For most product-based software companies, a major decision is finding the right development partner. This partner will be in charge of taking your idea and turning it into a reality. Now, with the globalization of business, there are even more options out there to choose from. The question now becomes, should you work in country or opt for offshore software product development?

While there are pros and cons to both options, offshore software product development is becoming a more popular choice for software companies hoping to cut down on costs and deliver a great product to their users.

In this article, we are going to explore the different reasons to consider offshore software development. Along with that, we are going to briefly explore a few best practices if you decide this is the best course of action for your company.

Offshore software product development

In case you are unfamiliar, “offshoring” means hiring a foreign business to perform essential business actions. While the offshoring trend began mainly due to lower costs abroad, development companies in recent years have tacked on additional features for greater efficiency and effectiveness. Let’s take a look at some of these features and benefits.

1. Lower cost

When it comes to outsourcing app development, low costs is the largest attraction for most businesses. The hourly development rate in other countries like India are significantly less than in the U.S., sometimes even by a factor of 6!

Although this is the largest draw for most considering offshore software product development, always keep quality in mind. Your product should meet your standards of quality and in the world of software development, you get what you pay for.

That being said, you will still be able to find a cost-effective company to meet your needs. Just make sure that you have done the proper research beforehand.

2. HR made easy

Since you are in charge of your development team, you are in charge of your human resources and developers. What this means is that if you only need 2 people for one part of the project and 20 for another, you can do that. Instead of having to hire your own developers and programmers, these offshore companies will provide you with who you need when you need them.

One of the hardest parts of assembling a development team is keeping key talent around. With offshore development, this problem is solved and you can take advantage of their experience working on other projects.

3. High quality work

By hiring a company for your offshore software product development, you are choosing to work with experts in the industry. While hiring your own developer or freelancer to get work done can be good, having an entire company to choose from ensures that your team will be made up of the best people to work for you.

Another great thing about this is the relationship is contingent upon them doing quality work for you. If one developer isn’t working on the team, you should replace the developer. However, if the entire team is not putting in the amount of work you need, you should find a new team. Don’t settle for less and find a development team that works for you.

4. You not only get people, but their experience too.

The reason a lot of business owners hire an offshore team is due to their extensive experience in the field already. Most of these offshore software product development teams have worked on similar apps or projects before and will be able to offer their insight into problems you might encounter.

Use this to your advantage. Before you choose who you are going to work for, look through their portfolio and see if they have done similar work to what you are hoping they can do for you. If they have, ask them about what they would have done differently or could improve upon with your design. If they are able to answer these questions well, you might have found the right fit for you.

5. You aren’t wasting time recruiting talent.

For businesses wanting to hit the ground running, offshore software product development gets you where you want to be, faster. Instead of wasting time and resources on recruiting your team, you can get started faster by using an offshore development team.

In the digital world, speed is becoming more and more important. Take out any additional time where you can in order to get your software or app out to users before your competition.

6. The team has already worked together.

Not only will using an offshore software product development team save you time and money, but they already have experience working as a team together. Often with projects like this, it takes time for the team to get to know each other. With offshoring, the team is already familiar with itself and can jump right into your development.

7. They have the tools and development process in place.

The final reason why you should consider offshore software product development is because they know what they are doing. Simple as that. This team will not only already know each other and work well together, but have the tools and development process in place.

By cutting out all of these unnecessary additional steps in the process, these companies are able to get started and finish your project much faster. Along with that, by having fewer hours dedicated to the project, the cost will go down as well.

Things to remember

With all of these reasons for why you should consider offshore software product development for your software or mobile app design, you might be thinking, what’s the catch? Surely this can’t all be as good as we are saying, right?

While we admit that there are cons to match the pros of this service, they are fairly minimal in the grand scheme of things. But, in the name of covering our bases, let’s review a few of the main things you will need to keep in mind when considering offshore software product development.

•      Time zone differences: whether you are working with someone in India or eastern Europe, time differences will likely be something you will have to deal with. However, most of these offshore companies can work with you to find the right timing. Just keep in mind that you may need to wake up early for phone calls every now and again.
•      Feeling uninvolved in the development process: some who opt for offshore software product development feel that they won’t be as involved as they would like in the process. However, if your team has a solid project manager, you will be updated on what you need to know in a timely fashion. Especially if the team is using agile or lean development frameworks.
•      Personnel changes: there will be times when a developer you have enjoyed working with will get called to another project. Don’t worry too much about this, though, as it is the job of the company to provide someone to fill their place. While you might miss that specific designer, they will be replaced by someone with a similar skillset to make sure the project doesn’t falter.

Final Thoughts

Now that you have a better idea of what offshore software product development is like and some of its benefits, the ball is in your court. Will you play defense and match your competitors as they make moves? Or will you go on the offense and beat them to the goal? The choice is up to you.

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