In over ten years of existence we’ve picked up a fair share of expert knowledge on many different projects. This makes our team of over 50 developers and systems administrators all highly experienced and dedicated professionals. All of whom possess Brainbench, Retratech, MCP, RHCE and MCSE certification and are backed by an expert, PMI/UPMA certified management team.

Why is this important when it comes to an accurate quotation that genuinely reflects the quality and complexity of work you require? When using inexperienced developers (or those with irrelevant qualifications), they will almost always send back a quote that – when broken down – shows a lack of understanding for the project’s wants and needs in terms of their time and expertise. This is often down to a lack of confidence on the part of the ill-experienced contractor that ultimately means large risks on the part of you – the client. This is true with all kinds of freelancers and contractors that lack the skills and quality to provide the assurances you need to make sure your project comes in on time, on budget and to your exact specifications.

A similar problem can occur with lone freelancers, who may have the relevant skills, but not the time to properly dedicate themselves to a project; once again leading to costs over and above the original estimate.

Conversely, a good developer, working with a strong team can accurately match and compare the skillset of the team to the various aspects of the works. Assigning various packages to the most suitable and able members regardless of experience, common problems that can affect project estimation will always include:

• Simply extending and building on a previous project, meaning a break in code and unity,
• Integrating unknown third party services to another API with unreliable updates and patches,
• Unpredictable system behavior once the changes have been made,
• Complex custom tasks for niche markets, and the difficulty in finding people with the right experience.

This wide gap in experience and quality is generally the reason behind the discrepancy in estimated costs you may see. Contractor “X” may have offered the cheapest, but have they covered all the needs and outcomes you require, furthermore taking into account the points above. These are the questions you need to ask when faced with widely disparate quotes for the same piece of work.

All of these hurdles can be overcome by choosing a highly qualified, and widely sourced team, who take an individual and flexible approach to every client and every job, to provide your quotation. That’s why, by working closely with you, we at Itera Research will always pick the best and most appropriate methodology; as a result all estimates take into account your bespoke requirements.

Sincerely,

Itera Research team