In 2030, the Global Offshore Software Development Market size is predicted to exceed $283 Billion, growing at an unbelievable GAGR of 10.13%. No wonder, in this vigorous growth, because businesses increasingly develop their software solutions. At the same time, they more and more go the way of the popular modern approach of offshoring. One should keep piles of things in mind when creating a custom software product from scratch: tech details and peculiarities, budget restrictions and staff management, deadlines, etc.
However, as soon as the software development is offshored, things become easier. When duties are outsourced to specialists, there is no need anymore for a significant emphasis on how to manage an offshore software development team, how to run the project, and how to do the whole pile of things right on the part of business management and staff. Let’s deal with the very definition of offshore software development.
What Is Offshore Software Development?
Gone are the times when businesses had to hire employees at their doorstep. The world has become much more connected now and talents can be found in a variety of places, over the seas as well. Offshore software development is a good example to look at.
It’s a process of software creation by utilizing the services of the expert team in a remote location, in another country, and time zone.
Though cost reduction is often mentioned as the primary reason for development offshoring, access to professionals and rare experts is often a reason even more important. Skilled specialists can significantly reduce the costs and time required to develop a software product.
The whole process consisting of multiple phases such as discovery, designing, development, testing, and deployment is carried out by the vendor team located in a region with a time zone different from the client company’s headquarters. Western Europe can offshore development to India, for instance, while the USA can do it to the countries in Eastern Europe, like Poland or Ukraine.
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Get a Free ConsultationWhy Should You Choose an Offshore Software Development Company?
So, as we’ve mentioned above, hiring a development company offshore is a great opportunity for businesses to access vast talent and technology worldwide, and find specific expertise and first-class deliverables that are hard to spot on a local market. However, there are other reasons why offshore software development should be considered. Let’s check them in more detail.
Targeted Staff Skills
Everything moves fast in the technology field, AI, ML, Big Data, programming languages, etc. If software development is not your core business, you are simply unable to keep pace with all these. By breaking the borders with offshore development you can access a broader talent pool.
When looking for developers offshore, you do it on a contract basis for a particular project. So, you focus on present project needs and hire a specialized team with the skills and expertise needed for the current project regardless of the employees’ future responsibilities or careers. It streamlines recruitment and ensures that the budget is used efficiently. What’s more specialists from abroad have diverse cultural backgrounds. They can bring fresh perspectives and ideas to your project, and allow you to stay updated with cutting-edge technologies.
The latest technologies
Most offshore development companies specialize in specific sectors or deal with tech stacks rare for in-house specialists’ qualifications. That’s why you can always hire a certified professional (possibly even a whole team) with a unique hard skill set from a vendor’s company.
It will help you develop a leading-edge product competitive in the market without excessive expenses.
Faster concept implementation and product delivery
This is a reasonable consequence of the previous statements. You save time on recruitment and the correspondent paperwork and get faster implementation of your idea by the offshore development company that takes care of the project completion.
High flexibility and scalability
Development may be tricky. You never know how many developers are required for this or that stage of the project. Adopting the model of offshore software development you can rest assured your team will be scaled up or down depending on the needs of the project. Such a dynamic approach saves you from overpaying as well as from employee searches that are often time-consuming.
More than that, offshore outsourcing allows you to choose from a diversity of cooperation models. You can choose what’s most efficient at the moment and go for a dedicated team or staff augmentation, choosing a solution most appropriate for your current specific issue.
Lower risks in development and shared burdens
A trusted development partner can become your companion to share responsibilities on the project. Overseas vendors handle much of the time-consuming work of product development for their clients. They also deal with all the difficulties at every project stage. They are responsible for quality assurance and testing as the final stage of development before the product launch. Moreover, offshore experts can provide valuable insights and alternative viewpoints, advise you on how to better assess risks, and work out mitigation strategies.
Thus, on-time debugging of the written code ensures the future product's smooth operation. It mitigates the risk rates and subsequent losses.
Accelerated development and faster market entry
Offshoring allows you to ramp up your software creation capacity. It results in expediting development. The optimal environment with sufficient human and tech resources, as well as tech support, allows your project to progress at a more rapid pace without hiccups. What’s more your offshore partner, not you, is in charge of keeping to the project’s timelines and maintaining the standards of quality.
As a result, all this speeds up the development cycle and significantly reduces your product’s time to market. The acceleration nowadays is a valuable means to get a competitive edge in the fast-paced business landscape.
Why You Should Try Offshore Software Development with Stfalcon
Stfalcon with its 14+ years on the market has serviced nearshore and offshore clients all over the world. We crafted web and mobile solutions for European and American clients and cooperated with companies and startups from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and Singapore. We can by right boast the diversity of development experience through cooperation with clients from countries with completely different cultures and mindsets.
The Hump
A startup Hump from Saudi Arabia trusted Stfalcon to develop a service solution for frequent fliers. The key purpose of the solution is to save the traveler’s time by handling all the baggage-related procedures. The service takes care of luggage delivery to the airport, getting boarding passes and baggage tags, baggage storage, and back-to-home delivery.
The service takes care of luggage delivery to the airport, getting boarding passes and baggage tags, baggage storage, and back-to-home delivery. The client valued Stfalcon’s good management, professional communication, on time project delivery.
Velvot
Stfalcon created a mobile app for the Nigerian market to enable users to gain knowledge on various topics through video content. It also allows the users to improve their qualifications and get certificates of completion right in the app. Later on, the users can obtain the desired job with these certificates printed.
Our team developed a learning platform for a variety of subjects. It includes a backend part with the main business logic and native iOS and Android mobile app clients. The service is also easily monetized.
FAQs
What are the pros and cons of offshoring in software development?
We have mentioned the major perks of offshore development above. They are reasonable costs, access to global talent and high-end technologies, flexibility and scalability of the project combined with faster implementation, and lower risks. However, the pitfalls of offshoring should also be mentioned. The most commonly cited are:
Differences In Time Zone and Culture
Offshoring is about large distances between the partnering companies. It’s also about time zones’, often language and cultural differences. It may create certain tension and even misunderstandings during software development. However, talented management can turn it all to advantage. By distributing your team over several countries, you can achieve the effect of 24/7 development. By hiring offshore specialists from different countries, you can get fresh ideas and alternative viewpoints. Thus, you can get the best out of IT offshoring.
Management Risks
Successful outsourcing relies to a great extent on effective communication between the team members, a client, and a vendor. The mentioned above differences may complicate the process. Because face-to-face meetings are not possible. Nevertheless, a properly agreed system of communication should be negotiated in advance to agree on the project requirements, to report on milestones and progress, and to share the results of testing and other important documentation. It will help you avoid possible management issues after the project starts.
Compromised Security
When you outsource, you trust your idea and valuable data to a third-party vendor in another country. The fear of data theft is natural in such cases. To avoid possible security issues, you should cross-check the development company you turn to. Check feedback from their clients, and do your best to provide secure project data transfer and storage.
Hand your data over only when you are sure it’s safe.
What is offshoring software development?
Simply said, offshore software development is hiring IT professionals from another country to create a software solution for you. Nowadays it’s a widespread practice because it offers a truly win-win scenario for both cooperating parties. The client gets resources and technology without much hassle and excessive expenses. The vendors at the same time get flexible consistent work and the opportunity to participate in global high-end projects regardless of their location.
What is the offshore development process?
The process of offshore development starts long before you start looking for an IT company overseas to outsource your project.
Define your goals
First, you should identify your needs and goals as a client. Define what kind of product you are going to create, which specialists to hire, and what technologies to use. Well-defined objectives are an important aspect of your project’s success.
Select a partner you can trust
When looking for a trustworthy vendor you should pay attention to the portfolio, skill sets, and experience of the specialists, relevant expertise, and capacity to carry out the projects like yours. The company you will partner with should understand your business and the target audience of the product-to-be. It will allow the development team to stay close to your business goals when crafting a software solution.
Check the vendor’s profile and reviews on resources like Clutch. Review the testimonials from clients and verify the references. A workable strategy is to learn about the potential developers on social networks. Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter will help you as well as professional social media, like LinkedIn.
Decide on the model of work
Offshore IT companies offer several types of collaboration. The most widespread are time and material, fixed price, or dedicated team. Each model has its advantages and drawbacks. We advise a dedicated team for long-term projects. This approach offers stability and control. Fixed price is suited for short-term cooperation with a clear-cut requirement. Time and material in turn offer flexibility for projects where the requirements are vague.
Define the communication tools and rules
Agree on the system of communication in advance. It’s the key to seamless collaboration. Regular check-ins with reports from the development team will help you head in the right direction on the project. Don’t neglect giving feedback to the development team.
Slack, Jira, Zoom, Figma, Miro, and many more tools can serve various purposes. They help to effectively follow the project progress, check the milestones and reports, share documentation, and verify the results of the work done.
Become one team
The secret of successful offshoring is efficient teamwork between the client's and the vendor's teams. When you sync to achieve a mutual goal, the result often exceeds expectations. It allows new groundbreaking products to enter the market.
Conclusion
Stfalcon has helped many companies all over the world to create cutting-edge software solutions and grow with our development efforts. We don't just write code. We form dedicated teams with variable tech stacks and craft digital experiences that resonate. Your vision deserves the expertise and innovation our team brings to every project. Empower your projects and let Stfalcon be your guide in crafting a successful software venture!