Software development is no easy task, especially as customer standards continue to rise and new technologies emerge on a daily basis. End users are demanding the best, the brightest and that fastest and companies have to deliver or risk losing market share.
Modern software platforms and applications require not just intuitive and beautiful design and development, but also strong foundations in production, testing, integration, and ongoing management in order to deliver. Gone are the days of hiring a few developers that are fluent in Java, locking them in a room, and expecting greatness — the process is far more complex in today’s world of rapid business and ever-changing software development methodologies.
As such, each stage of the software development life cycle requires unique, specific knowledge from talented individuals who excel in that area, but also a complete understanding of the whole cycle by everyone. These individuals must be comfortable collaborating within a predefined methodology (such as Agile) in order to work most effectively as a team. There are also certain steps and procedures that must be considered in order to control risk and ensure the team is aligned to the target business objectives.
Software development outsourcing is a way to tap into that knowledge and expertise while avoiding the high costs of hiring and training new employees. Around the world, talent pools exist that rival Silicon Valley, primarily due to decades of nurturing from established, trustworthy outsourcing partners. Let’s take a deeper dive into the benefits of exploring a new software development outsourcing partnership.
Freedom to Focus on Core Strengths
Most companies end up trying to focus on too many things at once, meaning they might be good at a lot of things, but are preventing themselves from being great at something. True greatness comes from the ability to concentrate on the core of the business, the company’s main capabilities where they need the expertise of their top talent.
As a software development outsourcing company that has been in the industry for decades, we’ve seen many companies try, and fail, to work on too many fronts by just hiring a few engineers and sending them headfirst into a software development project with little to no guidance. This is not an ideal approach, as they would benefit more from spending resources on improving what they do best, allowing them to boost their competitive advantage.
It has been proven time and time again that the best performers in business distinguish themselves because they learn how to leverage their strengths, rather than learning how to even out their weaknesses. Software development outsourcing companies provide the freedom to focus on these core strengths by alleviating the pressure of assembling the perfect team, establishing the right technologies and practices, and creating valuable software. They add value through their know-how of technologies, processes, and team coordination, producing predictable, reliable, and game-changing results.
With millions of hours’ experience perfecting their processes and millions of dollars spent on training, education, and infrastructure, software development outsourcing companies support all stages in the software development lifecycle, leaving companies free to excel in their respective strengths.
Unity. Precision. Perfection.
?In our experience with the thousands of clients that we have served, a mature software development outsourcing company can complete a project in half the time it takes a client’s team, even if they are composed of highly talented individuals. The best partners have unified their teams by tearing down silos between development, operations, testing, and management. Performance is a higher priority and the impact of unexpected errors and mistakes is significantly lower, as providers have contingencies and practices in place to prevent them.
The implications of this are tremendous for software development: better quality means faster deployment, less time debugging, reduced cost, and much more satisfactory user experience.
Nearshore Puts You Face-to-face with Top Talent
We may be biased, but, in our honest opinion, we believe that software development outsourcing is the only worthwhile alternative to developing in-house. While this opinion extends to the more expensive, local providers, the value proposition of outsourcing becomes exponential when cross-border wage differentials are put up for consideration, especially now that offshore outsourcing talent pools are on par with Silicon Valley.
For many years, there has been an appeal for software development outsourcing in Asia, where at one time wages for software engineers were only one-sixth of those in the United States. Today, the prices are not quite as competitive, but there is no doubt that developing economies still offer the chance for wage arbitrage.
Neighboring Latin America is a strong competitor to offshore geographies in Asia and Europe. Not only does the region share time zones with the United States, but there is also a cultural alignment that doesn’t exist anywhere else on the planet. English language skills are constantly improving and governments are putting measures in place to increase the number of technology graduates each year.
For decades now, countries like Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, and Costa Rica have been cultivating and educating software engineers, operations specialists, data scientists, and more, building strong foundations to support the ever-growing global need for software. This reality should not be ignored by companies in the United States, as the capabilities are there to accelerate the digital agenda.
[Relevant Reading | How Intercultural Communications Can Impact Nearshore Outsourcing Engagements]
The Benefits Often Outweigh the Risks
Let’s be honest, software development outsourcing is not without risk. Not every vendor is capable of offering what companies need and many will simply provide talent acquisition services as opposed to full outsourcing partnerships.
Companies must perform adequate due diligence on their prospective vendors, which includes visiting the site of operations, meeting the teams, speaking with existing clients, assessing the local economy and infrastructure. Most good vendors will already be up-to-speed on the risks and will be transparent about them before starting a relationship. This is a great sign of a trustworthy partner and is something to look out for during the procurement stages.
Once the risks have been balanced against the advantages, most companies will quickly see these benefits of outsourcing software development for themselves. Add to that the knowledge, experience, convenience, and lower costs that nearshore providers bring to the table and it often seems silly not to give software development outsourcing a try.
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Looking for the right nearshoring partner? Schedule a call with Perficient Latin America.
