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What Is Offshore Software Development: A Guide for CEOs

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Relia Software
What Is Offshore Software Development: A Guide for CEOs

To create something, a company needs a team, that’s obvious. But there are countless ways to do it, from the basic local hiring processes to offshore software development. And in today’s reality, more and more companies choose the latter. Of course, there are certain complications with offshoring development, but they are nothing compared to all the advantages it offers.

The Basics

First, let’s find out what offshore software development even is. Basically speaking, it’s when you trust a part of work (or a project from scratch) to a third-party company. The reasons for that may be very different. The most common ones include the lack of specialists, the need for external help due to deadlines, or the cost-efficiency. There are 2 main ways to hire offshore developers for any of your needs:

1. Make a team yourself

It’s traditional but a pretty uncommon approach today. It includes finding freelancers yourself (or entrusting it to your HR specialist). The challenge here lies in the hiring process itself. But it’s even more complicated to merge them into a team, establish decent communication, and manage the working process. You’ll also need a person whose job will be to control and supervise their performance, quality and solve potential issues. And trust me, when working with “random” people that work together for the first time, there will be issues.

2. Use specialized services

A simpler, more productive, and the most popular option. The only thing a company needs to do is to find an offshore development center, Relia Software, for example. Such services already have teams of professionals who are ready to take on any job. The quality is ensured by the center that provides such services. All the potential issues are minimized due to the experience of the teams. And even if they do appear, the service is responsible for solving them.

The Advantages

Now that you know how it works, let’s get into why you would choose offshore software development over any alternative.

1. Quality

Most of the services offered offshore development services have been on the market for quite some time already. That means they do have experience in finding and choosing only the best specialists in each field. The performance of such teams is almost always guaranteed, as they are gathered and managed by professionals. All of that ensures top-level quality in every aspect – from basic communication to intricate details you find important. Moreover, due to all the members' personal and in-team experience, the time needed for a project is usually much lower than the market average. And it’s certainly faster than hiring local programmers or creating a dedicated team yourself.

2. Simplicity

There’s no need to go through all the time- and nerve-consuming processes like searching for the candidates, the team creation, and management. Everything is already taken care of by those services. The only thing you need to do is make all the requirements and expectations clear so that the professionals can use their potential to the fullest.

3. Cost efficiency

As said in the previous point, the service center does almost everything. Usually, they hire individuals from countries with much lower development costs. That means, even though you have to pay the center itself for all their work, the cost will still be much lower than doing everything yourself. Don’t worry, though. It doesn’t affect quality by any means. Because most of the time, even if the payment of such devs may seem low to the ones from the US or Western Europe, it’s still much higher than the average in their countries. Everyone benefits here:

  1. Your company receives top-level quality projects from the offshore team.
  2. The development center earns a fee and once again proves its reputation.
  3. Developers who work for the center receive much higher payments than if they would work for a local company. Also, they gain valuable experience. Another important point here is that the team works at a distance. It saves money on many steps, from basic office renting and managing to taxes.

4. Scaling

It often happens that the size of the project grows as the company realizes they need more features implemented. Or, sometimes, it just needs to be done faster. In both cases, team scaling is needed to cope with all the new challenges.

Hiring locally or managing an own team means going through the complications of finding specialists and getting them into the workflow efficiently. Which, of course, consumes additional time, money, and effort.

When working with a development center, scaling can be dealt with much easier. They’re almost always ready for any adjustments, including the ones that require team scaling. Once again, all the work will be done by professionals, eliminating any potential inefficiency.

The Challenges

Even though it’s way more convenient, there are still some challenges to offshore software development.

1. Communication

It’s much harder to communicate with workers online than in real life. Especially when you face the difference in time zones, also, don’t forget about the language. There may be misunderstandings and complications because of a simple language barrier. To keep the communication on a decent level, regular online meetings and conferences are a must. Also, HR managers are advised to talk to developers personally, from time to time. It helps to establish healthy working relationships and get rid of any possible problems.

2. Management

Entrusting a job to unknown people, even if they are professionals, may cause some management difficulties. It includes a basic understanding of goals and requirements. Also, even if the offshore development center controls the quality and the performance on their side, you’re still the one who decides whether it’s on an acceptable level. In the end, it may even require some additional resources to manage and control remote teams.

Final Words

To put it – offshore software development is almost always the best solution to any of your project’s demands. The professionals know their job and will ensure the best performance in all aspects. Just remember about the potential problems. Also, don’t forget that it’s your decision on how to create a product. So, analyze the circumstances, do deep market research, and good luck with that project of yo.

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