We live in a time when all limits are disappearing. Technological progress has allowed us to communicate with people who are thousands of miles away, with no delay in time. In response to that, new forms of work and cooperation were born. One of them is outsourcing — a business practice of hiring a team outside a company to perform certain services.
Outsourcing allows companies to work with the best teams around the world — no restrictions in location opens access to a larger talent pool. Today technologies allow to provide a transparent working process and 24/7 availability. But, of course, there are certain challenges in hiring and working with an outsourced team, and here are tips to ensure smooth and effective partnership.
What are the benefits of hiring an offshore team?
1. Lower labor cost
Outsourcing companies offer a good price-quality ratio. For example, Europe offers much more affordable hourly rates than the US or Australia.
2. Larger talent pool
Instead of choosing from local professionals you get access to the global talent pool — you can hire the best specialists in the key areas for your product development.
3. Wider service range
As outsourcing is blooming, there is a high level of competition between companies. Each of them is trying to offer better services and skillset. To win the competition, outsourcing agencies force their teams to learn new technologies faster and can offer innovative solutions.
4. No management issues
Reliable outsourcing companies take the responsibility of project management, ensuring a smooth and transparent development process.
How to find an offshore development team?
- Search
Finding a reliable outsourcing company is quite an adventure, but client references and testimonials make it easier. You can use different portals to find an offshore team:
These platforms give a basic idea about potential outsourcing partners along with providing their portfolio and clients’ reviews. You can find a company using different filters — average hourly rate, location, industry focus.
These platforms provide access to a large market of freelancers, where you can see their rates and reviews from the clients. But if you are looking for a team that will provide a full-cycle development process, freelance boards won’t help you much.
It may sound obvious, but Google can help you to find a great company for partnership once you find the proper keywords. The drawback of this search method is that you have to scroll a huge number of results and visit the website of the companies to get any information about the company.
2. Narrow the choice
Once you choose 5–7 companies that seem reliable, find a time to see closer what and how they are doing. Check through their websites, look at the portfolio, read clients’ references. Narrow your list to the companies that have expertise in the same area as a project you want to outsource to them. Get to know their technology stack, workflow procedures, frameworks they use for the management of the development process.
3. Communicate
At this stage you have narrowed your list of possible partners to 3–4. Have a call with their representatives. It’s important not only to understand the level of their experience and expertise, but to make sure you have the same vision of the future product.
Pay attention to how the development process is organized. It’s important for an outsourced team to have a project manager and a business analyst. While project manager is responsible for the flexible and transparent development process to deliver a product on-time and within budget, business analyst fleshes out technical requirements and brainstorm solutions that will power up product effectiveness.
4. Calculate the cost
The range of price in IT outsourcing companies may confuse. It can depend on many factors including the level of expertise and technology stack, but usually the main factor here is the location. For example, the development in Eastern Europe costs cheaper as the cost of living and taxes are much lower there.
Of course, quality is the priority, but there is no reason to overpay for the services just because the development team is based in the region with high prices.
5. Decide
You have a lot of companies to choose from — and it may be frustrating. But if you know exactly what the final result you want to get and define your priorities, it becomes easier. Take your time to find a team communicating with which you feel comfortable. It’s important that people who will build a product for you, won’t just mechanically perform tasks, but also offer ideas and solutions that can improve it.
What are the best countries to outsource software development?
When it comes to IT outsourcing, there are two common choices: Asia and Western Europe. It can be explained by two main reasons:
- Remarkably lower hourly rates due to the cheaper cost of living.
- High level of expertise and a great number of talents that can offer complex innovative solutions.
Among regions that offer cost-effective solutions the most popular are:
India
Rapid growth in information technology and software development has brought India to one of the most attractive locations for outsourcing. Indian companies are known for providing cost over quality solutions, but recently there’s been a shift towards higher standards of product delivery. If you choose an agency from India for outsourcing, quality is a key factor to pay attention to.
Philippines
Philippines is a popular spot for outsourcing thanks to the quality services and a large number of specialists with a good command of English (unlike many provides located in Asia). Low hourly rates make the country even more attractive for partner-searching companies.
Ukraine
Solid educational background of developers and high-quality standards make Ukraine one of the leaders offering outsourced IT services. Large talent pool and fairly low prices contribute to the popularity of the location. Most specialists are fluent in English.
Poland
Poland is one of the most popular venues for outsourcing thanks to the relatively low hourly rates and a large number of skilled professionals.
Afterword
If this article has convinced you to make the first steps towards working with an offshore development team, we are ready to support you. Idealogic is a full-cycle development company based in Ukraine. Our team is diverse, but we have one thing in common — we strive to build cutting-edge products that provide great user experience and benefit the business. You can contact us to get a consultation and discuss your idea — we will help to turn it into reality.
