4 things that get you hooked on a nearshore company

4 things that get you hooked on a nearshore company

Here we break down four benefits of outsourcing your development project to a nearshore company. Take a look!

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Outsourcing a software development project does not always mean you have to circle the globe to find the right partner, and managers are finally letting go of the outdated notion that lower-cost engineering talent pools exist only in India, China, or Ukraine.

While you still might find some bargains with companies in those far-off places, there are several distinct advantages to getting work done by people who live in neighboring countries and who are fluent in English.

Here are 4 things that will get you hooked on outsourcing your next development project to a nearshore company.

More insights: Factors that scream outsource now! 

1. An open exchange of ideas

Communication is the bedrock of any great product. Developers, designers, testers, and business analysts need to communicate with one another in order to align themselves around the product vision. Product Managers (PMs) need to communicate with their teams continually to keep them focused on the current priorities. The Business Analyst must communicate with stakeholders from all sides. And of course, the team must have access to a good flow of communication with every stakeholder of the project.

Man working and having a callThe process of innovation works because people bring their diversity to the discussion, offering their opinions to the group and opening things up for debate. The development cycle depends on an open exchange of ideas that flow back and forth across open channels of communication. A nearshore company usually will use its experience and knowledge to advise clients about the best software solutions that fit their business. This is a win-win game.

Teams work very hard to foster this kind of environment — and managers and executives build on a strong company culture to encourage innovation. It can take years but they persist because they know it is how they will build a great company that produces great results.

Needless to say, having a team that simply says “yes” to everything will not work in this context. Truth be told, sometimes a team has to say “no” because an idea is not feasible. Over-promising when they know they cannot deliver on the terms outlined by the client is bad for business — everyone’s business.

The communication style in Latin America might be a little more “polite” than in the United States, but business communication tends to be frank, open, and to the point. Professionals are not afraid to discuss concerns they might have about, for example, some requests you might make. They are not shy about sharing their ideas and offering solutions, either. It is a business culture and a work ethic that very closely aligns with college-educated professionals in the States.

2. An Agile-friendly development scene

A critical component of Agile development, a popular methodology for developing software, is the daily stand-up. Daily communication like the daily stand-up is far more convenient when your team is based in the same time zone as you. Furthermore, when the team — the entire team, not just the PM or the business analyst — is fluent in English, daily Agile communications flow much more efficiently. As a result, the team becomes far more productive.

Meeting in person, another component of Agile development is also much easier when your team lives in a similar time zone. Traveling is faster and probably less costly, too. Jet lag, or lack of it, is another important feature of time zone proximity. In fact, companies who work with a nearshore team rather than a team that is halfway around the world may find they are able to meet in person more frequently. Increasing face-to-face time between development teams and your own PMs facilitates better communication, which reduces misunderstandings.

Finally, the Agile process relies upon lots of back-and-forth discussion — in the form of user research, feedback, testing, and more. Fast iterations can only be fast when these communications are carried out efficiently. If the team has to wait 24 to 48 hours for feedback, or their response time for simple fixes is drawn out because of time zone difference, the product development cycle can stretch out and take much more time than everyone had planned. Staying in the same time zone and working with a nearshore company where teams are fluent in English optimizes the Agile process.

3. No more sleepless nights

Several clocks hang over a wallStaying up until 3 AM so you can communicate with a team that lives in The Philippines or Mumbai is never ideal. Yet, many managers are still losing valuable sleep because they outsourced to a team whose waking hours are completely opposite from their own.

With a nearshore outsourcing company, everyone gets to sleep soundly through the night because everyone is more or less in the same time zone. Most of the Latin America technical powerhouses like Argentina operate within just a couple of hours of difference for most of the year.

Latin America does not observe Daylight Savings Time so the time difference varies but in general, working with a Latin American team means a closer time zone than if you were working across coasts in the USA, where there is a three-hour difference between the East and West coasts. So, no more sleepless nights.

Getting a good night’s sleep is something everyone will get hooked on!

Content related: The perks of time zone differences and how to get the most out of them

4. A talent pool with recognizable certifications

This is another great benefit of nearshore software companies. An engineer may have graduated from Shanghai’s top technical school, but if that school does not use U.S. standards for certifications, how do you know what you are getting? Colleges, universities, and technical schools in Argentina are more likely to be structured and certified in very much the same way as colleges and universities in the United States. They use U.S. standards for their STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) curricula and the pool for talent is very deep and wide.

Professional development is taken very seriously in Latin America, and cities like Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and La Plata, among others, are bustling with the energy of start-up culture, meetups, hackathons, and other developer gatherings.

To Sum Up

Great software development projects arise from a two-part foundation: a well-oiled process and a strong workplace culture. It is the human connections formed within the teams and between collaborators that give rise to the highest levels of innovation. It is why successful companies put their trust in the relationships they form as consultants, committing to them as the basis of everything they do and every product they create.

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