How to choose a Node.js development company (and avoid costly mistakes)
Over the past few years at Milo, I've reviewed dozens of Node.js codebases inherited from other vendors. Nine out of ten have the same kinds of problems: blocking operations due to fixed five-second waits, libraries years out of date, and dependencies abandoned by their maintainers but still running in production. The specific patterns vary. The root cause is almost always the same. The original team was hired without enough vetting.
This guide is the framework I'd want a buyer to use on Milo, and on any of our competitors. Stack Overflow's 2024 Developer Survey puts Node.js as the most-used web technology, with around 40.7% of professional developers reporting recent work with it. The talent pool is huge, and the quality range across it is wider than almost any other backend ecosystem. Dun & Bradstreet's Barometer of Global Outsourcing reports that 20 to 25% of outsourcing relationships fail within two years and 50% within five years. Deloitte's 2024 Global Outsourcing Survey found that the lack of benefit realization tracking and reporting was the top drawback cited by buyers, meaning most engagements aren't being measured against clear success metrics. Node-specific work has its own failure modes on top of that, and they're predictable enough that you can vet for them.
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