Successful Software Offshoring Strategies

Last Updated on 2024-12-09

Offshoring is a common business process model used by both big and small companies and startups. Even with its risks, this business process has been proven effective in cutting production costs, making it especially popular among small businesses.

Its decade-old presence in the market proves that offshore outsourcing can be very effective if done right. And we are going to arm you with some successful offshoring strategies to ensure the continuous growth of your business venture.

1. Prioritize quality

Most companies’ reason for the offshoring production process is to reduce production costs. However, cutting costs should not overshadow the need for quality output. One of the strategies when offshoring is ensuring the quality of the software development team even at an economical cost.

We know that your main purpose for offshoring might be to hire an affordable team of developers, but there are always better options from the different offshore countries.

It’s better to not risk the quality of your product when you can still explore other offshore service providers from different locations and achieve both quality production and low-cost.

2. Find the right team

Finding the right team of affordable yet skilled developers is not an easy task. But the fact is, nothing comes easy when you are managing a business. The only way for you to discover the best team for your company is to do your research.

In doing extensive research, you must read articles from reliable sources on the best offshoring strategies to see which country is the best fit to be your offshore development center. 

Eight of the best countries to offshore software development according to their skill availability, English proficiency, and yearly rates are the Philippines, India, Poland, Argentina, China, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Romania.

3. Create a thorough process

Your chosen offshore development center is different from an in-house team of developers. Why?

For starters, they are located halfway around the world. This team is in charge of the production without your personal presence or guidance. To be able to manage your offshore team efficiently, you must first have a thorough work process ready.

As the business owner, you have the vision and input into creating your product. Once you’ve set expectations and the proper work processes, the management team of your chosen offshore service provider will handle the implementation effectively.

4. Be consistently hands-on

When your team and production process are ready, you can relax fairly. This is one of the misconceptions of offshoring; once you’ve hired a team, you leave everything to them, go about your business as usual, and wait for any updates or output.

No, that is not proper management. For a successful offshoring venture, you need to be able to properly manage your offshore development team. You must know how they progress and what impedes them.

This is what Full Scale’s Guided Development process is promoting. Even though your offshore team is geographically far away, you are still in control of your own product and its production.

Your offshore service provider, like Full Scale, takes care of the assessment of the developers to be on your team. With this approach, certain factors are improved, such as access to the team, communication, and production timelines.

5. Stay engaged

Your offshore team is an extension of your company. Even if you only planned to employ their service for a short period of time, the offshore team is part of your company. With this in mind, you must be able to engage and connect with the team even if they’re continents away.

It is through this that you build rapport and avoid miscommunication. When the cultural, social, and geographical barriers are bridged, you are able to build mutual trust.

Once the foundation of trust and communication is strengthened, then you can produce an output that can fulfill what both parties needed.

Why offshore?

It has been common knowledge that one of the risks of offshoring is poor work quality, however, that is not the case for all offshore development service providers.

With the increase in the demand for knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) and business process outsourcing (BPO), you have the power to choose from different countries offering their business and knowledge processing services.

To determine which offshore service provider is best suited, you only need to conduct thorough research on each candidate.

In addition, offshoring relatively reduces operative costs. Why? Compared to in-house teams, offshore development centers offer economically affordable rates, especially in Asian countries. Asian countries such as the Philippines, China, and India offer an average hourly rate ranging from $18–$40.

Typically in the Philippines, one of the world’s top offshore destinations, wages are relatively less than a fifth of those in Western countries.

Another cost-reducing factor of offshoring is the convenience of infrastructure. Offshore service providers are well-equipped with the technology, knowledge of the said technologies, and a functioning office to house them during the course of their production.

With these kinds of benefits to your growing business, it’s no wonder offshoring is booming even after decades. That is why it is important to apply these offshoring strategies to ensure the success of your business venture.

When should you start offshoring?

Offshoring is not a necessity for all businesses. There certain situations or conditions to consider before you decide to extend your operations to an offshore development center.  Here are a few things to consider as you decide whether to offshore or not:

Inaccessible talent

It is time to think of offshoring when the talent pool for a particular task is either too incompetent or too pricey. As a growing business, it is important to know your priorities. Is your in-house team knowledgeable enough?  Is it worth the risk to hire an in-house team without crippling your production cost?

Eagerness to innovate

Offshoring is a big leap for business. By following these offshoring strategies, then it will help your startup grow and anticipate the trajectory of your business. When you move some of your production processes offshore, you are free to focus on your product—marketing and improving it.

If your focus is on your business and not on production, then you are free to think of better ideas on how to further extend your business in the market.

Which software development center should you choose?

When choosing the software development center, you should have a checklist in mind. Choose a partner that is reliable, has a team of talented developers, a good track record, and great management. In that way, you are can freely focus on your business or product while being updated with your offshore team.

All these features and so much more can be found at Full Scale. Founded by two successful entrepreneurs, we provide affordable quality services (including software development, graphic design, and strategy and planning) to help you succeed.

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