What is a Nearshore Software Development Company?
Nearshore software development services have increasingly become a common strategy for enterprises of all sizes across the United States. While companies have used nearshore software outsourcing since the 1990s, reliance on nearshore software development companies such as Azumo has accelerated significantly in recent years.
Nearshore software outsourcing occurs when a company outsources work such as software development to a country nearby. In the United States, nearshore outsourcing is most commonly associated with technology companies farming out web application or mobile app development work to a nearshore development partner in South America.
Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina are popular nearshore development centers in Latin America. All countries in Latin America share time zones with the United States and Canada. Their relative geographical proximity also encourages a lot of cultural and language overlap making collaboration easier. At Azumo, more than 50% of our in-house team are from these four popular countries and we have also found gifted developers across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Geographic Proximity: Time Zones for Nearshore and Offshore (Farshore)
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Differences between Onshore, Offshore, and Nearshore Software Development
A recent Clutch.co study indicated that more than one-third of small businesses (37%) currently outsource a business process, and more than half (52%) plan to outsource in 2019. From our own experience, we believe large corporates outsource at an even higher rate. When it comes to software development outsourcing, there are three major alternatives. These include offshore outsourcing, onshore outsourcing, and nearshore outsourcing.
With three very similar words, it’s easy to get onshore, offshore, and nearshore software development confused. Let’s break down these terms:
- Onshore - This type of software outsourcing is typically the most expensive of the three types, this is where you work with people who collocate in your local office or work domestically from their companies’ offices.
- Offshore - Offshore outsourcing or offshore development, can be the least expensive up front (but in our view often of lower quality). This is where you hire a team that is based outside of your time zone or country. For example, a U.S. based company hiring a team in India would be offshore, as they are working from a significantly different time zone. Offshore software development has its place, but detailed custom software applications are better served from a nearshore company.
- Nearshore - Nearshore software development, also called nearshore outsourcing or nearshore development, is the most attractive option for a few reasons. Nearshore outsourcing implies hiring a team that is within the same or similar time zone as your company. Working on the same schedule makes this the most convenient option without paying exuberant costs associated with onshore workers.
Ultimately, the difference between these three software development types comes down to geography, language fluency, and cost.
Agile Collaboration is key for Nearshore Software Development
Our team specializes in using agile development processes. We communicate with our clients during their regular, normal working hours. For the most part, there is a minimal time difference between you and our nearshore developers - typically no greater than 2-3 hours at most. Our day-time hours match your day-time hours, eliminating late-night calls often found with teams based in Eastern Europe, South Asia, or India.
With Azumo, you can scale your team with one of the finest nearshore software development companies with operations in Latin America. We can help you get your software development project launched, help you meet urgent deadlines, and quickly add specialists to address your skill-based software needs. Our priority is to make development work faster and meet deadlines as soon as possible so you can build and deliver cutting-edge technology for your customers and stakeholders.
The Benefits of Working with a Nearshore Software Development Company
There are many reasons for engaging a nearshore software development company like Azumo. By using a nearshore software development outsourcing services company, you can:
- Free your software development teams from hiring and training,
- Increase your business and operating flexibility, and
- Improve your software development velocity and code quality, which many studies suggest may help you stay ahead of the competition.
By outsourcing to a nearshore software development services company, companies like yours will have the chance to work with experts in your domain.
Additionally, having an outsourced development center may also protect your business from the increasing difficulties of hiring and retaining in house staff.
With Nearshore Software Development the Benefits are Clear
Time Zone Alignment:
The best application development projects for nearshore software development are a collaboration between the client and the nearshore development company or a nearshore team of software developers. This is why time zone differences greater than 5 to 6 hours create havoc. At either end of the daily effort, the project managers have limited time to discuss issues and effectively plan with their counterparts as time zone differences create real obstacles for collaboration.
Cultural Familiarity:
South America's geographical proximity shares a broad range of time zones with North America, unlike Eastern Europe and India. For this reason, alone, many companies located in the U.S. have sought out development partners who reside nearshore and who share many cultural similarities to us in the United States and similar time zone.
Well Educated Workforce:
Latin American boast some of the best technical universities in the world. They have a long tradition of excellence in engineering and computer science. In addition, many South American developers have gone on to earn graduate degrees at U.S. institutions and have native-level fluency in English. At Azumo, many of our team members held full-time software development jobs while studying in university and have practical real-wold experience too.
Greater Cost Control:
Cost reduction has always been a critical consideration in outsourcing decisions. Still, companies that pick Azumo as their nearshore outsourcing vendor are driven by our high level of software programming capabilities, as well as the value Azumo provides to their software development initiatives.
The pandemic made Nearshore software development Company outsourcing easier
From 2008 to 2020, the number of remote workers grew by 159% in the the United States. This trend accelerated in the wake of the pandemic, as more and more companies turned to software outsourcing as not only a cost-effective solution for their development needs but also a logical extension of their productivity strategy.
With remote work becoming the new norm, geographical boundaries have become less important when it comes to finding talented developers.
Outsourcing software development has allowed companies to focus on their core competencies and delegate tasks to external experts. This frees up valuable time and resources that can be channeled towards maintaining business operations during uncertain times. And avoids growing uncertainties many companies have experienced during great resignation.
The pandemic has also made it easier to software development outsourcing, as many companies have moved to remote work arrangements since a staggering 97% of remote workers didn’t want to return to the office. This has made it easier for software outsourcing services companies to connect with a global pool of talented resources.
In fact many of the challenges associated with software outsourcing and outsourcing in general were proven moot in the midst of the pandemic. The rise of outstanding collaboration tools gave companies, employees and contractors the ability to connect in real-time. As a result, businesses can now access the best software talent from around the world, regardless of location.
As a top rated nearshore software developer, Azumo allows you to benefit from close alignment through our nearshore software development process. We serve our customers from our global locations that share similar language, time zone, and culture.
Drivers Reshaping Software Development
Industries without Borders
Leading companies are blurring sector boundaries to target new revenue pools. To create new products fast they are outsourcing part or all of the development. Incumbents will need to keep pace to fend off more technology heavy leaders.
Shorter Technology Cycles
With the advent of Generative AI, we will see technology cycles continue to shorten which will accelerate time to market requirements. Scaling development teams quickly becomes a competitive weapon in this environment.
Software continues to eat services
As more enterprises productize, spend on software will be disproportionately higher than that of existing people based services. The last decades rise in "as-a-service" offerings coupled with Machine Learning will be a major growth driver for development.
Delivery's evolution to Agile
The use of agile development and adoption of collaboration tools will predominate. With the move toward work-from-home and remote, distributed team will become an integral part of most companies software delivery model.
Efficiently Scaling Software Development Teams Leads to More Business Growth
At Azumo, with years of experience under our belts, we know that projects can change at the drop of a hat. Maybe you need to bring a deadline forward; maybe you need to build a tool or function that your team is unfamiliar with.
No matter if you need to scale the individual skill level of your team to accommodate for a new coding language or just need more engineers to get a project done on time, we’ll be able to support you through the process. With high skill levels and readily available developers, Azumo is able to accommodate your business needs and respond promptly to your situation.
Scalability is a must when looking for nearshore software development companies and something that we pride ourselves on doing flawlessly. We do this through the large bench we carry so that we can act fast and provide developers we know can get the job done.
Top 5 Tips on Choosing Your Nearshore Software Development Company Outsourcing Provider
Latin America has become a proven source for highly skilled software development outsourcing. These countries also have good university systems with a strong focus on computer science, data engineering, data analysis, and data science skills.
Importantly, many developers will have strong cultural and oftentimes familial ties to the United States and North America. And no matter what, you will find that most countries in South America and particularly their engineering talent will have good-to-great English language skills.
1. A Good Nearshore Track Record
A good nearshore provider will be able to demonstrate a modern, disciplined approach to software development. Ideally, they should be able to demonstrate successful long-term engagements with other companies.
2. Strong Team of Engineers
From the beginning of your partnership, the focus should be on assembling a team comprised of strong project management, knowledgeable software engineers, good quality assurance, and DevOps engineers with the skillset to integrate and deliver custom software development solutions successfully.
3. Well Distributed Teams
When narrowing your search for the right nearshore software outsourcing provider, make a wider assessment of your nearshore development partner and the countries where they have development teams. Think of companies with high concentrations in a single country as a potential red flag.
4. An Onshore Presence in the U.S.
Working with a US-based nearshore firm may be useful since it provides another connection point and, at times, can be a key difference maker. Working with Azumo, which has a strong presence in the United States, may assist project completion and identify additional areas of cooperation.
5. Preference for Modern Frameworks
The nearshore software development industry is advancing quickly. So if your nearshore provider can boast staying current with nearshore trends and having a strong IT governance framework in place, especially around testing tools and other modern engineering practices, that's another checkmark.
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