The benefits of nearshore outsourcing

Many companies considering the pros and cons of outsourcing their software development will weigh up whether nearshore or offshore outsourcing is best. Here we take a look at both, and examine which offers the best services to clients.

As the terms imply, nearshore outsourcing is when work is outsourced to companies or individuals who are in nearby countries, whereas offshore is outsourced much further away, even across whole continents; to India, for example. There can be big differences between the two beyond the issue of distance, such as differences in culture and cost. So how do you know what’s best?

Clearly, companies considering outsourcing their software needs want the best in talent as well as technology. You don’t want a slap-dash approach using yesterday’s methods, as the end product just won’t square up. It’s a fairly safe bet that you’ll find both expertise as well as the latest technologies in both locations, so this key element won’t be much of a deciding factor.

What will be, however, is the cultural environment in which your software developer is in. With nearshore outsourcing, your developer will be from a Western culture that’s the same or similar to your own. That means you’re going to be working with the developer in a Western business climate that’s professional, clear and orientated towards deadlines and goals, as well as providing high levels of client satisfaction. Basically, it’s easier to get things done, and to communicate what it is you want with your software – and that’s a critical factor in ensuring success.

On the other hand, offshore development will almost certainly be in a vastly different culture to your own, and therefore there will always be inherent risks in communicating – they may have trouble understanding what you mean in a Western context, and there will possibly be vastly differing comprehensions of what’s required. Even if English is the business language being used, it can often happen that nuances are not understood. This could snowball into complex difficulties with the software later on.

Time is another main consideration, as you’re going to want to be able to contact your developer with relative ease. With nearshore development you’ll be working with developers in the same or similar time zone, whereas it will be across many with offshore, which decreases the speed with which you can get things done. Not being able to communicate instantly could cause problems; after all, software development must be agile so that it can be continually accessed and adapted at will, if needs be.

As with many things in business life, the nearer you are to things, the better.

Contact Us, to learn how nearshore outsourcing could benefit your business.

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