In a world where consumer-centric approaches and integrated operations is the trend, business organizations have to think out-of-the-box to survive cut-throat competition. With large work volumes and critical data sets, companies need the best resources to deal with critical projects. When it comes to software development, human resources play the pivotal role in the entire process. Outsourcing your projects to offshore developers will be a smart decision.

You need to handle huge work volumes, and none other than the top developers can help you do that. Assigning every project to in-house developers won’t be a smart move, as they have to concentrate on other operations too. If you are planning to work with an efficient offshore development team, here are some practices you should follow!

Statistics speak

Before you start planning the project with offshore developers, take a look at the crucial stats in the market. A whopping 43% of IT companies in the US outsource their projects, and 44% of them chose it for cost reduction. That says a lot about the significance of offshore software development. To be honest, offshore development services are critical to the success of a software company.

Following the best practices

While working with a team of skilled offshore development partners, you must develop crystal clear ideas of the best practices. Start with a targeted identification of critical issues and devise strategies to mitigate them. Here are some of the significant practices that every company should follow:

1.     Identifying critical operational challenges

Working with offshore developers isn’t an easy task. Since the entire development project demands proper communications, linguistic barriers will surely create problems. Without mutual understanding and linguistic intelligibility, it would be tough to explain projects to your offshore partners.

2.     Consolidating outputs

You might outsource software development projects to various developers. Quite naturally, each of them will belong to diverse locations. Consolidating the outputs from multiple sources and locations will be the best thing to do.

3.     Due Diligence

The development process involves reviews of implementations or designs. While working on a software development project, you must pay attention to technical reviews from peers. Conducting targeted assessments at every phase of the project will help you identify operational glitches thus rectifying them at the right time.

4.     Component reusability

While working on a software development project, you will find that some of the components are used quite often. Building a dynamic library of these components will help you assemble new programs within the shortest time span.

5.     Managing ‘Change Control.’

Change Control is an integral and inseparable aspect of agile development. The term refers to the introduction of changes made to a system or product in coordinated and controlled environments. By following this particular practice, you can prevent the introduction of unnecessary processes in the development stage.

6.     Check time zones

Outsourcing your work to offshore development partners will lead to working in different time zones. Although it has numerous benefits, there are disadvantages as well. Before you start working, make sure you have profound ideas of the time zones.

Get, set, go!

With these practices in mind, you can embark on a successful business journey and start working with your offshore software development team.

Understanding Offshore Development

You’re comfortably relaxing on your couch and enjoying a football match. The television suddenly switches off and the switch box explodes with sparks flying around. You have no clue what has happened and you look up on the internet searching for an electrician. The local electrician is charging $100, whereas a veteran electrician from the neighboring community is ready to visit your place and rectify your electrical setup for just $30.

Whom will you call?

Keep these options in your mind as we dwell into the concept of offshore development.

From the past decade or so, an unexpected trend has arisen in the technology sector. Multi-national companies, start-ups, and even local businesses have started adopting the business models of offshore development services. Offshore development was something that only large global companies engaged in many years ago due to the geographical and language challenges that existed. Today, these are not a factor as communication and transparency challenges have been both negated due to the technology that has come into everyday life.

First, let us discuss what exactly is offshore development as well as why it has become such as a popular option for companies worldwide.

Offshore development means the process of outsourcing your development needs such as web, mobile or even custom software to countries such as India, Philippines, China and so on. The reason why people look at offshore web or software development is mainly because of the cost-savings and the time that can be saved. Also, it minimizes internal overhead costs. The offshore model has been around for a long while but with the world becoming more global and technology making it easier than ever before to communicate to anyone no matter where they are located, the demands for offshore development have increased substantially.

The Offshore Development model is used for multiple things: offshore software and offshore web development or services such as customer service, data-entry, cold-calling along with BPO or KPO processes. The main reason is that a person in India or any other developing country will cost significantly less when compared to the US, UK or Australia. The bottom line is that if you are able to find a good offshore development partner, you can really save yourself time, money, HR hassles and other operational expenses. The key is to find a good offshore partner who has the experience, expertise and technical skills to accomplish what you need. Ranging from a simple website or even a fully operating customer service center, your offshore partner must be well equipped to handle your requirements.

Professional offshore development can be beneficial in the following ways:

Reasonable services :

Not all the countries boast of a talented pool of web developers and designers in abundance which makes it difficult to get work done at a nominal amount. The reason being that they charge substantially as they develop products knowing that they are in monopoly. It turns out to be quite expensive build a website or mobile app. Offshore development can disrupt the monopoly and be more cost effective.

Quality:

One of the best things about the offshore software companies is that they have a vast pool of talent and can render top notch development services. This ensures that the quality of the projects is superior and also matches the international standards.They also ensure that they utilize the best tools and technologies to create highly competitive products.

Communication:

Technology has ensured that there is no delay in any communication between the client and the developers. Offshore developers tend to be more approachable and communication friendly. This ensures that the process does not go haywire during any stage.

No deadline delays:

Following deadlines is a big aspect when it comes to product development. The entire marketing and operations of a company depends on the product being delivered according to the stipulated time. Offshore development can cut down these hassles as they have the flexibility of employing more resources at a lower cost.

24×7 availability:

Round the clock availability sometimes becomes a norm for a global company and offshore centers offer workflow accordingly which might not be possible in the parent country due to cost and labor-force constraints.

Conducive Environment:

Outsourced processes, usually are very strenuous in nature. The workforce needs to be seated in an environment that can boost productivity and reduce stress levels. It is one of the main factors why Offshore Development is a good option since infrastructure is available cheaply as compared to the parent country.

Security:

Security of confidential data and client properties is a buzzing concern when dealing with offshore companies. Most of the offshore development companies offer high end security protocols and systems to ensure the client’s data is never compromised.

And now, back to the electrician conundrum. If a veteran electrician with years of experience is ready to travel to your house at a cheaper rate, any sensible man would choose him over the $100 electrician. The same logic may also be applied to the concept of offshore development.

So, sit back and relax as your offshore partner takes charge of your processes and product development and frees you of the basic organizational hassles.

Offshore development may seem a far fetch off for most of the most organisations, but if the current global trend is to be observed, it is one of the most trusted and cost effective options for an organisation that is looking to cut down on costs and build quality products.