Recently there has been a growth in employees who do not work from a central office, but work from home. Home might be down the street from the office or it may be in another country. The idea of remote working has helped popularize the idea of outsourcing.
Outsourcing might be thought of as a type of remote work. With the outsourcing development model, work is done in a foreign country by employees there for the home business. There are several types of outsourcing including offshore, onshore and nearshore.
Offshoring is when the work is done in a country far from the home country that works in different time zones. For example, US companies frequently outsource call centers to India.
Onshoring is when the work is done within the home country but at a different location, off-site from the home office. For example, when a New York based business sends part of its workflow to Mississippi, this is considered onshoring.
Nearshoring is when work is done outside of the home country but in a country that is geographically nearby and that works in similar time zones.
Choosing the type of outsourcing that fits your project best can be a complicated task. The goal of this article is to assist you with more information in particular in regards to nearshoring. We also recommend reading our Everything Nearshoring Guide.
The nearshore software development model works well for most businesses and is growing in popularity. Software is created, tested and finalized in a nearby country by employees who work for a software development firm there. While it may give pause to outsource work, whether it’s down the block or to a firm in another country, most businesses find that fears are quickly assuaged when nearshoring. The reasons for the ease in partnering with a nearshore business for software development are multifold. Let’s get into them here.
The countries that are considered for nearshore development partnership with the US are in Latin America. There are many logistical factors that make working with a neighboring country in Latin America easy.
Businesses, such as nearshore organizations that operate working hours in the same or nearly identical time zones make for good business partners. Meeting hours can be agreed upon easily without late nights or early mornings. Emails and text messages will be responded to rapidly and during business hours. There’s no lag time waiting to hear back from an outsourcing partner on a project until the next day. A shared time zone makes the logistics of working together far easier.
In Latin America there is a growing demand for and emphasis on English language acquisition. It is a prerequisite for working in the software development industry. Many engineers and developers are fluent in written and spoken English. This makes for easy communication between offices and parties. Setbacks due to language misunderstandings are virtually non-existent. With a nearshore partner, you’ll be communicating in your native language with fluent speakers.
Education in Latin America has traditionally been challenging with many students not completing high school and even fewer continuing on to college. This is changing as more governments and private groups work to provide better access to higher education and more and more Latin American universities are receiving high scores. The engineers and nearshore developers are all highly educated and possess secondary degrees. The work quality is on par with that of the United States.
A great question to ask before engaging with an outsourcing company is to learn what types of methodologies they use for nearshore software development. You’ll obviously want to work with those who are up to date and use the latest tools of the trade. At Pixel506, we are a Costa Rican based company with satellite offices in other Central American countries. Our developers use DevOps and Agile methodologies to complete software development projects. These methodologies create better products, keep the client involved and all in a punctual delivery timeline.
Another important reason that nearshoring relationships tend to go so well are the aligned cultural values between the US and Latin America. With similar cultures, there is a pride and emphasis on work. Deadlines are respected and work is of high priority and importance.
We’ve seen why nearshoring is an obvious choice among the selections for outsourcing work. But there are two more big advantages to US business that we haven’t covered off on yet.
Products that are developed with nearshore software developers are brought to market more quickly than those developed elsewhere. The aforementioned qualities reduce the number of hiccups and road bumps enabling products to be completed to perfection more quickly. This means there’s less time in the development phase and more time with the product in the marketplace.
By contracting with businesses in Latin America, US businesses don’t have to pay the same wages or incur the HR costs of hiring employees. They leave this to the nearshore partner. Secondly, by bringing the product to market quickly, the product is out in the world more quickly, earning money for the business.
You can use the information above as helpful material when you are interviewing prospective outsourcing partners. Discuss timezones, English proficiency, educational level, cultural norms and work values and their software development methodologies. Do they use Agile? Are they up to date? Enquiring about these subjects will help give a broader scope of context as to what to expect in your working relationship.
Secondly, always ask to see past work. See if the partner has worked on a project akin to yours in the past. How did it go? What was the final product? Did it function well? Further, it never hurts to ask for references. Speak to past business partners to learn how the experience went with the software outsourcing company.
Since 2009, Pixel506 has been a trusted nearshore partner for companies from different industries and different countries. We have over a decade of experience helping big, medium, and small companies succeed in the digital world. We’re a Brooklyn-born company, but our offices are located in Costa Rica, Peru, and Nicaragua. Our time zones (GMT-5 and GMT-6) are the same or similar as U.S.-based companies. We understand that taking the first steps towards outsourcing business processes can be challenging, but our onboarding process makes the transition smooth and effective from the start. We work with bilingual software engineers and creative marketers, who speak Spanish and English fluently. With such a large talent pool to choose from, we can establish an effective nearshore product development team that fits your needs exactly. We make sure to get to know our clients so that we can create a ‘pixel-perfect’ strategy in a timely manner that works for their specific vision. Get in touch with us today for more information or to hire us for your software development solutions.
Adelaide, renowned for its lively festivals, historic architecture, and lush parklands, provides an enriching environment…
Introduction The Baby Girl Long-sleeve Thermal Jumpsuit from TheSparkShop.in is a top choice for parents…
Worldwide, millions of people go into sudden cardiac arrest each year. Studies show that their…
Within the realm of contemporary music merchandise, few groups have left a more profound impact than Ghost,…
Innovation is essential in the field of HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) systems to…
Gcp Big Query: Powerful Data Analytics for Mass Storage and Analysis Ezwontech.com: Data is the…