As the world looks to remote work as a new kind of normal for the future, software offshoring has long since been on that bandwagon – thanks to international clientele across differing time zones. With leverage from cloud support services and the opportunity to strike exclusive partnerships (such as being a dedicated AWS partner, for instance), the capabilities that exist for agencies specializing in offshore software development are one and many. Scalability and versatility now go hand-in-hand, as cloud service providers deliver a wide range of application development requisites all under one roof. Take things a step further by also instilling robust cybersecurity solutions to keep everything under guard, so nothing is compromised.
In this day and age of virtual infrastructure and containerized applications, offshoring your software needs makes even more sense, considering the fact that in-person attendance is seldom required, if at all. Add video conferencing and real-time collaboration into the mix, and you have a team that is dynamic as it is operational round-the-clock (if dispersed halfway across the world). As technologies pertaining to online collaboration heighten in quality and accessibility, it is also important to note the need for faster turnarounds to iterative software products. Of course, advanced collaboration technologies such as SaaS-based project management tools can significantly improve workplace productivity without ever requiring the need for supervisors to monitor their team members’ schedules.
In addition to that, the most fundamental reasons behind adopting an offshore software development team still ring true. Significant cost savings and the lack of maintaining office space are still enticing reasons to make the big move, while being able to seek the best and most suitable talent without any geographical constraints in place. As an on-demand consumer culture dominates today’s consumer business landscape, users want products, services and entire experiences in the here and now. In order to cater to these shifting needs, establishing the right talent that’s also easily scalable isn’t something that can be put on the backburner.
It’s paramount to the overall success of your business, as it can determine whether an increase in sales can be met with quality and timely delivery. Therefore, understanding all the benefits which offshoring teams can provide towards your software development needs is important, so that you can determine what is currently missing in your business – and how it can be addressed with the right offshoring team.
To help you with your assessment, here are some key advantages surrounding offshore software development.
This has to be one of the biggest driving factors behind an increasing number of companies opting for offshore software development services. After all, why adopt a work schedule that spans multiple time zones, if it doesn’t contribute to significant cost savings? Although a reduction in cost is usually cited as one of the biggest advantages of offshore software development, this savings spans across multiple areas within your business and its varied operations.
For one, the direct costs associated with hiring an offshore team is substantially less compared to hiring the very same locally. This particularly applies to countries such as the US, UK and Western Europe, where in-house specialists may cost more than a team that could otherwise be hired from Asia or Latin America. Other than that, in-house employee perks such as healthcare and other benefits need no obligations, as your offshore team will be hired by the company offering these services, and they will be the ones handling all employee-related requirements.
Office space and physical equipment is another key area to be considered, when it comes to cost savings. With teams dispersed remotely (and possibly across the globe), there’s no need to buy/rent and maintain expensive office space, furniture and other equipment that would otherwise be required to keep an in-house team up and running.
With most modern business workloads based in the cloud, managing this in the long term can be a complex undertaking. While cloud resources significantly reduce the need (if not completely eliminate) the need for on-premise infrastructure, it still needs careful maintenance as workloads can gradually accumulate over time. With an offshore team already catering to your software requirements, cloud resources that are put to use can simultaneously also be managed and scaled by the same team, thereby reducing the need to separately maintain cloud-based business workloads as well.
Altogether, this creates a substantive cost savings across your business, especially when it comes to ongoing projects that are due to carry on for an indefinite period of time.
While software development in Sri Lanka and other offshoring destinations was primarily functional on a remote basis for international clientele, the increasing normalisation of remote workspaces have further opened up opportunities for business leaders and skilled professionals alike. Why search for talent within the limited confines of your locality, when modern technology has made it possible to work with anyone, from any corner of the world? Offshore software development is therefore all the more warranted, and even more so when qualified talent is within reach sans any geographical constraints.
Therefore, enjoy access to the best talent from around the world, and build a software development team that is precisely lined with your technology and business goals. Manage them remotely by focusing on the product that is being developed, while other employee-related responsibilities will be addressed by the agency that hires these team members on behalf of you. With numerous offshoring destinations now being well established for several years and counting, agencies based in these countries also have access to the latest technologies that are relevant for your business requirements. This is particularly important in the wake of perpetually shifting consumer demands – something that companies irrespective of size or industry now experience, owing to an on-demand consumer culture.
As a result, hiring an offshore development team will reap maximum rewards, without breaking the bank.
Whether you’re a startup or multinational corporation, scaling up (or down) is inevitable for achieving constantly evolving customer requirements. For startups that are growing at a rapid rate, the ramifications of scaling slowly or incorrectly are far worse than those of say, companies which already have a system of scalability in place. As boutique companies begin to attract more revenue, delivering in an equal and opposite manner to keep clients happy is imperative. Your existing software is bound to be the cornerstone for delivery, and so having the necessary teams, technology stacks and infrastructure in place to keep things moving smoothly during fluctuations is absolutely essential.
With an in-house team, this can get complicated – especially if startup companies are functioning on limited resources such as equipment and office space. If sourcing the right talent to employ locally is the next endeavour, there’s the chance of delays due to interviews, recruitment processes, contract preparations etc. However, an offshore team can be easily scaled up or down depending on evolving business requirements – and at a much faster turnaround time, that too. Simply specify what your exact requirements are, and your offshoring agency will do the heavy-lifting to assign someone they may already have employed, or conduct a talent hunt in the event someone appropriate isn’t available.
In spite of varying time zones, schedule regular meetings between teams to go through what each member is working on. This is applicable even in the wake of real-time collaboration, such as online workspaces and project management tools which offer visualizations of project statuses at a glance. Albeit collaborating on a real-time basis, speaking to team members one-on-one via video call is a great way to emulate an in-person feel, while elevating the fundamental benefits of social interactions.
Discussing project matters verbally on a regular basis also paves the way for better elaboration; something that can seldom be done via email and instant messaging.
This goes hand-in-hand with communicating on a regular basis. No matter what the cultural gaps are, getting acquainted with differing accents and routines is something that is best done with regular one-on-one communication. Even though many offshoring agencies are based in locations where English isn’t the first language, communication is still well comprehensible and effective, since team members have learned to articulate ideas and concerns with the linguistic norms of its clientele in mind. This is the sign of an offshoring agency that isn’t just competent, but possesses a team that’s capable of adapting and being flexible.
With even the smallest of software development projects being long-term ones, offshoring agencies want to know whether sufficient potential lies within your company, in order to warrant the investment of more resources. Schedule regular meetings (be it on a quarterly, semi-annual or even an annual basis), to discuss what your business’s overarching goals are, and where it is headed for the future. This not only provides your offshore team insight on what your business’s key objectives are, but also provides them the motivation to aim higher via strategies that focus on those long-term business objectives. Too often, it is all too easy to fall into a rut of simply fixing bugs and rolling out minor updates within any software development team. However, business-centric discussions (even if it’s for a distant future) can stimulate your offshore team to build a proactive foundation that could be used later for maximizing business value.
Additionally, you can also take this a notch further by introducing inter-departmental discussions, where team members representing different business units across your organization can share what they are working on. Again, this provides your offshore team with multiple perspectives, giving them further insight for making your digital product precisely reflect company values.
Offshoring your software development needs has been an option well before remote workspaces became the norm. However, the current technology landscape has further amplified the opportunities, capabilities and scope that an offshore team can provide, in comparison to a local, in-house one. For one, modern video conferencing and real-time collaboration technologies are fast, seamless and efficient, thereby re-defining productivity benchmarks as companies scale and venture forward. The classic reasons behind choosing an offshore team are still very much alive, though; a reduction in costs, office space, infrastructure and even furniture makes this an enticing option for any company, whether they are budget-strapped or not.
Add to this the complete elimination of a geographical constraint; why subject your talent search to your locality alone, when you can search and hire qualified professionals no matter where they are located in the world? While time zone disparities can be a contributing factor towards erratic work schedules, it can be conveniently circumvented with regular agendas by determining shift times that both parties can mutually accommodate.
Sure, the omission of on-premise infrastructure can be one less problem for businesses to worry about, but the steady accumulation of massive amounts of data as well as intricate workloads all based in the cloud can create operational hurdles. This is also something that can and will be managed by your offshoring team, as they will be primarily involved in using cloud-based resources – together with protecting all assets stored within, with relevant cybersecurity solutions.
While many of us are aware of the ease in scaling cloud resources, the same level of convenience also applies to expanding your offshoring team. Need to add a few more members owing to increasing sales and/or other operational workflows? Your offshoring agency will do the hard work to allocate the right team members, and conduct a talent hunt if ever required to ensure you obtain exactly the calibre of persons you need to augment your software development operations.
With software development offshoring, much awaits in terms of minimal costs and maximum productivity; identifying the sweet spot between what is needed, how much and when will determine its overall success.