The following post describes the aspects related to Offshore Software Development, Its advantages & disadvantages, Best practices (to be considered), and many more such aspects. Elaborating the idea of the word ‘Offshore’(hereby, for Offshore Software Development) on generic-terms, it is basically a synonym for ‘Outsourcing’. In today’s never-ending & ever-changing Digi-world, the word ‘Offshore’ simply marks the result of sending your business operations(hereby, as software development) to be done remotely i.e. by other entity/developer/hired-team. The core idea of such developmental procedures is that it costs less (as compared) but is also risky for some fine-tunned ROIs(which stays as the most stereotypical-perception in connection). Though if precisely maintained, it results into the best helping-hand. Crafting a new digital product/platform(a software, a website, an application, a chat-bot, etc…) is literally a hell of a task, in-terms of time, investments, and management aspects. So delegating the task, serves to be the best beneficial option for the same. But here come the core-questions as how, what are the pros & cons, and what are the best practices for the same. So let’s take a dive into…
What exactly is Offshore Software Development?
Before plunging into the depth of how and what the subject is all about, let’s have a look over what ‘Offshore Software Development’ has got on it’s base…
It stands as Outsourcing tasks/operations to a third-party agency or developer(s) which includes different services like web-development, web-application development, mobile-application development, etc… Typically(in here), a particular company providing these services(as a package) is from a foreign-country.
There are many different ways to permute and combine with, which majorly are outsourcing - To an individual developer or an agency, Delegating the entire project or only certain parts of it, and To a hired-dedicated team of developers(which works on your requirements at your space, with your infrastructure, on generic basis).
Onshore, Nearshore & More Related Terms…
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With the only difference of proximity, ‘Nearshore Software Development’ stands as the same concept as ‘Offshore Software Development’. Basically, a nearshore development company would be in the same time-zone or in the neighbouring country. One of the core-advantages of the particular way of outsourcing software development projects are the work-ethics and cultural similarities.
For an instance: An Indian company outsources an agency in UAE for developing a software for their businesses.
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‘Onshore Software Development’ means that the partner company resides within your country. Few core-benefits this method has is; it is easily & quickly approachable, mobile & adaptable to frequent changes, along with instant & better control.
For an instance: An american company opted for outsourcing an agency in America itself.
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Along with above explained terms, there are many more such outsourcing-terms (one should be aware of) like Dedicated-team model - which is geographically specific but is focused on controlling & ownership aspects, Smartsourcing - which is basically delegating non-core operations to the 3rd-party, Build-OPerate-Transfer(BOT) - is basically hiring a provider, install the facility, & then handling it back after stipulated time-period, etc…
Core-benefits Of Offshore Software Development
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This type of software development supports less-costs i.e. it is less expensive as compared to basic model of blocking in-house employees & infrastructures for the same (in long run).
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The requirements of having specific skills & knowledge (hereby, of software engineering) get fulfilled seamlessly when you outsource for your project.
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The outsourcing companies (hosts) take care of the employees, as they have to stay competitive. Which in-turn reduces the load & bottlenecks of administration, recruiting, etc…
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The shared responsibility gives birth to faster development i.e. offshore companies share and manage the required risks for developing a project or say for the best end-results.
Major-drawbacks Of Offshore Software Development
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Due to differences like different time-zones, different working-hours, etc… the core-communication sometimes get a slow-down which hinders the growth of the project with perfect pace.
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Other core-drawbacks which stays in the process is the cultural-gap which are gender-issues, traditions, work-ethics, what is offensive & what is not, etc…
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With the pearly-purpose of reducing the cost , there are chances of less guarantee of quality i.e. sometimes companies do hire a team with no skills or no knowledge of the project/work they are hired for.
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Un the age of frauds & hacking, one should always be up with proper data-security i.e. always protect your sensitive-data (keep in mind that a signed contract is not a 100% guarantee of trust).
Best Practices of Offshore Outsourcing
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The first and the foremost step is to study the marketplace along with your USP then decide what features your targeted audience is expecting, technologies they use, etc…
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Keeping in mind “Slow and steady, wins the race.”, plan out a proper plan which needs to be worked upon step-by-step (on the basis of the priorities).
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Along with the above stated points, always keep-up with the legalities (rules & regulations), especially when you are planning to have a platform which is going to use personal data or/and have money-payments (along with).
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Always be up with a framework, an ideology or say mock-rounds for your future product i.e. consider the usability of the product, who all are going to use it and what all things they will be able to do with it, etc…
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Analyse the level of skills and capacities, types of technologies and tools you will need to make it happen. List down the outsourcing models & select the best one which suits your project the best.
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Put the paddle on the acceleration-mode, prepare a detailed documentation of the project-requirements, quality-standards, deadlines, etc…
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Prepare a check-list and keep-up with the results against the expectations i.e. to check whether the set-benchmarks are met with or not (on a continual basis).
How to choose an Outsourcing Agency?
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Thousands of outsourcing-companies are up in the huge and fascinating ‘Digi-world’ (at your door-step). But how to find the most reliable-one? Well for which, the Gold-old “Ask for the reference.” is one of the best starting points…
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Search -out the companies’ clients (current as well as past) and ask about their experiences or say impressions.
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What next? The study of groundwork is as important. Making the final decision takes time and evaluation. A decent tip for the same is to contact several companies in order to compare what they actually have to offer and other related criterions (for the project).
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Decide which outsourcing model fits the best for your project and define your visions for your project and match the same with the visions and services on the other side. sort -list the best of the best options.
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Always keep in mind, not to get distracted or say attracted towards some polished-portfolios and never-ever rush.
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Go through their profiles(on different platforms), their writings, codes(if possible), etc… and if you can make a test-run in connection with your requirements, it will definitely help to make a good decision.
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After the final selection, keep a proper track of every aspect in the process. Include the team in conversations and decision-making steps, speak often & ask about the progress, ask about their ideologies & motos. And always pay attention towards how project management is exactly conducted…
There you go with the tinge of what Offshore Software Development is all about, some related core-aspects, and things to be considered for selecting the best agency/developer/hired-team for developing the best platform for your next project. And as we(AddWeb Solution) always suggest, investments in different companies or say different platforms for all your tech-cravings are always subjected to market risks, choose wisely & live happily. Cheers!
Concluding essence:
We are AddWeb Solution, An industry leader in Website Design & Development, Mobile Apps Development and in Search Engine Optimization for many years. We create solutions that really work for our clients and never compromising on the quality of the services you will receive…
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