Why You Should Outsource Bug Fixing

The Hidden Cost of Bugs

Every software product has bugs. It's not a question of if, but when.

And here's the uncomfortable truth: bug fixing is probably eating more of your team's time than you realise.

Think about it. Your best developers, the ones you hired to build features, ship products, and move the business forward, are spending hours (sometimes days) chasing down issues that crept in weeks ago.

That's expensive. Not just in salary, but in opportunity cost.

The Bug Fixing Dilemma

Most teams face a constant tension:

• Bugs pile up because everyone's focused on the next release
• Someone has to fix them or users start complaining
• Developers context-switch between features and fixes
• Velocity drops because no one can stay focused
• Morale suffers because bug duty feels like punishment

Sound familiar?

Why Outsourcing Makes Sense

Outsourcing bug fixing isn't about admitting defeat. It's about being strategic with your team's time and energy.

Here's why it works:

1. Your Team Stays Focused on What Matters

Your in-house developers know your product best. They understand the vision, the roadmap, the big picture. They should be building the features that move the needle.

Bug fixing, especially the routine, time-consuming kind, doesn't require that deep product knowledge. It requires debugging skills, patience, and a methodical approach.

By outsourcing fixes, your team can stay in "build mode" instead of constantly switching between building and fixing.

2. Fresh Eyes Find Bugs Faster

When you've been staring at the same codebase for months, you develop blind spots. You assume things work because they've "always worked."

An external developer comes in with fresh perspective. They question assumptions. They spot patterns you've stopped noticing.

I've lost count of how many times I've found a bug within minutes that an in-house team had been hunting for days. Not because I'm smarter, but because I'm seeing the code for the first time.

3. It's More Cost-Effective Than You Think

Consider the true cost of having a senior developer fix bugs:

• Their hourly rate (salary + benefits + overhead)
• Context-switching cost (it takes 20+ minutes to get back into flow after an interruption)
• Opportunity cost (features they could have built instead)

When you add it up, paying someone specialized in bug fixing often costs less than pulling your senior engineers off feature work.

4. Faster Turnaround

When bugs are someone's primary job, not an interruption, they get fixed faster.

A dedicated bug fixer has their debugging tools ready, their workflow optimized, and their full attention on the problem. No meetings to attend. No roadmap to consider. Just: find the bug, fix the bug, submit the PR.

5. You Ship With Confidence

There's a psychological weight that comes with a growing bug backlog. It's always there, nagging at the back of your mind.

When you outsource bug fixing, that backlog shrinks. You can ship updates knowing that issues are being actively addressed. Your users are happier. Your team is happier.

What Makes a Good Bug Fixing Partner?

Not all outsourcing is created equal. Here's what to look for:

Technical Range

The best bug fixers are comfortable across the stack. Backend, frontend, database, infrastructure, bugs don't respect boundaries.

Communication

They should explain what they found, what they fixed, and why. No mysterious commits with vague messages.

Clean Code

The fix should follow your coding standards. It should include tests. It shouldn't introduce new problems.

Respect for Your Codebase

They're guests in your code. They should understand your patterns, respect your architecture, and leave things cleaner than they found them.

Speed

Bug fixing should be fast. Not rushed, but efficient. Hours or days, not weeks.

When to Keep It In-House

Outsourcing isn't right for every situation:

• Critical security vulnerabilities that require deep trust and immediate access
• Bugs that require major architectural changes (those are features in disguise)
• Bugs deeply tied to business logic that only your team understands

But for the majority of bugs, UI glitches, API errors, edge cases, performance issues, outsourcing is often the smarter play.

How to Start

If you're considering outsourcing bug fixing, here's a simple way to test the waters:

1. Pick 3-5 bugs from your backlog, not the critical ones, just the annoying ones that keep getting deprioritised
2. Hand them off to an external developer with clear context and repo access
3. Evaluate the results were the fixes clean? Was communication good? Did it save your team time?

If it works, scale up. If not, you've only lost a little time and gained clarity on what you need.

Conclusion

Bug fixing is necessary work, but it doesn't have to be your work.

The best teams I've seen treat bug fixing like any other operational task: something to be handled efficiently, often by specialists, so that their core team can focus on building.

If your bug backlog is growing and your developers are stretched thin, consider bringing in outside help. It might be the highest-leverage decision you make this quarter.

---

Have a bug backlog you can't seem to clear? I help teams squash bugs so they can focus on what they do best. Check out dailybugfix.com to learn more and book a free intro call.