Offshore Software Development: Everything You Need to Know

Want to know how to outsource software development to an offshore company? Here's how to start your journey.

What does offshore development mean?

Businesses no longer need to hire staff on their doorstep to perform a wide range of services. Today, they can find talent in many locations – even outside their country. The idea is that a company can find quality work and specialized skill sets across the world. An example of this is offshore software development.

Offshore software development occurs when a company outsources work to a partner in a region with a different time zone than the company's headquarters. An example of this would be a company in Western Europe working with a software development team in South America or an organization in the United States partnering with a software development company in Ukraine.

Offshore software development is also often grouped with the nearshore software development model. In this case, a company partners with a software development team in a nearby country to complete a software project. For example, a company in Western Europe might work with a development company in Ukraine, while a company in the US would partner with an outsourcing software development company in South America.

In either case, this involves working with a software developer or a full team in an external country. It means hiring an external, remote team to work together on a software development project. This can be used for a variety of tasks ranging from basic coding to product design and development of custom software, web and mobile applications, as well as software support and maintenance.

For most companies, hiring offshore development services is a great solution for projects that require specific expertise and high-quality results that are difficult to find on a local scale.

What does an offshore developer do?

Offshore developers will bring a combination of technical and interpersonal skills along with deep experience to handle various components such as building, implementing, supporting and testing your specific technology projects.

Offshore developers may work from a remote location and will often be part of a large offshore development team. Together, they bring a fresh perspective along with an innovative set of skills that offer new ideas and ways to approach your projects.

This is mainly due to the fact that the majority are from different countries, so the offshore development model will tend to provide a diverse team that encourages innovation and solves problems creatively to deliver high quality products.

When to Hire Offshore Developers

There are many situations in which offshoring becomes the most viable option.

• Lack of tech talent: Top talented developers are in short supply on a global scale. This makes it difficult to find local engineers willing to work on an in-house team. Companies may find it difficult to hire a full-time developer with the required talent from nearby locations and therefore work with offshore software development companies.

• Specialized roles: Many projects require super-specialized technical roles or temporary positions that are not attractive to talented developers. Maybe they need a project manager or a quality assurance engineer. Or maybe they're looking for roles on a custom software development team.

• Complex Projects: Tackling a complex project requires a lot of knowledge and technical knowledge. Without them, it's easy to experience speed bumps and accumulate downtime. Offshore software development companies can work with specialized technology stacks and involved development processes.

• Tight deadlines: Getting the right results at the right time can be the difference between success and failure. With offshore developers, you can transform your idea quickly and scale your resources when needed. You can also maintain project management oversight, using your own project manager to guide software developers, or hand your project over to software development companies, who will complete your product from start to finish — reducing time and increasing efficiency .

• Support and Consulting: Even if you don't need IT outsourcing for a specific software project, you can still take advantage of the expertise these software development companies have to offer. Software outsourcing companies provide consulting and support solutions for existing or ongoing projects that have gone off track. One of the benefits of offshore software development services is that they have experience working with companies in different countries and are aware of the regulations that govern IT services and activities.

• Cost Efficiency: Partnering with an offshore development company completely eliminates the costs of hiring in-house staff while providing equal or better benefits. Overall, development costs are considerably lower, but development processes are still of high quality.

What is the difference between onshore, nearshore and offshore software development?

These three service models differ according to the geographic position of the client and their software development services partner. They offer several advantages in the IT sector.

In land

Onshore outsourcing occurs when a client decides to hire software developers in their own country or region. There is no time zone difference, unless of course the development company is operating in a different region or coast. However, development costs are typically higher than nearshore or offshore software development because the cost of living is the same or similar for both partners.

Near the coast

Nearshore IT outsourcing happens between countries with similar time zones, such as the US and Latin America. Since the time zone difference is minimal, companies can work on their activities together with the software development company in real time.

At sea

Offshore software development brings together customers and suppliers in distant countries or continents. The IT outsourcing market, in this case, tends to be the most economical, as the cost of living is usually lower in these areas, but it is more difficult to monitor the activities of these software development teams due to time zone misalignment. Still, offshore software development services come with several benefits.

Why is offshore software development beneficial?

The benefits of offshore software development go far and wide. With the right outsourced software development company by your side, the possibilities are endless.

These are just some of the benefits of offshore software development teams.

Access to the best technology talent

In the IT sector, talent is the most competitive (and scarce) resource. The best software development companies will find the best developers and leverage their talent to benefit your projects. The IT outsourcing market has some of the highest quality employees in the business.

Optimized workloads

An outsourcing company takes the burden off your shoulders and at the same time ensures quality assurance. With careful development, you can focus your company's time and resources on your core business.

Industry experience

The best offshore software development companies have years of experience in the industry and have formed offshore development teams specializing in all technologies, with a robust technology stack. This is the level of knowledge that changes the entire course of a project, whether you are creating web applications or mobile programs.

Minimal risks

Having the best offshore software developers on your team reduces the risks inherent in the project. Your offshore software development company will apply best practices to increase flexibility and minimize downtime.

Faster launch times

The best offshore development companies will create custom software development solutions for your business and bring together the best teams to achieve project goals on time while increasing the capabilities of your in-house talent.

High quality products

With all of the above benefits combined, it's easy to see how outsourcing software development to the right offshore company produces high-quality software products. From web development to product design, these software companies will develop the right product for your needs – at a low cost. Even so, always check references and previous projects!

How to Choose an Offshore Software Outsourcing Company

Keep these key points in mind when choosing a top software company.

• Smooth communication and workflow: Smooth communication and workflow is the most critical step for offshoring. Your software outsourcing partner must be perfectly fluent in English or the language of your choice. Additionally, their work process must match your workflow throughout the development cycle.
• Standardized security protocols: In an increasingly technology-driven world, cybersecurity is more important than ever. Make sure the IT company you choose has up-to-date security protocols to keep all data and software products secure. This is true regardless of the software development model you choose.
• Top Talented Software Engineers: Outsourcing software development offshore should give you access to world-class technological talent. Always look for an IT company that can provide elite software developers for the projects at hand, from product development to web development and routine IT services.
• Quality Experience: Always check references, past clients and completed projects of your potential offshore software development partner. This information will give you some insights into the performance, workflow style, and quality of the IT company's software products.
• Full range of services: What you need today may not be what you need tomorrow. The best outsourcing companies are those that specialize in a wide range of areas and have the right team size to be able to handle your project from a holistic and highly experienced approach. Whether you need project management, product development, or something else entirely, these offshore software development companies should help you.

BairesDev offshore software development services

• Technology Talent Pool: Outsourcing development services offshore can be highly beneficial as it provides access to a vast pool of software engineering talent that would otherwise not be available. Your company can therefore benefit from a wide range of specialists that go beyond your internal team.

• High-quality solutions: Our offshore development model and experience allows us to ensure the delivery of high-quality, customized software solutions to meet the demands of your business. This helps optimize workloads, reduce time spent on software development, and improve a product's time to market. This helps optimize workloads, reduce time spent on software development, and improve a product's time to market.

• Specialized Services: Offshore software services are divided into 3 main categories: Delivery Teams, Staff Augmentation, and Project-Based Outsourcing. By partnering with an offshore software development company, the entire implementation process for each is taken care of. You'll instantly receive a team of software engineers skilled in the technologies that meet your needs and ready to work on your projects – mobile and web apps, UX design, or whatever you want.

• Overcoming challenges: Working with an offshore company's most talented software engineers allows you to overcome development problems more efficiently. Outsourcing software companies allow you to overcome challenges by integrating talent with your in-house team or immediately finding the right fit for temporary or hard-to-fill roles. Offshoring allows you to overcome challenges by integrating talent with your internal team or immediately finding the right fit for temporary or hard-to-fill roles.

5 Steps to Take Before Working with an Offshore Development Company

Doing your homework before offshoring can help you reduce risk and maximize results from your software outsourcing project.

#1 Define your goals

Offshoring services enhance your company's capabilities, helping you achieve your goals. Having a clear idea of ​​what you are aiming for and the results you can expect in a given period of time will make it easier to plan a customized technology solution that meets your needs.

#2: Set Priorities

While offshore development companies help you build a detailed roadmap of your project, it's up to you to state what's most important to your company and your clients. Make a list of what your short- and long-term development priorities should be.

#3 Paint your Vision

You bring the idea and we turn it into real software. The clearer picture you have of your vision, the faster your project will move from the wireframing and sketching stage. Remember, you're not building a product – you're building an experience.

#4 List your needs

Each project requires a different technology stack and different engineers with experience in a wide variety of fields. Check out different service models and technologies to get an idea of ​​how they can fit into your project. This applies to everything from team size to costs.

#5 Put everything on paper

Proper documentation speeds up any process and makes everything much more transparent. Based on your needs, your offshore team will help you choose the best solution to achieve your goals on time and cost-effectively.

Communication is the key to success

Although working with offshore software development outsourcing companies brings many benefits, the success of any project mainly depends on one important factor: communication. Setting up an efficient workflow with your development team will determine how quickly your project progresses, as well as the quality of the final product.

As your offshore partner, we will always be interested in establishing a productive and professional relationship with you. Use this to your advantage by asking as many questions as possible and giving the most honest feedback possible. Even if your project was not so defined at the beginning, these guidelines will build the concrete foundation on which offshore developers can work and bring valuable results to the table.

And maintain this feedback loop throughout the development process! Whatever communication channel you choose to collaborate with us (be it email, telephone, video calls or web platforms), use it periodically to make the most of your software development journey.

10 reasons to outsource development to Latin America

Offshore Software Outsourcing Trends

The latest trends defining the offshoring market and best practices.

• Meaningful use of collaborative tools: These tools are highly useful for maintaining an organized and cohesive workflow. With increased collaboration with offshore development teams there is also an improvement in digital solutions. Tools like Jira and Trello can really help with task assignment and project delivery compliance.
• Increased use of cloud devices: With an increasing demand for cloud outsourcing, offshore software development companies will continue to work and exponentially need cloud platforms from public sources for data storage purposes.
• Demand for innovative skills: Technological change is unstoppable, with new applications and methodologies emerging every day. Specialized, highly specialized software engineers in technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence and the internet of things (IoT) will be needed now more than ever.
• Improved data security: Data privacy and security is a top concern for CIOs and all organizations working with sensitive data. For this reason, offshore development companies are implementing rigorous and stringent security and privacy protocols, and adhering to comprehensive regulations that will ensure the secure management of all information.

Is offshore software development the right decision for your company?

Offshore software development outsourcing is advisable most of the time, but it is always necessary to have a complete view of the project in question before deciding on this option. Consider desired delivery dates and how the software outsourcing company will increase efficiency in this process.

Additionally, analyze your current resources, paying particular attention to any skills gaps and capacity limitations that may exist within your internal team.

To choose the right offshore software outsourcing company, consider:

• Selecting the best outsourcing model for your needs
• Set clear expectations
• Maintain clear and open lines of communication
• Developing a detailed post-development strategy