Over the past decade, nearshore development has become a popular trend in software development. What is the definition of nearshore? Why it spreads so quickly worldwide? What are the advantages of adopting nearshore technology? What makes it different from offshore development? Let us find out in this article.
Nearshore definition
Nearshoring is an outsourcing method used in business processes. It involves software development to external nearshore companies from a neighboring country. These firms are found within the same geographical or cultural location.
Nearshoring vs. offshoring
Not all enterprises are aware of the main differences between nearshoring and offshoring as business models.
Offshoring is seeking a service provider located in a nearby country. This means enabling the task done in a different country. As compared to outsourcing, this may refer to contracting work externally to another company either within the country or nearby nation.
Offshore outsourcing
The main reason many companies are offshoring their business operations is that this service provides reduced cost compared to spending in the firm’s own country. In Asia alone, countries such as India, Pakistan, and the Philippines have become offshoring hubs in the region. However, at times, the distance, varying time zones, and cultural discrepancies can bring issues and confusions from the customers’ needs.
In contrast, nearshore software development outsourcing, the companies are hired from nearby or neighboring countries. These may be also located in regions that have the same culture or language. This model provides solutions brought by time zone differences, cultural and language barriers, and unnecessary trips to the clients’ office. so frequent when it comes to offshoring.
Offshore development
Managing a business successfully is based on several factors. To most considering to offshore or outsource some of their business tasks is quite handy. It simply means tapping into a global pool of offshore team at a reduced cost.
In offshore development, there can be downsides. This includes resource investment by creating the outsourcing system itself. For many company operations that are taking advantage of outsourcing, the decision-making for business owners is quicky and easy. However, this does not always hold true in the software product development industry. Although you can achieve the inherent benefits of recruiting a nearshore team, not everything is straightforward. Software product development needs consistency within your labor force. Also, an established workflow is needed to ensure when seamlessly shifting to a nearshore team. When hiring a reliable team to build a product from start to finish, expect some challenges. However, overall, the process will be handy.
Making things work
Supervising an improved workflow between a local team and a nearshore group may be difficult but it is possible. By using Agile and other innovative automation tools to conduct processes such as delivery, testing, and the ongoing modernization in work management systems, you can easily achieve your goals.
As an offshore development company seeking to help global clients, this article provides an easy guide in establishing a nearshore development team. Below are some essential details you need to keep in mind.
Early preparation
What you should set initially is the solid foundation. Prior to building a nearshore development team, you need to identify your goals. Know what you want to achieve and do afterward. You or your team can’t succeed on a project without having a clear vision of your goals. Ensure that you communicate your ideas to your staff clearly. Take note of your staff profiles while defining your team culture. In outsourcing, you will be working with people with a different set of culture. Be aware of how cultural differences might impact the overall workflow. Also, consider that time zones have a bearing in the work process.
Why a team leader is vital
The project is very sensitive to the time zones of the hired personnel involved in outsourcing a nearshore team. Because of this, select a team leader who has the right skill sets. Creating a successful nearshore development team is highly dependent on a reliable team leader.
The best individual for the team lead post is someone who can put improved value than simply providing oversight on the team. If you are someone who lacks the technical know-how about the intricacies of software product development, recruit a team lead who is technically savvy. In case you do not have business skills, hire a team lead who has versatility in terms of software skills and the business side of things. Having a team lead with the skillset in business domain expertise could provide an advantage, especially when completing business-related tasks. Also, the team leader must have diverse expertise in project management. Generally, the team leader should possess the following characteristics.
- Good communication skills
- Familiar with your goals
- Has the ability to communicate the team’s mission and vision
- Manage the workflow consistency
- Assist in letting the project move forward
Develop systems based on preferred practices
Two main work management methods are generally used by nearshore teams in the software development sector. These involve Agile (Scrum) and Kanban. Between these two systems, Agile is recognized more popular. It provides you and your team with coherent and easy to implement workflow. Meanwhile, Scrum is Agile’s subset that is another great alternative that you can select.
Kanban has been widely used in supply chain management. It has evolved as an inventory control system employed in a software management system. Ensure to familiarize yourself in both systems before choosing any of these two systems so you can be certain what to implement in the workflow process.
Keep in mind to define the technology stack. If you work as a product manager, when establishing a nearshore product development team, you should clearly define the various technologies available in the development phase. Several of the best technologies and frameworks currently employed in software development are React, AngularJS, PHP, Java, NodeJS, and Python. To fully collaborate within the team, they should be able to carefully select the technology stack.
As highly recommended, use a modular/service-oriented framework and RESTful design. It is necessary for classifying the front-end and backend logic. The best strategy is to separate the whole team into mini units known as ‘squads.’ Each is focused on specific features or modules.
