Building an App While Nearshore Outsourcing

BY: ALBERTO LUGO

Nearshore outsourcing is described as the practice of getting work done or getting a service performed by people from a neighboring country as opposed to sourcing materials from your own country. Countries like the United States outsource work to Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico. Choosing to outsource from a neighboring country means that the travel and communication involved is both easier and less expensive.

Nearshore Outsourcing and App Development

When you are developing an application, there are some needs that distinguish whether or not nearshore outsourcing is the best option. These factors are:

  1. The Complexity of the project

Projects are broken down into low, medium, and high complexity. If your project lands on the low to medium complexity levels, then nearshore outsourcing will work best.

  1. Application Layers

The presentation or design layer of your app is the front-end interface, which is what your consumers will interface with the most. This software is high-touch and it’s important that the user experience is seamless and intuitive.

  1. Time to Market

If you are under a tight timeline and need to get a product to market quickly, offshore development probably isn’t the best solution for you. Iterations and feedback loops naturally take longer. Having your developers onshore should enable you to move more quickly and avoid communication delays.

Why Choose Nearshore Outsourcing

Application developers often choose to delegate software development and go with nearshore outsourcing because of the following features:

  • Reducing labor costs– The need for cost savings can easily be achieved due to the difference in salaries between software developers in other countries.
  • Execution speed– A tight release timeframe calls for faster product development, which can only be accomplished by a bigger team with specific skills.
  • Quality assurance– Some critical applications may require thorough testing, and businesses need to reduce the chances of software failure. This can be achieved without the big investment that rigorous testing processes represent.
  • Specialized skills– The need for specialized skills that cannot be supplied by current staff.
  • Temporary projects– Having a temporary project that can’t justify hiring more staff and let them go once the project is completed.

Outsourcing Tips: Things to Consider When Developing Your App

Nearshore outsourcing provides U.S companies with software developments that are closer to home thus making it easier for communication to occur, facilitation of project management, and maintaining low costs.

When deliberating on which country you would like to practice nearshore outsourcing for your application development, some of the considerations you need to take into account are:

  1. Expertise. Check that potential company’s skills and experience are a good match for the project at hand. The right people, tools, and talents are essential for the success of this project.
  2. Communication. Communication channels and processes often involve some work to overcome language and culture barriers. People often choose nearshore outsourcing because nearshore development teams commonly are often proficient in English and there is more cultural affinity.
  3. Do your research. In the digital era, it is a walk in the park to investigate and gain insight into a business’ reputation. Taking the time to research before hiring could help avoid serious problems down the road.

Before you settle down on nearshore outsourcing for your application materials, you need to evaluate the complexity of your app amongst others, then finally seed out the best outsourcing companies near you. Any application developer who wants to cut down costs and seek out specialized skills without looking too far should definitely build their app while nearshore outsourcing.