Software outsourcing is an element of a globalised economy that’s been largely unaffected by the Covid crisis. If anything, it has been enhanced. When everyone is working from home, it matters less where they are. Also, those who have been working remotely for years have an advantage, they have already honed their skills in clear processes and communication.
Software outsourcing is about giving the control of software development or management to an external partner. Software outsourcing companies are usually located in countries where advanced technology and education is widely available, alongside a youthful, versatile, and efficient workforce.
As a result of those developments, the trend in commissioning software outsourcing services from offshore companies continues to grow. This article outlines more about the trend and how to make the most of it.
Nearshore v offshore outsourcing
There is a big difference between nearshore and offshore companies. Nearshore outsourcing means outsourcing the services from the nearby region with the almost same time zone. While offshore outsourcing is an agreement with the vendor located overseas in a totally different time zone.
You can decide to outsource the services according to the business needs. Cost is a key driver. Offshoring is likely to be considerably cheaper, though there may be a cost in terms of time lag and comprehension issues. There could also be issues with contractors working to different legal frameworks. If something goes wrong, do you have a comeback?
Software services to outsource
Depending upon the needs, you can decide which services you should and should not outsource. You should clearly know the business requirements and desired specifications. You need to provide software requirement specification (SRS) to the outsourcing company, and it will handle the rest.
Following are the major services that can be outsourced:
- Mobile application development
- Web application development
- UI/UX designing
- VR/AR development
- Cloud solutions
- Data migration
- QA and testing
Or you can add any other service. Management services can be outsourced separately or as part of the project.
Why do you need to outsource software development services?
With increased competition in the market, businesses need to improve their plan of action regularly. Software development is a complex process. It is very costly to employ an in-house team of developers and even then that’s unlikely to provide the cutting-edge range of skills you may need. Some of the key factors that lead to the hiring of offshore companies include:
- Cost-effectiveness:
Employing an in-house developer team is expensive. You will also need to spend money on buying equipment and technology along with paying long-term salaries and employment taxes and benefits. If you hire third-party services, you pay just for the time utilised. The costs depend upon the outsourcing country and type of task. For example, the charges differ by almost 80% in the west of Europe from Eastern Europe.
- Time to market:
Time to market is defined as the time taken from the start of the project to its launching. Depending on the nature of the project, outsourcing can either speed things up, or cause delays. Good communication and your in-house leadership and understanding of the project is absolutely essential. If you have those factors in place, then outsourcing to a range of specialists should speed up your project.
Moreover, searching for an outsourcing company or individual specialists takes much less time than finding the right in-house team of developers. Interviews and hiring processes take time weeks or even a month, whereas you can find available specialist software developers in a matter of hours on some of the outsourcing platforms.
- Accessing a pool of talent and technology
One of the big advantages of outsourcing software development services is access to a broader pool of talent. You may need a particular specialist for a minor task. Outsourcing enables you to get the very best mix of just the right range of experts, including skilled application developers, designers, data scientists, and IT consultants. Dedicated software developers have years of experience in delivering services successfully and operating to strict but fair and transparent online feedback mechanisms.
- Focus on core tasks
It is a big relief when you know that top-rated developers are looking after the complex software development process. You can finally focus on core tasks. Your employees can concentrate on the work they do best. You can focus on allocating resources, managerial tasks, and customer support.
- Managed risk
When you outsource software development, reputation and phased payments are your main source of risk management. In the online economy, those are arguably more important than legal routes. If you are forced to sort out a dispute through legal means, then, to be frank, it will take so long and be so expensive to deal with that by the time it is resolved that your project will be destroyed in any case.
Of course, you should have a clear agreement document with your outsourced partners. That should include a payment schedule, where payments are released against clear milestones.
You should ideally also be able to view transparent feedback from previous clients, compiled by a platform or independent review software, before commissioning. And be sure to leave your own, detailed feedback at the end of the project.