In-house development: disadvantages

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Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. A company builds its payment app with its own developers. Paying their salaries, super and ongoing training is an in-house disadvantage because...

A It means the software will always be less secure than external software

B It is a direct, ongoing cost the organisation carries even between projects

2. Which situation shows a LIMITED SKILLS disadvantage of in-house development?

A No one on the team knows how to build secure API authentication

B The team has full control over where the code is stored

3. A small in-house team is already busy maintaining existing systems when a new project is requested. This is a problem of...

A Compromised software updates

B Limited capacity

4. Why can an in-house project be slower to start than an external one?

A The organisation may need to hire, recruit or train staff before work begins

B In-house staff are not allowed to access the organisation's data

5. Your lead developer, the only person who understands the login module, resigns. Which risk is this?

A Staff turnover risk, because knowledge leaves with the person

B Typosquatting risk, because the package name was copied

Match the Pairs

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

Left column		Right column
1cost = salaries + training		Aif (team_skills < required_skills) { delay_project() }
2if (developer_leaves) { project_stalls }		BStaff turnover does have an impact. A departing developer takes knowledge with them and the project may be delayed while a replacement is found and trained.
3Limited skills or capacity: the in-house team may lack a needed skill, such as security, or may not have spare time.		CStaff turnover is a risk: when a developer leaves, their knowledge goes with them and the project can be delayed.
4Slower start-up: hiring and setting up a team must happen before development can begin.		DIn-house developers must be paid and trained, so the organisation carries these ongoing costs.
5cost = 0 // staff are already here		Estart_date = hiring_time + setup_time
6if (developer_leaves) { no_impact }		FIn-house development is not free. Staff wages, training and equipment are real costs that can make it more expensive than external development.

Definitions

In-house development disadvantages

Fill in the Blanks

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

salary ← 90000 training ← 5000 totalCost ← salary _ training

IF staffAvailable _ staffNeeded THEN projectDelayed ← TRUE END IF

hiringWeeks ← 6 trainingWeeks ← 4 startUpWeeks ← hiringWeeks + _____________

__ staffLeft = TRUE THEN projectRisk ← "High" END IF

requiredSkills ← 5 teamSkills ← 3 skillGap ← requiredSkills _ teamSkills

Spot the Error

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

Question 1

A salary ← 90000

B training ← 5000

C kit ← 3000

D total ← salary+kit

E OUTPUT total

Question 2

A tasks ← 40

B capacity ← 25

C IF tasks < capacity THEN

D OUTPUT 'Need more staff'

E END IF

Question 3

A // In-house: instant start-up

B hiring ← 8

C build ← 20

D total ← hiring + build

Question 4

A IF staffLeaves = FALSE THEN

B knowledge ← 'lost'

C projectDelay ← TRUE

D END IF

Question 5

A needed ← 'security testing'

B teamSkills ← 'Python'

C IF needed = teamSkills THEN

D OUTPUT 'Skills gap'

E END IF

Answer Key

In-house development: disadvantages

Section A: Quick Questions

B — It is a direct, ongoing cost the organisation carries even between projects

A — No one on the team knows how to build secure API authentication

B — Limited capacity

A — The organisation may need to hire, recruit or train staff before work begins

A — Staff turnover risk, because knowledge leaves with the person

Section B: Match the Pairs

cost = salaries + training → In-house developers must be paid and trained, so the organisation carries these ongoing costs.

if (developer_leaves) { project_stalls } → Staff turnover is a risk: when a developer leaves, their knowledge goes with them and the project can be delayed.

Limited skills or capacity: the in-house team may lack a needed skill, such as security, or may not have spare time. → if (team_skills < required_skills) { delay_project() }

Slower start-up: hiring and setting up a team must happen before development can begin. → start_date = hiring_time + setup_time

cost = 0 // staff are already here → In-house development is not free. Staff wages, training and equipment are real costs that can make it more expensive than external development.

if (developer_leaves) { no_impact } → Staff turnover does have an impact. A departing developer takes knowledge with them and the project may be delayed while a replacement is found and trained.

Section C: Definitions

In-house development disadvantages — Building software with your own staff can cost more, take longer to start, and depend on the skills, capacity and availability of staff, who may leave.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

salary ← 90000
training ← 5000
totalCost ← salary + training

IF staffAvailable < staffNeeded THEN
  projectDelayed ← TRUE
END IF

hiringWeeks ← 6
trainingWeeks ← 4
startUpWeeks ← hiringWeeks + trainingWeeks

IF staffLeft = TRUE THEN
  projectRisk ← "High"
END IF

requiredSkills ← 5
teamSkills ← 3
skillGap ← requiredSkills - teamSkills

Section E: Spot the Error

D — The first-year cost of a hire includes training as well as salary and equipment. Training should be added: total ← salary+training+kit.

C — The team is overloaded when the tasks are greater than its capacity, so the test should be tasks > capacity.

A — In-house projects usually start slowly because staff must be hired, trained or freed up first. The comment should say slower start-up.

A — Staff turnover is the risk, so the delay and lost knowledge happen when staffLeaves is TRUE, not FALSE.

C — A skills gap exists when the needed skill is NOT in the team's skills. The test should use ≠ so the gap is reported.