Many big firms in the USA or Europe choose top offshore software development companies in Vietnam, India, Ukraine to implement custom software development projects. Building an offshore software development team means outsourcing software development. Outsourcing is the process whereby an organization hires a software development organization outside their country to perform specific software-related functions. Today, many companies around the globe prefer to outsource software development because of the numerous advantages it has to an organization. Outsourcing software development also has its challenges and disadvantages. This article will talk about the pros and cons of building an offshore software development team.
Pros
Outsourcing software development to offshore software developers is quite advantageous. That is why most organization prefer to outsource to offshore organizations out of their country. Here are some of the advantages.
It is cost effective
Yes, outsourcing software development to offshore countries like Philippines and India is very cheap and very cost effective. The cost of living in offshore countries is meager, so software developers and IT experts are paid minimum wage. It means that hiring them will be cheap and less costly, compared to hiring an in-house or an on-shore team. In onshore-countries software developers earn high salaries, utilizing them for software development services will be very expensive.
Skilled and talented workforce
Most of these foreign countries have universities that offer high-quality education. Every year some students graduate with a degree in software engineering and other software development-related courses. It means that every year a pool of young, talented software developers is created. It is very affordable to hire such young software developers. While this option might be more affordable, if your project is more complex, you will need to invest a bit more in order to get the results that meet all of your expectations. In that case, finding one of the best Chicago web development companies is an excellent solution for your problems.
It lowers operation costs
Offshore outsourcing reduces the operating costs of an organization. For instance, if a company is creating an in-house software development team, it will be very costly to start the operation. The organization will have to hire an in-house team. Also, the company will have to buy computers, peripherals, and other IT related equipment. Let’s not also forget space; the in-house team will require space for their operation. When outsourcing software development to offshore countries or rather organization you do not have to worry about the working space, hiring software developers and purchasing software development equipment.
Organizations can focus on other important tasks
Running an organization involves performing a lot of tasks to ensure its success. Outsourcing software development offloads the company any task related to software. The hired software development service provider will ensure that everything software- related runs smoothly, while the organization itself focuses on other important tasks such as marketing and so forth.
No training is required
Outsourcing software development to offshore countries saves the company the expense of training employees and new recruited software developers. It is the responsibility of the offshore organization to recruit and train their employees, thus ensuring that they are skilled. It will ensure a long-term relationship between the two organizations.
It is ideal for both short-term and long-term projects
Software development outsourcing to offshore countries is suitable for both short and long-term projects. For, instance an organization may require software development for a specific period, it seems unrealistic for an organization to buy software development equipment and hire software developers, then fire them all after they have completed their purpose. It is better to outsource for short-term projects. For long-term projects organizations do not have to worry about buying equipment, replacing equipment and so forth.
Cons
Despite having a lot of advantages, outsourcing software development to foreign countries also have some disadvantages. Some of the disadvantages associated with software outsourcing include
It is almost impossible to communicate
Communication is an essential aspect of outsourcing. It is easier to communicate with in-house software developers because they are physically present and the time zone is similar. Compared to in-house software developers, it is challenging to communicate with offshore software developers. First, it is because they are not physically available and there is a time zone difference between the two organizations. Because the software developers are not physically available, an organization will use other forms of communication such as emails and video conferencing. The timezone difference affects communication because when one company is working, the other is sleeping.
Quality services may not always be guaranteed
As earlier said outsourcing is cost-effective and cheap. Which is why you should not be surprised to find outsourcing companies offering low-quality services. There are also fraud companies that provide poor services, or even no services at all. It is essential for an organization to research, go through the outsourcing company background and previous client record before hiring them. The following are factors to consider before choosing an outsourcing company:
- The rate at which they retain their customers
- Their infrastructure and equipment
- The skills of their employees
- Age of the company
Security
The issue of security is another disadvantage associated with outsourcing software development. Despite there being a data protection act, data integrity can be compromised, and hackers can access crucial private information. It is a primary reason why organizations are afraid to outsource to offshore countries and companies.
In conclusion, the advantages associated with outsourcing are more compared to the disadvantages. Disadvantages are likely to occur in cases of mismanagement. It is clear that outsourcing software development will remain the best strategy for most organizations.
