Digital transformation is a costly and time-consuming process that requires your full focus and a strong software development team by your side.
Some businesses are hesitant to outsource their projects offshore thinking managing a remote team would be too challenging. However, most of the world’s leading companies such as IBM, Apple, Fluke, Lebara, and many more have remote teams working across the globe. The key to success is finding a reliable partner that can understand and help yoy meet your specific business needs.
The value of a reliable offshore team
Partnering with a strong and trustworthy software development company is the key to your project success, and that is exactly what one of our clients has benefited from. A Fortune 500 industrial supply company (under NDA), located in the United States, needed to transform its existing on-premise data solution and migrate it to the cloud to improve scalability, reliability, and cost-efficiency.
Due to the sheer scale of our client’s operations, they needed to manage large amounts of data more efficiently. The first idea our client had was to hire a team of on-site consultants but it resulted in sizable overhead.
Putting together an on-site team had become too straining; there were not enough qualified people, it did not bring the expected results, and it drained the project budget. That is why the client was looking for a more efficient and scalable way to migrate their data solution to the cloud. The best solution was to outsource software development offshore.
Thanks to the advantages of offshore software development, our client could hire a full team of qualified and experienced experts. The N-iX tem offered their extensive big data expertise. Our client can now access all of the enterprise data in one place, seamlessly switch between cloud providers, predict and optimize spending, and scale up their services.
How you can benefit from outsourcing offshore
- Offshoring reduces time-to-market, and increases return on investment.
- Companies can save up to 58% on the project cost by hiring developers offshore.
- According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be a 22% demand growth for software developers, testers, and quality assurance experts between 2020 and 2030.
- Outsourcing software development projects overseas is the solution to domestic talent shortage as it expands your hiring opportunities by giving you access to a global talent pool.
The access to a global talent pool and abilility to scale easily and fast are the two main reasons why you should outsource software development offshore. But how exactly do you do that to get the most out of the deal?
Your story begins now: how to get the most out of offshoring?
Some companies might feel hesitant outsourcing their project to a team located on the opposite side of the globe. True, such problems as the time gap, language barrier, complex logistics, and cultural mismatch might hinder the development process. It is also true that you can easily mitigate those negative factors by following a couple of simple steps.
Find the right location
Talking about the offshore software development challenges, the first thing that springs to mind is the inconvenience of working with remote teams. You can mitigate that by choosing a reliable development partner that is culturally close to you.
Eastern Europe is one of the popular destinations for outsourcing your software development. Cultural proximity to any western country, fluent command of English, vast talent pool, and shared values make Eastern European countries like Ukraine a perfect location for outsourcing software development offshore.
A vast selection of companies and a growing number of developers in the region drive companies from all around the globe to outsource their projects to Eastern Europe, and especially, to Ukraine.
Choose a reliable development partner
Once you’ve figured out the location, you need to focus on choosing the right vendor who matches your expertise requirements and offers the right set of services to help you meet your needs.
There are thousands of software development companies out there. How to find and choose the right offshore software development partner? Here’s a list of steps you’ll need to make:
- Create a list of vendors that offer decent service quality, strong expertise, and high security standards.
- Check out the reviews and see what other people say about the vendor. Collect the information from websites like Clutch, LinkedIn, Goodfirms, and more.
- Take the internal talent pool of your vendor into account. A mid-size or large company is more likely to provide you with a dedicated team of developers within a short rime span.
- Find a vendor with a strong employer brand. A company with a good reputation will be more likely to attract and hire talented people for your project within a short time span.
- Check what kinds of projects they’ve worked on before. Can they offer the tech and domain expertise you are looking for?
- Find a vendor that has all the equipment and the necessary infrastructure to ensure secure and effective working conditions for the team in the time of remote.
- Check whether your vendor has an effective security policy in place and is fully compliant with international security standards like HIPAA, PCI, ISO, and more.
- Contact a selected list of vendors to assess the quality of communication and enthusiasm they offer.
- Choose a vendor that understands your needs, is ready to take responsibility for the project, and shows interest in the success of you project.
- Ask the right questions to make sure you can trust your potential partner.
Choose the best partnership model
There are several commonly used cooperation models in software outsourcing and each has its uses for different situations.
- Extended Team – hire offshore developers to scale up your existing team fast. Tap into a fresh talent pool to reinforce your core team with our team extension model.
- Managed Team – delegate a part of your software development project to a professional and self-sustained team of experts overseas.
- Custom Solution Development – solve your issues and address your business needs with an end-to-end solution.
Select the most suitable pricing model
When you outsource software development offshore, partner with a vendor that can provide you with the pricing model that will be the most efficient for your specific project There are three main pricing models in software development outsourcing:
- Fixed Price – suits smaller projects with clear timelines and requirements. With such clarity, your vendor can give you the exact price for the whole range of services, and you will just pay a fixed price in accordance with your agreement.
- Time & Material – here, you simply pay for the hours of work on your project. This model suits large projects with undefined timelines and you pay the agreed cost per hour on a monthly basis.
- Dedicated Team - a transparent, monthly-based pricing model that depends on the size of the team and administrative overheads. You pay the service provider’s fees and developers’ salaries. It suits best for complex, long-term projects, with frequent changes in project requirements.
One of the main advantages of offshore software development is that you can choose the pricing model that suits your project. A reliable vendor will always suggest a mutually beneficial pricing model for your development needs as well as your budget.
Set up knowledge transfer for your project
Whenever you augment your team with external talent, you need to have a solid knowledge transfer process in place. A knowledge transfer is meant to systematically identify, grasp, and document essential information about the project. At N-iX, we minimize the risks by setting up a comprehensive knowledge transfer procedure that guarantees the efficient performance of the team.
N-iX has a profound experience in knowledge transfer. What we have found over the years, is that knowledge transfer works best when approached systematically and methodically. That is when you have to give up the informalities and just go precisely by the book.
Key takeaways
Offshore software development offers a large number of benefits:
- Filling the talent gap – when qualified software developers are scarce, offshoring your project and tapping into an overseas talent pool is the best solution.
- Saving costs – companies can save up to 58% on the project cost when hiring developers offshore;
- Reducing development timeline – a reliable team of experienced offshore developers can help you do a great job in a short period of time;
Though offshoring is a great solution, there are some inherent challenges you should keep in mind:
- Cultural matching – cultural differences, “us and them” mentality;
- Communication breakdowns – language barrier, time gap.
Offshoring offers a high cost-to-value ratio. It’s efficient and it’s fast. The minor flaws this approach has can be mitigated by finding a reliable partner, and that is where N-iX steps in.
Providing top-quality software developing services to clients across industries and continents since 2002, N-iX offers deep expertise to deliver tangible success on projects of any complexity.
