With the economy rapidly moving towards globalization and a vast number of start-ups and enterprises that arise every day, it is difficult to obtain a competitive advantage using just the classic methods such as improving customer service, minimizing costs, and maximizing productivity. Thus, it’s no surprise many enterprises decide to outsource their most resource-consuming processes: their IT/software projects. The immediate support, access to top-class technology and software developers, and the ability to instantly adjust the IT activities according to business needs are just some of the reasons that determine the COOs of many companies to outsource their IT efforts, along with the main benefit: minimizing all operating costs.
But not all outsourcing forms bring the same benefits – and today we’ll discuss the one that is most appreciated by European companies looking for an outsourcing partner: nearshore outsourcing.
Nearshore Outsourcing
Nearshore outsourcing is the best of both worlds: reducing the development costs while having the new team close to your headquarters, within a 2-4 hour timezone difference. Choosing nearshore IT company will increase your access to the talent pool, while significantly reducing labour costs. Additionally, nearshore has other benefits like:
- Similar cultures and work mindset
- Minimal time zone differences that ensure a good communication
- The possibility of more frequent visits that result in a more productive cooperation
Continue reading this article to find out the top 5 questions to ask a nearshore software development company before deciding to collaborate:
Are you able to respect my deadline for delivering the project?
Certainly, every entrepreneur has an action plan to follow for achieving their business objectives (or at least we hope so!). That is why it is important to ask this question in the very first conversation to know if the development team will be able to help you mark your goals in the roadmap in time. Some projects can be complex, even if at first they may seem easy to implement – so you should be realistic when setting the deadline.
If the development team will give you a calculated answer, then it means that they have had similar previous projects, and there will be no need to delay the delivery of the product. The answer to this question should also include details such as cost, resource allocation, and possible risks that may arise in implementation, so you will know what you have to deal with from the start.
Can I change the deliverables underway?
Given that there may be sudden changes in demand influenced by the consumer behaviour of end-users, unexpected changes in competition, legislative changes, budget, and so on, you should consider that you may need to make adjustments along the way. Even if you try to plan everything for a few years in advance, your expectations may suddenly be shattered, so you need to have an easily adaptable software development team to support you when plans change.
How can I check the status of the project?
Transparency in communication must come from both you and the nearshore development company, even in less pleasant situations when hypothetically, the deliverables are not ready on time or the budget does not act on the estimates made. There are also project management tools such as Jira, but effective cooperation can also be achieved very well by Email. If you want to have everything under control, you can arrange short weekly update sessions or propose a strategy for weekly reporting of the project stage.
How maintenance and updates will be performed?
Successful apps that have many active users are likely to be updated multiple times each month – this is why you should know from the start whether your nearshore development team can also handle maintenance or not. Ensure that the application developers establish a concrete process for maintaining and updating the application after launch. They must be strategically decisive and also release various innovative functionalities and updates.
How do you test?
There are several ways a company can examine your app and website, which ties into this phase of testing the project. Testing an app, software, or program is an essential part of the launching phase, and a business can gain many insights from it, so don’t settle for an IT company that considers their job done before testing the app.
These are the most important 5 questions you should ask your potential nearshore software development team to minimize your risk and be satisfied with your choice, according to our partners at Redbee Software. If you have more questions about the process, don’t be shy – schedule a meeting and let their experts clarify everything for you.
