External development: advantages

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Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. A small business needs a one-off mobile app but has no developers who know mobile security. Which advantage of external development fits best?

A Access to specialist skills the business does not have in-house

B Full control over every developer's daily work and training

2. Which statement about external development is TRUE?

A The organisation can add extra capacity for a project without hiring permanent staff

B The organisation must hire permanent staff before any work can start

3. A company must launch a product before a deadline. Why might an external developer help?

A External developers always take longer, so the deadline is safer

B A dedicated team can start quickly and deliver faster

4. Which describes the cost advantage of an external developer working under a contract?

A The price can be agreed up front, so cost is more predictable

B The cost is always unknown until the project is finished

5. Which cost is the organisation more likely to AVOID by using an external developer?

A The cost of writing a contract

B Salaries, leave and training for permanent developers

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1contract_price = 50000		AThe advantage is extra capacity without hiring permanent staff. Hiring five permanent staff is in-house, not external.
2developers = 4 + 3		BScalable capacity: the organisation adds extra developers for a project without hiring permanent staff.
3Specialist skills: an outside firm can supply expertise the organisation does not have in-house		CA contract sets an agreed price, so external development gives a predictable cost. The cost is not unknown.
4Faster delivery: more developers working in parallel can finish the project sooner		DIF skill_in_house = FALSE THEN hire_external_specialist
5cost <- unknown // external contract		EPredictable cost: the organisation knows the total price in advance because it is fixed in the contract.
6permanent_staff <- permanent_staff + 5		Fweeks <- total_work / developers

Definitions

External development advantages

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

IF skillsGap = TRUE ____ hire(externalDeveloper) END IF

capacity ← teamSize _ extraDevelopers

deliveryDays ← inHouseDays _ daysSaved

fixedPrice ← 20000 totalCost ← __________ OUTPUT totalCost

_____ workload > teamCapacity addDeveloper() END WHILE

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A skills = ['web', 'testing']

B need = 'encryption'

C if need in skills:

D hire = 'external'

Question 2

A contract_type = 'open_ended'

B agreed_cost = 20000

C client_pays = agreed_cost

Question 3

A cap = staff_hrs - ext_hrs

B if cap >= project_hrs:

C print('On track')

Question 4

A in_wks = 12

B ext_wks = 8

C faster = ext_wks > in_wks

D print(faster)

Question 5

A specialist = 'cryptography'

B in_house_has = False

C if not in_house_has:

D hire_permanent(specialist)

Answer Key

External development: advantages

Section A: Quick Questions

A — Access to specialist skills the business does not have in-house

A — The organisation can add extra capacity for a project without hiring permanent staff

B — A dedicated team can start quickly and deliver faster

A — The price can be agreed up front, so cost is more predictable

B — Salaries, leave and training for permanent developers

Section B: Match the Pairs

contract_price = 50000 → Predictable cost: the organisation knows the total price in advance because it is fixed in the contract.

developers = 4 + 3 → Scalable capacity: the organisation adds extra developers for a project without hiring permanent staff.

Specialist skills: an outside firm can supply expertise the organisation does not have in-house → IF skill_in_house = FALSE THEN hire_external_specialist

Faster delivery: more developers working in parallel can finish the project sooner → weeks <- total_work / developers

cost <- unknown // external contract → A contract sets an agreed price, so external development gives a predictable cost. The cost is not unknown.

permanent_staff <- permanent_staff + 5 → The advantage is extra capacity without hiring permanent staff. Hiring five permanent staff is in-house, not external.

Section C: Definitions

External development advantages — Hiring an outside developer gives specialist skills and extra capacity, often with faster delivery and a fixed contract cost, without hiring permanent staff.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

IF skillsGap = TRUE THEN
    hire(externalDeveloper)
END IF

capacity ← teamSize + extraDevelopers

deliveryDays ← inHouseDays - daysSaved

fixedPrice ← 20000
totalCost ← fixedPrice
OUTPUT totalCost

WHILE workload > teamCapacity
    addDeveloper()
END WHILE

Section E: Spot the Error

C — An external developer is hired to fill a specialist skill gap the in-house team does not have. The condition should be 'if need not in skills:'.

A — A fixed-price contract is what makes the cost predictable. An open-ended contract has no agreed limit, so it should be 'fixed_price'.

A — External developers add extra capacity to the team's hours. Capacity should be staff_hrs + ext_hrs, not a subtraction.

C — External delivery is faster when it takes fewer weeks than in-house delivery. The comparison should be ext_wks < in_wks.

D — The advantage is getting specialist skills without hiring permanent staff. It should call hire_external(specialist), not hire_permanent.