From 2008 to 2020, the number of remote workers grew by 159% growth across the United States. This trend accelerated dramatically due to the global pandemic, seeing more workers moving to online solutions than ever before. Considering that some studies show that a staggering 97% of remote workers don’t want to return to the office, remote work is fast becoming the new normal.
Many companies are taking the idea of remote work even further, searching for onshore, offshore, or nearshore software development working solutions. From hiring people on the other side of the world to employing someone in the state next to you, new flexible working situations are arising every single day.
Let’s take a look at onshore, offshore, and nearshore software development working solutions; and demonstrate exactly why nearshore programming has become a powerful solution for modern businesses’ tech requirements.
Differences between Onshore, Offshore, and Nearshore Software DevelopmentÂ
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.Â
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.
To summarize, the difference between these three software development types comes down to geography. What’s onshore, offshore, and nearshore will change depending on where your company is based.
Our Nearshore Development Strategy
At Azumo, we’re strong believers in the power of nearshore programming. Not only does nearshore development allow us to work with software developers in your time zone, but we can also select from the very best talent pool.
One of the main problems with onsite and onshore developers is that you’re limited to a specific geographical location. If you put a job advertisement out for a specific area, the talent you can acquire is limited to people that live within that location. You suddenly open up the talent pool to different countries within your time zone by shifting to nearshore developers.
This process is exactly what Azumo has done. Working within US time zones, we’ve created strong working relationships with some of Latin America’s very best software developers. We market our workplace to them constantly and expound on the benefits of working for Azumo as a software developer to them. We touch 1000s of software developers every month across Latin America through our marketing and recruiting efforts. By scouting talent from Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Dominican Republic and Colombia and more, we’ve constructed a powerhouse team that has years of experience and a wide range of professional programming skills and coding languages.Â
As each of these countries has identical work hours as the United States, this geographical advantage allows us to work without time barriers. We are able to better collaborate with our North American customers during waking, business hours. But our model goes beyond just aligned time zones.Â
After selecting our potential developers from our marketing efforts we put candidates through a rigorous testing and interview process. We do pair coding, we review live coding tests, we examine their ability to document, we understand how efficient their code is, and we then benchmark them against the universe of candidates we have both rejected and hired. Once hired at Azumo, we then proceed to put every member through a series of training modules and development sprints on live production applications. We make sure their skills are as polished as can be before they ever begin working on your project.Â
With the power of nearshore programming, our team’s international selection of talent is the very best there is.Â
Qualities you should look for in a nearshore software development company
When selecting a nearshore software development company, there are four key characteristics that you should pay close attention to:
- Technical Skill
- Proven Experience
- Time zone compatibility
- Scalability
By balancing these four traits, you’ll be able to find a team with ample experience and an impressive portfolio of shining work. Let’s break each of these down further.
Technical Software Development Skill
The main reason to hire a nearshore software development team is the technical skill you can find, putting your business in touch with the very best programmers available. But, as software development is a vast field, it’s also important to ensure that your workers are experts in the specific programming attribute you’re looking for.
One of the primary reasons that we’ve selected Latin American countries is due to the fantastic universities and software development programs. With detailed and rigorous programming courses, the baseline technical knowledge of Latin American programmers is very high.
From there, once an applicant makes it through our technical skills tests and interview process, we then put them through further courses. Alongside our very own course academy, which sharpens their software development skills, we also pay for our candidates to access enhanced certifications.
These certifications give them even further understanding of the field they’ll be working in, making sure that our company has the very best talent on demand. With varied skill sets and professional experience and academic qualifications, Azumo ensures that the perfect team for you is only a click away.Â
Proven Software Development Experience
From sticking to deadlines to making communication a quick and pleasant experience, there are some aspects of working with a nearshore team that is only guaranteed from previous customer testimonials. That’s why you should always look for a proven history of completed projects when looking for a nearshore software development company.
At Azumo, we’re incredibly proud of the work we put out. With clients ranging from Facebook and Twitter to United Health and NCSoft, our results page speaks for itself. Before deciding on a nearshore programming team, be sure to check out their previous clients and get a feel for how efficient they are at delivering projects.
Additionally, make sure the team you’re hiring has experience with the type of features you’re looking for. Be sure to find out what types of projects they’ve executed in the past.
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Time zone Compatibility
Collaboration is an essential skill for any business. No matter how effective lines of communication are, time zones can always get in the way. If you’re waiting around for hours for your team in Asia to wake up and start work, your software development projects are slowed down significantly. Your product owners may be strained to manage development by email and small windows of time at the beginning and end of their days.
That’s why we always prioritize matching developers with similar time zones for the businesses we work with. Argentina is one hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time. Mexico, Colombia and much of the Caribbean overlap with U.S. and Canadian time zones exactly. The majority of the time, our nearshore programming team will be in the same timezone as your business, and at most the difference will be a manageable 2-3 hours.Â
Due to this, you’ll never have to take late-night calls, wake up at ridiculous hours for meetings, or wait around for responses. At Azumo, we make sure that lines of communication run seamlessly, so you are in the loop with your nearshore software development team.
Scalability
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.Â
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.
What are the Benefits of Outsourcing Software Development to a Nearshore Programming Company?
Alongside expanding your team with an international selection of top talent, there are several benefits of outsourcing software development to a nearshore programming company. The three main benefits that your business will experience are:
- FinancialÂ
- Time ScaleÂ
- Strong CommunicationÂ
Let’s break these down further.
Financial Benefits
When looking to complete software development projects traditionally, you have two options: hire for in-house positions (on-site programmer/employee) or hire an onshore programmer (either as a contractor or employee). While both of these are valid pathways to improving the quality of a project, they come with steep costs.
For an on-site programmer hired to your company, you’ll have to pay a yearly salary, plus benefits and need to provide office space for them. And of course the recruiting process for a hire requires significant recruiting investment and given the competition for software developers may take a long time to do.
However, we will also say this. For some roles or parts of the development it makes sense to hire in-house. For sensitive components or the architectural design that will serve to define the company, we believe it is important to have an in-house technical leader who understands what needs to be built and importantly why it needs to be built a certain way.Â
Similarly, an on-shore contractor presents many of the same challenges as the in-house hire. But they are oftentimes more expensive than in-house hires, operate as “guns for hire” and can be quite nomadic from a career perspective.Â
The reality is that nearshore developers earn outstanding salaries particularly when they are paid in US dollars as we do. We enable our customers to benefit from our recruiting, training and development efforts. So not only will you be selecting from a talent pool that offers high quality talent with similar time zone work schedules, but you’ll also be able to spend less compared to onshore hires. This means that often you’ll be hiring better software developers for a fraction of the price.
Time Scale
One of the benefits of hiring nearshore workers is that you can decide how many people you want to add to your team. You’ll be able to add more workers if you want a project finished faster.Â
The almost direct correlation between the number of workers and the speed of project delivery allows you to turn around software development projects in a fraction of the time. If you’re looking to accelerate your projects, getting them out as fast as possible, then the flexibility of nearshore contracting is an incredible benefit for your business.
CommunicationÂ
Part of what makes nearshore workers a fantastic business opportunity when compared to offshore workers is the flexibility that being in the same timezone offers. Instead of waiting for hours for working schedules to line up, you’ll be able to instantly communicate with your team.
Working on the same time schedule allows for easier meetings. Additionally, as Latin America has good to great levels of English, you’ll be able to communicate more easily.
At Azumo, part of our interview process directly tests a software developer’s fluency with the English language. With a team of strong English speakers, you’ll never have trouble communicating with your nearshore software development team.
Azumo’s Nearshore Software Development Team
Our team is filled with the best of the best. We’ve been approached by some of the world’s most impactful companies for direct help with software development. Tech giants Facebook and Twitter have both used our services, leaving shining reviews that are a testament to our commitment to effective software development.
Our team ranges in expertise, with everything from python and React to Flutter and C# covered. We have carried out mobile app development, web app development, voice and chatbot development, data engineering and analytics, and even cloud and DevOps solutions development projects. We are skilled at deploying AWS, Azure, Google Compute applications and infrastructure. No matter what form of software development solution you’re looking for, we’ll be able to deliver.
Our extensive range in software development knowledge has led us to work in a range of industries. Alongside tech giants, we’ve worked in healthcare with United Health, and several financial services and fintech leaders, and much more.Â
No matter what sort of project you’re looking to build, we have the skills and experience to match your targets and produce exceptional software.
What Software Development Solutions does Azumo Offer?
At Azumo, our nearshore software development solutions are split into three categories, each providing our clients with a different set of functions. Based on your company’s particular needs, we’ll offer one of three packages:
Dedicated Development Team - From technical leads to customer success managers, our delivery team will send you continual updates and offer flexibility as they work tirelessly to take a project from beginning to end.Â
IT Staff Augmentation - If you’re looking to scale your team, our IT staff augmentation will allow you to seamlessly add extended members, adding more to deal with high periods of demand. With expertise in all areas of IT staffing, our augmentation system means you’ll always be able to work as efficiently as possible.Â
Project-Based Development - If you have a particular project in mind, we’ll be the expertise that makes sure it gets done. With experience in building, designing, deploying, and managing software development solutions, our nearshore team will carry out any project you need.
No matter what your business needs, Azumo has the software development solution for you.
Why Is Azumo’s Nearshore Programming Team Trusted Across the Nation?
At Azumo, our client history speaks for itself. With a world-class team of top Latin American software engineers, we make sure that every project we collaborate on is carried out flawlessly. We provide a comprehensive nearshore programming team with strong communication channels, a friendly team of talented individuals, and expertise in a whole range of software development solutions.
If you’re looking to speed up delivery dates, boost the technical levels of your team, and access flexible tech solutions, get in touch and book a call today.