than an internal team starting from scratch. With repetitive tasks scripted and best practices applied, the software delivery pipeline becomes extremely efficient. Companies that partner with skilled DevOps firms report shorter development cycles and more frequent deployments. You can release new features to customers faster and respond to feedback or market changes in days instead of weeks. Notably, because the outsourced team’s full focus is on improving your pipeline, internal developers are freed to write code and innovate, further speeding up product evolution. The result is often a competitive edge in delivering value to users sooner than rivals.
Business needs aren’t static – you might have periods of rapid growth, big product launches, or complex projects that demand more IT capacity. Outsourced DevOps services are highly scalable by design, allowing you to ramp resources up or down on-demand. Need to integrate a new microservice or handle a traffic surge? Your vendor can quickly allocate additional engineers or cloud resources. Conversely, during lulls or smaller projects, you aren’t stuck carrying excess staff – the engagement can scale down. This flexibility is hard to achieve with fixed in-house teams that have a limited headcount and skillset. DevOps providers also often support 24/7 server monitoring services, so your infrastructure can be monitored and managed around the clock without hiring night-shift staff. In short, outsourcing gives you an elastic DevOps capacity that adjusts to your needs, ensuring optimal performance without over-provisioning.
Every hour your developers or IT managers spend wrestling with infrastructure issues or build scripts is an hour not spent on strategic work. One significant advantage of outsourcing is offloading non-core tasks (environment setup, configuration, routine maintenance, etc.) to your partner, allowing your internal team to focus on their core responsibilities. If your core business is e-commerce or fintech innovation, those teams should concentrate on product development and customer features, not on debugging Jenkins pipelines. DevOps outsourcing relieves your staff of heavy ops burdens – things like managing servers, deployments, and monitoring – thereby freeing up internal resources for innovation and business growth. This sharper focus can improve productivity and morale, as engineers devote their energy to the work that directly drives value and differentiation for your company.
A well-implemented DevOps approach inherently leads to more stable, high-quality software, and outsourcing can amplify this by leveraging experienced engineers who enforce strict standards. DevOps vendors will embed continuous testing, QA automation, and monitoring into the pipeline, meaning bugs are caught early and often. They also bring battle-tested processes to reduce errors and downtime. For example, continuous monitoring and quick incident response help ensure issues are resolved before they impact users. This is critical given that downtime can cost companies as much as $5,600 per minute (over $300K per hour). By outsourcing to specialists, you gain robust systems to minimize outages and performance problems, protecting your revenue and reputation. Additionally, top DevOps service providers, such as Netcorp, have expertise in risk management and security best practices, often more so than a small in-house team. Netcorp implements cloud security, compliance checks, and disaster recovery plans that make your infrastructure more resilient. In summary, outsourcing can deliver through disciplined processes – one study found companies with mature DevOps see dramatically fewer failures and faster recovery times than those without.
By capitalizing on these benefits, organizations large and small have transformed their IT outcomes. Even well-known tech companies leveraged outsourced DevOps talent in their early stages – for instance, WhatsApp, Slack, and GitHub all relied on remote DevOps contractors at some point to support their growth. The reduced time-to-market and improved efficiency from DevOps outsourcing can be game-changing, especially for startups that need to scale quickly or enterprises aiming to modernize legacy systems.
One of the first questions business leaders ask is “how much does outsourcing cost?” To evaluate that, it helps to compare in-house development and outsourcing. The cost difference can be significant when you tally all factors.
For an in-house DevOps team, the expenses include recruiting skilled engineers (often with high salaries), providing ongoing training, paying benefits, and possibly hiring multiple specialists (DevOps, cloud architect, security engineer, etc.). There are also tooling and infrastructure costs – you might need to purchase CI/CD software licenses, servers for testing environments, monitoring tools, etc. Initial setup can be a project of its own, requiring time and capital. Industry benchmarks show that launching an in-house DevOps function from scratch can require an initial investment around $150,000 on average, plus a substantial annual budget. The ongoing salary burden alone can be ~$200,000 per year for a small team (e.g. two DevOps engineers), not including hardware/software and overhead. And that assumes you can even find the right talent to hire – something far easier said than done in today’s market. For a deeper breakdown of these figures and the variables that influence them, see our complete guide to outsourcing costs.
By contrast, outsourcing DevOps is typically structured as a service contract (monthly, hourly, or project-based fees). This model avoids the large upfront costs of building everything internally. You don’t need to sink capital into your own data center or expensive tools – the provider covers much of that. Many companies find that annual spending on an outsourced DevOps partnership comes out lower than the fully loaded cost of equivalent in-house staff. For example, one comparison showed that outsourcing can average around $100,000 per year for a mid-sized engagement, versus $200,000+ per year to maintain an in-house team, and with far lower startup costs. Of course, exact figures vary by scope and provider, but the economics often favor outsourcing, especially for small and mid-sized organizations.
Another way to look at it: a senior DevOps engineer in the US commands a six-figure salary (Glassdoor cites ~$173K/year on average), whereas an outsourcing firm can offer you a whole team of specialists for a comparable amount or less, because they leverage talent in various locations and spread costs across clients. Moreover, with outsourcing you pay only for what you need – if you only require part-time DevOps help or a short-term boost to get your cloud infrastructure in shape, you can engage accordingly. In-house hires, however, are a fixed cost regardless of whether you’re fully utilizing them.
There are also hidden cost savings to outsourcing. Opportunity cost is one – your developers don’t waste days on build issues or server outages (which delay product delivery), since the outsourced team handles those. Reduced downtime and performance improvements can save money too, as noted earlier. And if you’re outsourcing to an offshore region, lower labor rates can yield savings, though one must balance that with communication considerations.
In summary, while outsourcing DevOps isn’t “cheap” per se, it often delivers better ROI by converting a high fixed cost into a more flexible expense tied to your actual needs. It shifts the cost structure from upfront capital and fixed salaries to a service-based model, which is especially advantageous for startups or any organization that wants to conserve budget and stay agile. That said, cost should be weighed alongside quality – the cheapest option is not always best. The next section will address how to ensure your outsourcing initiative is successful.
Outsourcing DevOps and infrastructure management is a strategic decision that allows companies to accelerate their software delivery, reduce costs, and improve operational efficiency. However, for many, this is uncharted territory. Whether you're a startup or a large enterprise, understanding the process of outsourcing DevOps is crucial to making this transition successfully. Below is a detailed breakdown of the process, providing you with insights, operational steps, and real-world examples to guide your decision-making.
Before jumping into outsourcing, it’s critical to evaluate where you stand with your current DevOps processes and infrastructure. This phase is about identifying gaps, understanding your current state, and deciding where external expertise is most needed.
For instance, Uber faced challenges early on in scaling its infrastructure, with rapid growth leading to frequent system downtimes. The company needed a way to provide its development pipeline. By assessing their existing infrastructure, Uber realized that DevOps automation, such as automated testing and deployment pipelines, could significantly reduce downtime and speed up releases. This process led them to prioritize outsourcing parts of their DevOps, especially areas where they lacked internal expertise, such as cloud management and security.
During this assessment phase, your organization should:
Suppose your current setup lacks a solid CI/CD pipeline. In that case, you'll need to focus on finding a DevOps partner that has experience with tools like Jenkins or GitLab to automate testing, building, and deployment processes.
Choosing the right partner is arguably the most important step in the DevOps outsourcing journey. The partner you choose will play a pivotal role in implementing and maintaining your DevOps processes. The wrong choice can lead to delays, security vulnerabilities, and frustration.
When selecting a vendor, consider:
You should also ask the potential vendor about their security protocols—are they compliant with your industry standards, such as GDPR for data protection? This is a crucial question to avoid data security breaches and ensure smooth collaboration . Netcorp stands out as a reliable partner in this space, offering proven expertise in DevOps automation, cloud infrastructure management, and continuous integration. Our experience with companies across various industries provides the best solutions.
Once you’ve selected a vendor, the next step is to define the parameters of your partnership. This is done through a Service-Level Agreement (SLA), which outlines the expectations, deliverables, timelines, and performance metrics for both parties. Without a well-defined SLA, the outsourcing arrangement could fall apart when expectations aren’t clear..
Your SLA should include:
This detailed SLA serves as a guiding document throughout the duration of the partnership, ensuring both parties are aligned on expectations.
Effective communication is the backbone of successful outsourcing. The outsourced DevOps team will be an extension of your company, and seamless communication will prevent delays and mistakes. Many companies overlook this phase, leading to misalignment and inefficiencies.
For example, Slack has become a standard communication tool for DevOps teams at companies like Airbnb, allowing for continuous communication between internal teams and outsourced DevOps vendors. Set up daily standups and weekly progress reviews to keep everyone aligned. Moreover, use tools like Jira or Trello for task tracking to ensure that deliverables are completed on time.
You should also define reporting protocols: How will the outsourced team report progress and issues? Ensure there are real-time dashboards available for tracking deployment frequency, system health, and failure rates. Consider using Datadog or New Relic for monitoring these metrics.
Once the contractual elements are in place, the real work begins: onboarding your external team and getting the project started. Onboarding ensures that the external team is equipped with the necessary tools, resources, and access to begin work immediately.
Make sure that your onboarding process includes:
DevOps outsourcing doesn’t end once the external team starts working. Continuous monitoring, feedback loops, and optimization are necessary to ensure the outsourced team delivers the best results.
Research shows that companies that use external DevOps teams see 30% fewer system failures and recover from failures 24x faster than those with in-house teams. Regular performance assessments are essential to ensure that KPIs are met and that the outsourced team is working efficiently. You should monitor:
If things aren’t going as planned, don’t hesitate to adjust the contract or switch vendors. For example, GitHub optimized its DevOps process by moving from one outsourced vendor to another after initial performance issues with the first partner.
Outsourcing DevOps is a process that requires careful planning, vendor selection, clear communication, and continuous monitoring. By following the steps outlined above, you can ensure that your partnership with an outsourced DevOps provider is successful and delivers tangible business benefits, such as faster time-to-market, improved reliability, and cost savings.
Outsourcing can unlock the potential for significant improvements in your software delivery pipeline, enabling your organization to remain agile and competitive in today’s fast-paced tech landscape.
Outsourcing DevOps and infrastructure management can yield tremendous benefits, but it’s not without challenges. Entrusting critical operations to an external team requires planning and oversight. Here are some potential challenges to be aware of, along with best practices to mitigate them:
By anticipating these challenges and addressing them proactively, you can significantly reduce the risks associated with DevOps outsourcing. Many companies have navigated this successfully – for example, firms like SAP, Cars.com, and Basecamp have used outsourced DevOps teams to move to cloud infrastructure and speed up their delivery, with positive outcomes. The key is to treat the relationship as a strategic partnership. Invest time in selecting the right partner, align them with your vision, and keep the collaboration channels open. When both sides work in sync, outsourced DevOps can be as seamless and effective as an internal team, if not more so.
Success with DevOps outsourcing requires the right strategy and partner selection. It’s important to do your homework – clarify your goals, choose a reputable provider with a strong track record, and establish clear communication and security measures. When implemented thoughtfully, outsourced DevOps can deliver high-quality software more frequently, improve system stability, and free your team to focus on core business goals. In a landscape where technology speed and reliability are critical, leveraging an experienced DevOps service can be a game-changer for your competitiveness.
When it comes to outsourcing DevOps and infrastructure management, Netcorp stands out as a proven leader in providing reliable solutions. With over 13 years of experience in software development and a team of more than 250 in-house developers, Netcorp has successfully partnered with businesses of all sizes across various industries, including telecom, fintech, energy, and IoT, to accelerate their DevOps transformation. Here are several reasons why Netcorp is the ideal choice for your DevOps outsourcing needs:
Netcorp offers an array of DevOps services designed to meet the demands of businesses looking to optimize their DevOps processes. With Kubernetes, DevOps automation services, and CI/CD pipeline implementation, Netcorp ensures your systems are set up for continuous improvement and scalability. Their expertise also extends to 24/7 server monitoring and DevSecOps services, which safeguard your systems while keeping them running efficiently. Additionally, Netcorp’s cloud application development services, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Services, offer comprehensive solutions for cloud migration and cost optimization. As a trusted DevOps outsourcing provider, Netcorp delivers the tools and support you need to elevate your IT infrastructure, reduce downtime, and accelerate innovation – making them the ideal partner for businesses looking to enhance their DevOps capabilities and overall operational efficiency.
With over 85 successful projects and an outstanding 4.9/5 customer rating, Netcorp has consistently delivered high-quality DevOps solutions that meet and exceed client expectations. We’ve partnered with prominent companies delivering DevOps services that have helped businesses scale efficiently, reduce operational costs, and improve system reliability. Our flexible and adaptive approach ensures that we’re always aligned with our clients’ evolving needs.
Outsourcing DevOps to Netcorp offers a cost-effective alternative to building an in-house team. We operate with a highly efficient model that balances cost savings with high-quality service. Instead of investing in expensive infrastructure and training, you can leverage Netcorp’s expertise for a fraction of the cost. Our nearshoring model ensures that you receive top-tier services while benefiting from competitive pricing, enabling businesses to scale up quickly without the overhead of permanent staffing.
Getting started with Netcorp is quick and straightforward. On average, we can onboard a project within 1-4 weeks, ensuring that you don’t experience long delays before your DevOps functions are up and running. Whether you need team extensions, custom software project, or outsourcing consultation, our flexible engagement models meet your business requirements while maintaining high standards of quality and performance.
Security is at the heart of our DevOps services. At Netcorp, we integrate DevSecOps best practices into every project to ensure your applications and infrastructure are secure by design. Our DevOps teams follow stringent security protocols, and we are fully compliant with industry standards, such as GDPR, securing your data and intellectual property remain protected throughout the engagement.
Netcorp’s approach to DevOps outsourcing is built around seamless collaboration. We consider ourselves an extension of your team, integrating closely with your internal developers and stakeholders to ensure smooth workflows and successful outcomes. Our team adapts to your company’s culture and objectives, working hand-in-hand with you to meet project goals and timelines efficiently.
In closing, if you are struggling with long release cycles, scalability issues, or a shortage of DevOps talent, exploring outsourcing is well worth it. As numerous case studies and statistics show, DevOps done right (whether in-house or outsourced) correlates with better business performance – faster time to market, higher customer satisfaction, and greater operational efficiency. Outsourcing is simply a means to achieve those ends more quickly by bridging resource gaps. By combining your team’s domain knowledge with an external team’s DevOps prowess, you can unlock the full benefits of DevOps sooner and more smoothly. It’s about working smarter: letting experts handle the complex mechanics of modern infrastructure and delivery, so you can concentrate on driving your vision forward.
Paavo Pauklin is a renowned consultant and thought leader in software development outsourcing with a decade of experience. Authoring dozens of insightful blog posts and the guidebook "How to Succeed with Software Development Outsourcing," he is a frequent speaker at industry conferences. Paavo hosts two influential video podcasts: “Everybody needs developers” and “Tech explained to managers in 3 minutes.” Through his extensive training sessions with organizations such as the Finnish Association of Software Companies and Estonian IT Companies Association, he's helped numerous businesses strategize, train internal teams, and find dependable outsourcing partners. His expertise offers a reliable compass for anyone navigating the world of software outsourcing.
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