Offshoring the development of a software project or parts of it has become a normal thing nowadays. Of course, a few decades ago, everything was developed in a single office. Obviously enough, office rent, equipment, and all the other collateral expenses weren’t a good thing for the budget.
However, since offshore software development became popular, there is no longer a need to hire programmers and provide them with computers and workspace.
It works in a simple way – you find an offshore software development company that offers such services and entrust them with whatever task you need to be done. It can be about:
- writing a part of the code;
- handling a process like project management;
- or completing a whole program from scratch.
Such companies already have professional teams that are ready to start working at any moment.
Seems like a perfect work model for many businesses in the IT field, right? And it almost is. Read through the article to find about all the advantages and disadvantages.
Pros
Cost-Effectiveness
The first and the main reason people hire offshore software development companies are the prices for their services. Firstly, as mentioned before, a business no longer needs to spend tons of money on offices, equipment, and taxes.
Secondly, offshoring usually means hiring companies that house programmers in countries with a much lower average payment. That allows these developers to receive higher payments than average, but still lower than in European countries or the US.
Thirdly, even though the prices are much lower, it doesn’t affect the quality in any way. The workers are motivated by (comparatively) high payments and provide only top-level services. It’s a perfect collaboration where every party benefits.
Quality
Speaking about quality. These services specialize in creating expert teams. Only the best specialists are hired. That means, you’ll get only the best software.
Developers in such services usually have years, if not decades, of software development experience. It allows them to omit all the possible mistakes, maximize the efficiency, and the quality of the end product.
Scaling
Scaling is one of the biggest problems of the usual business model. Just imagine – you established a company and everything works great. At one moment, it reaches a point where everything needs to be scaled to keep the progress going and the profits – raising.
But this progress comes with a great price. A business now needs to find a bigger workspace, find and hire additional specialists, and buy additional equipment. Add here all the paperwork, human resources management expenses, and taxes.
Working with an offshore developers removes all these complications. Your company won’t even notice any difficulties, as everything will be done by the hired service. They usually have some workers that are ready to jump into the existing team at any moment.
Scaling opportunities are endless when working with such services. Just tell them that you need additional resources, negotiate the price and new demands, and it’s done. Allocating additional programmers to a project is also a good way to speed things up.
Support
Professional services in all spheres and industries try their best to provide perfect customer support. It increases the reputation, strengthening their position on the market, and makes customers value the service itself much more. In most cases, good customer support is the reason for long-term business relationships.
Offshore software development companies are no exception. The processes they work on are very complex and require communication between the client and the hired company. Also, the requirements tend to change from time to time, meaning that the service must be able to react to them.
All of that “forces” such services to have flawless customer support teams. Otherwise, the business just won’t survive on the market. Support teams are able not only to ask any of the customer’s questions at any time but provide detailed reports and even negotiate certain aspects of work.
Cons
Security
Working with foreign companies that are located on the other side of the world and communicating with them through the internet isn’t that safe. It lacks security in almost every aspect.
Of course, you’ll virtually sign papers and have a contract that will minimize the risks. Provided that you’re working with professionals, that is. But it doesn’t mean a foreign company will not be able to scam you or even fake their whole existence.
Remember, fake companies exist and sometimes, are way too good at impersonating real experts until they run off with your money. So, make sure that every single detail in the contract is negotiated and written down. Check the service’s contact information, find reviews on them, and even official documentation, if possible.
But it gets worse when you realize that all the data will be shared through the internet. That means, anyone with enough skills and determination will be able to snoop into your project and copy valuable information. It can be either sold to your rivals or just made public.
Communication
Communication itself is a problem too. Time zones and language difficulties may seem like a basic thing. But they can be the reason a certain demanded feature wasn’t implemented.
For example, because of different time zones, you’ll have much fewer chances of communicating with the teams. It may dramatically reduce the efficiency of the process. Also, language barriers are one of the most common causes of complications and misunderstandings.
Once again, it does seem a very non-important aspect, but asking other companies that used such services is quite recommendable. You’ll be surprised by the number of failures that happened because such simple things were ignored.
Just make sure to state all the demands as clearly and precisely as possible. It will ensure that the hired service understands all the requirements and will do their best to fulfill all of them.
Final Words
As you can see, offshore development has more advantages than downsides. Yet, always keeping the potential risks in mind is the essential part of successful business management. So, there’s no need to fear hiring such services. Just find the one with a flawless reputation like Develux, and everything will be done on the best level.