>> If you are a dev team within a bigger, non-tech company, you are basically an in-house agency with one client. Imma argue with this, as a developer for a bi

>> If you are a dev team within a bigger, non-tech company, you are basically an in-house agency with one client. Imma argue with this, as a developer for a bigger non-tech company (and a few small ones) I've worked for in-house agencies and the pattern is completely different. In-house, every dictat in the software comes from the top down as a fully-formed thought. Whereas being an independent contractor gives you way more creative control over how software turns out. Instead of having to accept some wireframe drawn up by another arm of the company, you get to interrogate the people who will actually be using the software and find out what they need. You have to understand the business logic more than you would if you just accepted it as a programming job alone, and therefore you become more of a design branch than just a coding branch. And I say branch because you are still an integral part of the company, but instead of telling you what to do, they come to you for advice on how to accomplish their aims.