Offshore Software Development: All You Need to Know Before Making a Decision
September 3, 2024
With the cost burden increasing and constant market pressure to adopt technology, most businesses are on the lookout for options that allow them to develop web and mobile solutions economically and efficiently. If you ask us—is there any midway point for small to medium-sized businesses? —we can instantly suggest you get acquainted with offshore software development.
For a startup, developing a web solution can be a costly affair, clearly putting an overhead burden. It would be a hasty decision to hire a team of in-house web developers to do the job. Instead, you can hire an outsource software development team to get the work done in the most efficient manner.
This blog will discuss offshore software development and related aspects so that businesses can make an informed choice when it comes to offshore software development.
Choose the Right Outsourcing Model for Your Business
It can get really confusing for businesses to decide which outsourcing model they must choose. Once you decide to outsource the development team, you must take a closer look at your requirements first. Ask yourself some simple questions:
- Is time zone a constraint for you?
- Are you looking for advanced tech support or cheap project costs?
- Do you need to meet tight deadlines, or do you have the flexibility to manage a longer development period?
- Will you require daily updates, or is periodic check-in sufficient?
- Are you concerned about potential cultural differences that might impact workflow or understanding?
- Are there any legal or industry-specific requirements that might influence your outsourcing decision?
These questions will help you make your decision regarding outsourcing. There are different models that you can consider while hiring an outsource software development team.
If you can work out different time zones and are ready to explore outsourcing locations with apparent demographic changes, offshore software development services are an ideal choice for your business. Development costs are significantly low in this outsourcing model, but it comes with a certain set of challenges.
When you choose to outsource software development within the same time zone but at quite considerable geographical distance, this is called nearshore software development. Nearshore software development outsourcing services are easy to manage. Same time zones make communication easy. It might come at a hefty price.
The third outsourcing model is onshore software development, where the outsource development team is located within the same time zone and probably in the same or nearby state. As there are no distance barriers between both parties, coordination, cooperation, and grievance management are more effective. Hiring an outsource software development team nearby comes at a high price and can restrict a business in terms of expertise.
Which Services Can You Outsource?
To hire outsource software development team, you must have clarity in mind about which services you would want to outsource. Outsourcing is often chosen when you seek better expertise, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. Mostly, the outsourced software development service provider has a better understanding of the requirement and can efficiently complete the project within a time frame.
Web Development Services
This is an ideal time for businesses to invest in technology. As more and more customers are choosing to address their needs online, there’s a boom in the demand for web development services. Web applications are complex in nature and demand higher expertise to complete the development process without many bugs. You can outsource web development services to a custom software development company for better tech expertise, quicker delivery, and fewer bugs.
The decision to outsource the entire project or a few selected services is completely with you. Mostly offshore software development businesses are capable of handling complete development projects.
Mobile Development Services
With smartphones becoming the most favorite device among the masses, there’s a massive scope for mobile application development. Businesses that want to venture into mobile app development can hire outsource software development teams to do the job efficiently.
With many new technologies emerging and cross-platform integration requirements, it’s best to leave the mobile app development work to the experts. An expert outsource development company like Clavax can streamline the mobile app development process using the latest technologies, frameworks, and compliance.
UX Designing Services
What is pleasing to the eyes must be easy on users’ screens and devices. This has been an objective for businesses that want to put user experience at the top of their list. Delivering the seamless user experience has been on the minds of businesses for apparent benefits. Hiring an expert UI/UX designing partner is the best decision when you want to develop a highly compatible web or mobile solution. With different devices, platforms, and screen resolutions coming into play, an offshore or onshore software development company can assure success and efficiency.
Quality Assurance and Testing
Having a perfect blend of programming knowledge, data analysis, and research expertise can be expensive if you want to execute QA and testing in-house. By hiring a custom software development company like Clavax, you can avail premium QA and testing services to ensure seamless functionality of your app. QA and testing ensures that your app works on different devices and platforms seamlessly without crashing or raising any performance lags. Any expert onshore or offshore software company can perform the job with utmost expertise and accuracy.
Customer Support Services
Building an app doesn’t end with the launch. Another important aspect of software development starts from there. Customer support is crucial for an app’s success. Making timely updates to the app, removing bugs, and enhancing performance are important to engage users for a long time.
Businesses can outsource customer support to any offshore consulting business at a much more affordable price with zero scope for negligence and mistakes.
Major Challenges with Offshore Software Development
Offshore software development comes with its own set of challenges. Before you make your mind about hiring an outsource software development company, you must assess whether you can navigate the challenges associated with offshore software development.
Let’s find out.
- Different Time Zones
An US-based business outsourcing software development services to a custom software development company in India might face time zone issues. With completely different time zones, it might get difficult to coordinate, oversee, and communicate with the shared service centers.
- Work Culture Differences
Two teams working from different cultures and demographics might face language barriers. If not hired carefully, there could be some potential communication problems during project development.
- Inefficient Supervision
Offshore software development is managed by an outsourced team. It can become difficult for businesses to know the real progress status of the project. When hired developers are not supervised personally, there may be instances of quality compromises and overlooking. Lack of transparency can also pose some serious difficulties in dealing with an outsourced software development team.
- Potential Risks to Data
When working with an outsourced development team, there are some data breach risks. Sharing sensitive company data with an outsourced team can lead to data leaks, breaches, theft, and other malignancies. One must enter into an outsourcing contract only after reviewing the data protection terms carefully.
All these challenges can successfully be tackled by working with a renowned custom software development company. When you choose an experienced outsourcing partner, you can easily overcome the abovementioned challenges.
Clavax is a reputable name in custom software development and works efficiently as an offshore development partner. We have helped businesses transform their digital product vision into high-performing apps through our proven expertise in handling offshore projects.
Get an estimate for your project here.