How to Choose a Reliable Partner for Offshore Software Development
Finding a reliable and experienced offshore software development partner can be challenging and time-consuming. When you find the right partner, however, it can provide significant benefits whether you’re looking to enhance your in-house team, outsource development, or expand your expertise.
When you are looking for a reliable offshore software development company to expedite your time to market, you need to understand the benefits, the cost of internal hiring vs. outsourcing, and what to look for.
The Benefits of Using an Offshore Software Development Company
Offshore development teams can save you a significant amount of money and bring products to market much quicker than internal teams. How? Offshore teams can ramp up quickly, slotting experienced professionals into key roles without the challenges of a long hiring process for internal team members. While these are two significant benefits, they aren’t the only ones.
Other benefits of offshore software development include:
- On-demand access to knowledge and expertise outside of the scope of your existing team
- Scalability and flexibility to meet evolving project needs
- No need for additional infrastructure
- Reduced recruiting and ongoing payroll costs
- Predictable costs
Most development teams are focused on maintaining the core needs of the business, which can lead to skill gaps that need to be filled on a project basis. This lapse creates a likely scenario that stretches full-time teams too thin with new projects. Offshoring software development allows your team to stay focused on core business functions without depleting internal resources.
Of course, any decision about whether to use an offshore company should include cost analysis of hiring internally or outsourcing.
Understanding the Cost of Internal Hiring vs. Outsourcing
If you don’t have the resources internally, hiring a dedicated team can get expensive quickly. Depending on the skill set you need and where you are located, Software Developer, Quality Assurance Analyst, and Tester salaries can easily go well into the low to mid-six figures, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. That doesn’t include the cost of recruiting, attracting, hiring, and onboarding, which can also run into the tens of thousands of dollars per hire.
With the typical size of a DevOps team running between five and ten people, you could be looking at spending between $600,000 to $1.2 million just to get them up and running. And that doesn’t include continuing costs, such as payroll taxes, benefits, hardware, and software, etc.
Even if you started today, it might be several months before you can get them all on board, which dramatically impacts your time to market. Plus, if a key member of your team leaves at the wrong time, it can delay projects significantly if you don’t have a deep talent pool with diverse skills.
Offshore development teams are already in place, have specialists in key areas, and have expertise in the latest technologies. Offshore software development teams work at a fraction of the price, so your development costs are significantly lower and you do not have to worry about HR, payroll expenses, or hardware.
Key Things to Discuss with Internal Teams
Before committing to an offshore team, the first thing you need to do is assess your current team’s resources and bandwidth to see where offshore software development services can help.
Skills Analysis
Offshore companies can manage your entire project or fill in skill gaps with a dedicated team of software engineers in their talent pool. However, you need to understand exactly what your needs are to find the best development partner with the right skills and tech stack experience. Which coding languages are essential? Which databases, cloud services, and systems are in use?
Another important decision involves project leadership. Do you have the leadership or project manager with enough time to coordinate with a development partner and remote team?
Language and Time Zones
You will also want to consider potential language barriers or time zone restrictions.
While nearshore software development may be more compatible with your work hours, you also lose the advantage of overnight coverage that you might get with offshore companies. For example, working with an offshore team in Vietnam, 12-15 hours ahead of the US, extends your working hours and expedites project execution.
If you are using in-house resources and an offshore team, the software development process can work 24/7 to speed up time to market even more.
During Your Search for the Right Software Development Partner
As you search for the right offshore software development partner, you should be clear about your business project requirements, deliverables, time frames, and expectations.
You will also want to consider your long-term goals as well. Are you seeking an acquisition, expanding your current product offerings, or do you just need a short-term engagement? The right partner will seamlessly fit into your roadmap, helping your team to not only produce your software but to prepare it for your target audience. A private equity pitch runs a different gamut than a GA release, and a good partner will guide you accordingly.
The average IT project runs well beyond initial timelines, above the forecasted budget, and only contains two-thirds of the requested functionality. Only one in five projects are finished on time. Your software development partner will play a pivotal role in helping you gain a competitive advantage in the top 20%.
Due Diligence
You will also want to do your due diligence to make sure there is a cultural and technology fit with your team. Even when you outsource, your internal team will need to be involved at some level. Make sure you have an understanding of how your teams will work together and what type of communication is needed to run projects efficiently.
Your due diligence process should also include:
- Asking for references and speaking directly with past or current customers to gauge project success, communication, and satisfaction.
- Interviewing the offshore team about skillsets, technical languages, past projects, and how they like to work. Make sure you go beyond just talking to the sales team and talk to the people that would be working on your project to hear things firsthand.
- Asking for success statistics and case studies that have measurable data rather than just anecdotal success stories. You want a reliable business partner that can demonstrate the value of what they bring to the table.
- Checking out any potential partner’s reputation and choosing someone trustworthy and experienced in your vertical. Don’t rely just on sales brochures and websites.
- Involving your key team members in the vetting and interviewing process, especially any team members that will be working directly with your offshore partners.
- While price is always an important consideration, don’t be swayed by low-cost providers that may not have the experience or capability to manage your project effectively. You need a balance of quality and price to produce value.
- Get everything in writing upfront, including a definition of resource allocation, timelines, and project scope. Make sure to detail how change orders are handled as well. Many companies will underbid projects and then significantly upcharge for change orders or even the slightest deviation outside the initial project scope.
As you move closer to engagement, review proposed budgets, timelines, and expectations and narrow your list down to companies that can meet your needs and your quality standards.
When you’re thinking about hiring an offshore software development partner, consider KMS Technologies Vietnam.
Consider KMS Technology for Your Offshore Software Development Process
KMS Technology is headquartered in Atlanta and provides US executive oversight of engagements. With deep expertise and offices internationally, KMS is a leading provider of offshore software development, testing services, and consulting.
With more than 1,000 employees in four global offices, KMS has been recognized once again as one of the top 10 leading IT companies in Vietnam and the winner of the Software Outsourcing award for 10 consecutive years. At KMS, we make offshoring easy.
Whether you need onshore, nearshore, or offshore software development teams, KMS can provide the engineering, testing, and consulting services you need. Contact KMS Technology to learn more about what we can do for you.
