I used to make the same mistake over and over when outsourcing dev work. I’d wait too long to bring people in. I thought I was being considerate, respecting their time. Developers always say they hate unnecessary meetings, so I figured I was doing them a favor by keeping them out of the early stuff.
But by the time I brought them in, the train was already moving at full speed. They had to sprint just to catch up. I’d spend hours transferring context, and they’d start the project already behind the eight ball. Worse yet? I had unintentionally made decisions on their behalf. By pushing forward without them, I closed off options they might’ve chosen differently. This was completely unfair to them, and robbed them of the opportunity to be the expert I know they are. I was robbing them of the chance to actually shape the outcome.
I see some companies making this exact same mistake when they work with us. By the time we’re brought in, the project has already started, the deadline is weeks away, and now they need someone to pull off a miracle.
And I’ve personally become so tired of putting people in a position to be heroes. It’s sensationalized so much in our culture, but the reality is it’s expensive, stressful, and burns everyone out. Nobody wants that.
The most successful projects loop in experts much earlier during the planning phase. Let gives the pros a chance to work out the approach, and weigh in on the roadmap before it’s set in set in stone. Most importantly though – it gives their subconscious time to chew on the problems, which, if given the time to percolate, will almost always create a better solution. In other words, let ’em sleep on it.
Here’s the thing most PMs don’t realize: by the time the work “starts,” half the outcome has already been decided.
So when should you actually bring in a tech partner? I’m going to give you a few clear indicators that it’s time to make the call.
You’ve Identified The Problem
The ideal time to involve a tech partner is just after you’ve identified the problem you’d like to solve, not when you’ve already worked out the solution.
Saying it again for those in the back – bring in your problem solvers when you’re still solving the problem.
This is when decisions are most flexible, and when technical experts can have the greatest impact. They can help shape the scope, identify potential pitfalls early, and lay out a realistic timeline and budget.
Bringing a partner in early ensures that your roadmap is viable, and your project is set up for smooth execution. It prevents costly rework and stress down the road because issues are caught and addressed upfront.
By doing this, you can help avoid a big pitfall that many companies run into – prescribing a solution. Bringing someone in early allows the expert to hear the problem, and help you come up with the solution instead of you figuring out the solution now and trying to make them figure out how to solve it in that specific way.
There’s a moment in a project where a team shifts from the problem to the solution, and it’s best to make sure that you have the problem solvers in the conversation when you’re still talking about the problem. It helps them stay engaged, gives them valuable context, and will translate into a much more effective implementation of the solution later-on.
When Your Current Team Is Already Maxed Out
Your designers are pulling late nights, your developers are speaking only in tired grunts, and everyone’s operating at maximum capacity. Every PM knows what happens next: quality drops, burnout creeps in, and eventually people start disengaging or leaving altogether.
But honestly, if you’ve reached this point, you’re already too late. Instead of running your team at 100% all the time, you’re better off planning for about half that, leaving plenty of room to flex when busy periods hit. Just like bringing partners in early, leaving space in your schedule allows your team to slow down, think deeply, and deliver higher-quality results.
A better strategy is to engage external partners proactively, and well before workloads reach a critical level. Even a small initial collaboration allows your internal team and external partner to learn each other’s workflows, build rapport, and align expectations.
And then, when the other shoe drops, and 3 projects suddenly land on your agency’s lap, your partner is on, available, and ready to rock.
Think of this proactive partnership as strategic capacity expansion. It keeps your core team focused on their existing commitments, ensures new projects receive proper attention, and protects both the quality of deliverables and the well-being of your team.
You’re Missing Critical Technical Skills
This is one of those scenarios that sounds obvious but gets missed frequently. Part of the challenge is recognizing when a skill is truly missing from your team’s core strengths. A good rule of thumb: if it’s not part of your agency’s core service offering, or it isn’t something you do in about 80% of your projects, it probably shouldn’t be built entirely in-house. Obviously there’s caveats there, but it’s a good way to help filter the things you should check.
I’ve seen this play out a lot: an agency lands a client with an exciting technical requirement that falls outside their usual scope. Someone on the team knows a bit of coding and wants a chance to tackle something bigger than the usual landing pages. Enthusiasm kicks in, and everyone decides: “We can handle this internally!”
And they do pretty well, at least at first. The initial build often goes fine, maybe with a few bumps, but nothing insurmountable. The client is thrilled. Your team feels accomplished. But weeks or months later, the cracks begin to show. The custom API integration starts breaking, dashboards freeze up, and suddenly you’re scrambling to get the problem fixed, and suddenly your bread-and-butter projects are getting neglected, and everyone’s stressed.
Even if your team can technically build something, that doesn’t mean they’re set up to maintain it effectively. And maintaining complex integrations or specialized systems requires dedicated expertise, ongoing testing, and proactive support. It’s simply not practical for most agencies to spin these up for occasional projects.
Custom, third-party REST API integrations are a great example. There’s complexities around authentication, rate limits, and other problems that often don’t rear their ugly head until you’re in production if you don’t know to watch out for them, and the process to test, and deploy fixes quickly benefits from CI/CD processes that a lot of agencies don’t implement.
When you proactively bring in experts, you’re doing more than solving an immediate technical need. You’re positioning your agency to say “yes” confidently to profitable work without the hidden risks and ongoing maintenance headaches. This allows your team to stay focused on your core offering, and continue to do your best work without missing out on projects that require things outside your expertise.
Getting Past the Mental Barriers
When agencies hesitate about bringing in external technical partners, it’s usually about money more than reputation. Common worries include:
- “Will this erode our project margins?”
- “Can we actually justify the expense?”
- “Is this going to end up costing us more than we make?”
These concerns are valid, but the math behind them is often misunderstood.
Bringing in a technical partner isn’t just an added cost. Instead, it’s strategic risk management. When you factor in the real, hidden costs of handling specialized work internally, the numbers look different. Think about the hours your developers spend troubleshooting issues instead of moving forward with billable work. Consider the opportunity cost when your team’s productivity suffers because they’re distracted by a technical emergency.
Working with the right partner allows your team to stay focused on your core, profitable activities. Good partners come equipped with robust processes, testing, and proactive support, reducing downtime and emergencies, and these savings directly protect your margins.
You don’t need to sacrifice your profitability, either. Smart agencies structure projects so the partnership costs are factored into their initial pricing, and also adapting the ongoing retainers that usually come from these projects to ensure they’re able to pay to keep these solutions well-maintained.
The Bottom Line
Don’t wait until your team is underwater or a high-stakes project lands in your inbox to start thinking about external help. The smartest agencies plan ahead, and set up the groundwork to work together when the time comes.
Start small now. Find external partners you trust and begin with manageable engagements. This helps your teams build rapport, align processes, and establish mutual confidence before the stakes are high. When complex projects or tight deadlines inevitably come along, you’ll already have a reliable relationship in place.
In the long run, proactive partnerships mean better project outcomes, happier clients, and a less stressed team. That consistent reliability becomes your agency’s reputation, and a powerful competitive advantage.