Golang Outsourcing: How It Works

When the whole world buzzes about Golang and reputable companies such as Apple and Facebook shift to using this language, you just can’t help longing to be among them and develop software with Go. All this fuss around Google's creation is quite understandable: Golang provides faster software performance, a bunch of comprehensive programming tools, and it scales well. 

If you’re unaware of the advantages Go brings to the table, consider reading our dedicated article. 

Following trends and good sense and finally opting for Golang isn’t difficult, but it appears quite challenging to find professional Go developers. There are several reasons for this phenomenon, and a few ways businesses can address the challenge. 

MadAppGang, a competent Go team, is ready to explain all the hows and whys. Ready, steady, Go! 

Logic suggests that if Golang is so popular, there shouldn’t be any problem assembling a team. But it’s not that simple, and here are the reasons why:

Yes, it’s becoming more common, but the number of developers is still limited and can’t be compared with those who code in other languages. For instance, the TIOBE Index ranks Python as the most popular language, with a rate of 12.74%, while Go takes the 14th place in the list with just 1.11%. 

For the record, MadAppGang has already discussed the Go vs Python battle and even compared Golang use cases with other giants such as C and Java, so you’re welcome to have a read. 

Since Golang is high performing, its structure allows developers to easily scale developed software. In addition, Go libraries offer pre-written code to optimise workflows and provide access to the latest trending technologies, like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning and Big Data. All this makes Go a desired language for many advanced projects, so companies hunt down developers with the “Go gene.” 

Needless to say, the technical ability of your development team is the basis of your project’s success. And for Go developers, the list of required know-hows is long. There are certain criteria MadAppGang looks for when hiring Golang professionals, so we’ll share our perfect Go dev recipe with you.

Golang developer knowledge roadmap

• Strong understanding of the Go fundamentals. Including its paradigms, structures, and idioms. 
• Knowledge of Goroutines. Since goroutines support concurrency (a program’s capacity to complete many tasks at the same time) in Go, the developer must have hands-on experience working with goroutines. 
• Experience with the full suite of Go frameworks. Go frameworks make app development easier and faster, allowing developers to save time coding and letting them focus on developing unique features. 
• Dependency management tools. Dependencies build a connection between your software and others, and dependency management tools ensure connection security.
• Go templates. Special files that provide patterns to enable automation.
• Go’s code-generation tools, such as Stringer. They allow developers to write type safe code without rewriting it again and again, saving time. 
• Router packages, such as Gorilla Mux. In simple terms, using router packages you decide what happens when a person visits a particular webpage (what they will see when entering the website and how they interact with a page)
• Ability to write clean and effective Godoc comments. This will help other developers understand software code and change it after.
• Familiarity with code versioning tools. Such tools assist development teams in managing changes to source code. 

However, knowing what skills to expect from a potential developer isn’t always enough for successful recruitment. The main thing is understanding how to interview an applicant is also key. MadAppGang has been hiring Go developers for a while, and for your convenience, we’ve prepared a list of ten interview questions to ask your future team member. 

Businesses can’t ignore expenses, which come hand in hand with hiring new employees, so it’s important to understand how much it costs to hire a professional Go developer. An experienced team player commands a healthy salary, and there is an average wage level you need to keep. We’ve examined salaries in different countries, so then you can have an overall view of the Go developers market. 

First, the man in the image above is right: in 2022, Go is the fifth highest-paid programming language, with the average salary of a Go developer sitting at $116,000 per year. Therefore Golang beats Java, Python, C++ and many other competitors.

Rating of software developers cost according to a coding language

If you take a look at Go developers' salaries in different countries, however, the numbers differ. For instance: 

In the US, as of May 2022, the average hourly rate is $69.26 per hour.

UK averages suggest a Golang programmer salary of $41.99 hourly.

In Australia, developers are paid from $42.31 per hour. 

And finally, if we take Brazil, we’ll get around $61.33 per hour. 

After all those facts proving how tricky it is to hire and onboard professional Go developers (if you can even find them), your head might be exploding with thoughts of how to handle everything and get a win-win situation. But hold on for a second, we’ve got a solution for you. 

Nowadays more and more businesses are outsourcing, and for good reason. First of all, when you delegate some responsibilities to others, you’re free to focus on tasks that can’t be entrusted to anyone else. Second, you don’t have to deal with all the hassle of finding and hiring. And in addition, there are three more benefits that address the challenges of hiring Go developers. 

In-house workers always require a lot: tools and technologies, perks, benefits, office space and other things. You can’t hire employees for just one month, or stop paying them because there are no projects happening. Your employees need a vacation, parent leave, and sick leaves, which also has to be paid. Plus, you need to provide workers with ongoing training to always get high-quality products and keep up with the times and trends. Especially if we talk about coding. 

An outsourced team doesn’t require any of that from you. All payments and worries about providing the best and latest tools and proper working conditions are on the vendor's shoulders. Outsourcing is more flexible in terms of services provided and contract lengths. It’s common practice to hire an outsourced team or even one person for just one month, one project, or one specific task. 

Outsourcing broadens the talent pool you can access. Since most providers work with different countries, you can get the best from all over the world. Besides, outsourcing gives you more chances to find an employee with all the required skills much faster. 

Go developers must know a lot. Some projects may also require their understanding of related fields, like design, to deliver better solutions, or specialist knowledge of certain technologies (for example, artificial intelligence). Your outsourcing vendors should know how and where to find the best employees, and, in fact, many do. 

As we’ve already mentioned, when outsourcing a company doesn’t have to provide any tools and technologies as the vendor takes care of these. Apart from standard hardware, like laptops, smartphones for software testing and such, outsourcing companies bring specialised software and might even bring innovative technologies into your project. 

In this manner, your outsourced employees not only share their experience and knowledge but also help you implement the latest software development or operational tools, meaning an efficiency boost and higher quality digital products. 

On top of that, vendors may also share their best practices with you, so that you can strengthen your in-house team’s qualifications. 

When considering outsourcing as a solution, we need to understand how exactly it works and the possible options. There are three main outsourcing models, so before choosing one, let’s discover the entire range. 

Staff augmentation model

Staff augmentation or outstaffing is a your team + third-party team model. In simple words, your in-house employees collaborate with outsourced ones, becoming one universal team. Clients take full responsibility for results and control workflow by themselves, communicating directly with team members. 

This model is good for a company that: 

• Needs Golang developers for an existing project where team communication is important
• Needs developers for one or two projects
• Has projects lasting up to two years 
• Lacks Go developers with all required skills in their in-house team  

Managed team model versus outstaffing

Managed teams can be described as a client's task + third-party team model. In the previous model, we needed developers to work together with an in-house team, but here we’re outsourcing a limited part of the project as a whole. For instance, you need Go developers to code just one feature, and this doesn’t require communication with your workers. So, you hire a managed team and talk to a third-party project manager (PM) about all the details. In turn, the PM manages the outsourced developers and reports to you about the progress. 

It’s a great option for companies that: 

• Lack in-house team competency in certain technologies that are needed in the software
• Require a certain service
• Don’t need team collaboration 

Project-based outsourcing model

A project-based model is a client’s project + third-party team concept. Basically, you delegate the whole project, from front to backend development, to the outsourcing vendor. The most important thing here is the result. You don’t have to talk to the third-party team, but you can if you want. For instance, you can get all progress reports from the PM, but once a week have a call with all employees. 

This model is perfect for businesses that: 

• Don’t have an in-house team
• Have a team, but they’re too busy dealing with other projects
• Want to free themselves from some management worries 

Setting a clear roadmap on your way to success is crucial. And for any business that wants all the benefits of outsourcing, a step-by-step plan would come in handy. MadAppGang can suggest four stages: 

• Choose the model you want to use. Analyse your company's needs and see which model is the best option for you.
• Find the right outsourcing provider. Consider it in-depth. Choose a few vendors by researching their previous experience and comparing their skills with those required. Don’t forget about reviews and the compatibility of your company culture and working models. 
• Set clear requirements and agree on terms. When talking to an outsourcing partner don’t forget to agree on all terms: payment type, number of employees, and your and the third-party team’s responsibilities. 
• Enjoy. The best part of this roadmap. Praise yourself for choosing the greatest vendor and enjoy getting high-quality service. 

Your road to successful Golang outsourcing has started. MadAppGang was honoured to be your guide to the world of outsourced services. And if you found it helpful, we’d be glad to lead you further. 

Our company specialises in Golang development, and we can help you build any type of Go-based software. We can start from scratch, work on existing projects, collaborate with your in-house team or take care of everything ourselves. Whatever you need, just get in touch, and we will get back to you shortly.