The challenge of finding a good outsource partner lies in the fact that many companies do not know where to start and how to go. Here, we have prepared a few steps that can be useful to find your perfect offshore software development vendor:
Step 1. Think about what you really need. Analyze your current needs and capabilities and define your project requirements clearly. Have a clear understanding of the specific skills required and the technology stack needed for your custom software project. Such analytics are important for you to understand if you need outsourcing or can do it with an in-house team and what kind of outsourcing developer you might need.
Step 2. Do a thorough research to find the right outsource location. Always balance the cost savings with the quality of talent, as many regions offer very cheap services of poor quality. Sometimes, it turns out backward: the cheaper region that you haven’t considered at first might offer greater skills and quality. Also, think about time zone differences. While working with an outsource team is always about different time zones, the cooperation must still be convenient.
Step 3. Conduct deep-level vetting and interviews. Assess the technical skills of the teams you are hiring for your software development project by finding out if they had similar success stories and work enough time in the needed industry.
Step 4. Plan for onboarding and integration. Create your own onboarding plan to connect your internal teams with the new offshore software development vendor. Foster a sense of team unity and collaboration; this will help you work more transparently and faster in the future.
Step 5. Sign the contract and SLA. Ensure that your contract does not contradict any regulations and requirements. Always request an SLA guaranteeing a high-quality result and support options, usually the SLA doc includes a detailed technical task with what should be done and the deadlines confirmed. Do not forget about the payment part: try to forecast the total development costs before the project starts.
In case you haven’t yet found your perfect outsource partner, here are some tips for you on how to go through this offshore software developer hiring journey:
- Use reputable platforms and services to find your perfect vendor. In case you are looking for an individual developer to outsource, try to look at Upwork, Fiverr, or Freelancer platforms. They usually offer an opportunity to filter freelancers by country or price, which will give you a chance to find whatever region you need. Partnering with an offshore development company, select the consultancy companies and portals that have greater reviews and can offer a wide variety of companies with live use cases. We have thoroughly examined the difference between freelancers and offshore development companies in this article: check it out.
- Always look for relevant experience. Ensure that the potential offshore software development vendor has done some similar projects before. They are more likely to understand your needs and challenges. Check for industrial expertise: if the vendor knows industry-specific standards and can comply with them, you will have fewer things to control.
- Establish clear processes and use modern communication tools. You will have to make meet-ups and check-ins regularly. Select the tools and platforms that will help you to build transparent communication and ease up the process’s control.
- Focus on long-term relationships. Treating offshore developers as an integral part of your team can help you build greater trust and loyalty, leading to more productive and fast teamwork. Provide feedback where it’s possible and share opportunities with our outsourcing teams. And ensure everyone is comfortable. A win-win strategy is always great.
The cost components of hiring the best offshore software development team
While many companies believe that hiring an offshore team is cheap in all aspects, here is the truth: yes, mostly, it is cheaper, but it doesn’t mean it’s easier. Compared to hiring an on-site team, outsourcing to the offshore software development team has more steps. And each step might require its own costs. Let’s look at some of them so you can thoroughly plan your potential spending:
- Mind the recruitment costs. This includes posting job advertising, paying recruitment agencies (if you use some), some possible technical payments, and more. Moreover, you will probably pay some technical experts who will assess your outsource vendors’ test tasks.
- Salaries, payments, and hourly rates. Developers’ compensation is one of the most challenging things. It depends on location and expertise, hourly-based rates or fixed rates, and more. Learn the market you are outsourcing to and thoroughly assess the experience.
- Needed infrastructure and tools. Always assess what licenses and subscriptions you will have to pay for. All expenses for your management and communication tools should be accounted for. If not provided, include the cost of hardware and computers as well as any other infrastructure.
- Include training and onboarding in your costs. You have to offer to onboard and spend some resources for it. Besides, outsource software teams might need some training to learn about the latest technologies relevant to your project.
- Mind legal and administrative costs. As you are hiring from abroad, you will probably need some lawyer or any other legal help to realize if you have accounted for everything required. Moreover, with the risks related to offshore development, you will need to protect your intellectual property. Ensuring you comply with all tax requirements is also a must.
- Traveling costs, logistics, and communication. Sure, outsourcing from other countries means mostly communicating online. However, meeting in person is sometimes necessary to discuss some important points. You might need to send some documentation or hardware, and these will be logistics costs. And even if you are not ready to travel, you will most probably need subscriptions for the communication tools or specialized platforms.
- Management overhead. While hiring an offshore software development team usually implies that the team knows what to do, you will still need some control. So you have to forecast some spending on the additional work of project managers, technical leads, and other experienced in-house members.
- Performance bonuses. Yes, if you want to build excellent cooperation, you have to think about bonuses. Analyze the market and decide on the size of benefits you are ready to offer.
- Unexpected costs. Always consider a budget for some unexpected expenses. These can be some additional work or even fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Whatever it is, you have to be ready to cover these expenses.
The Bottom line
While hiring outsourced teams seems to be challenging, in reality, offshore software development teams can bring you many more benefits than expected. Besides providing cost-efficient services, the teams from other countries can offer more expertise and more significant experience in working in the same industry as you. Most importantly, you can speed up your development significantly: while your in-house team works days, your vendor works nights (due to time differences).
All this means that if you are a startup or if your company needs a project to be done ASAP, hiring an offshore software development team is a must. The most important part is choosing a trusted vendor. We at Orbitsoft are always ready to prove our expertise with multiple use cases and provide a free consultation. If your potential outsource vendor doesn’t offer this, think about choosing another one.
Read full article here: https://orbitsoft.com/blog/offshore-software-development/
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