In today’s interconnected world, digital transformation has become vital for companies striving to stay competitive and relevant. And the global expenditure on digital transformation is going to surpass the 2 trillion dollar mark in 2023 alone. As businesses increasingly rely on web development to create robust online platforms, like e-commerce websites, web apps, mobile apps, and so on, the demand for skilled software developers has skyrocketed. However, this surge in demand has led to several challenges, including talent shortages and high labor costs in traditional software development hubs like North America. As a result, many companies are turning to offshore staff augmentation as a viable solution. In this blog, we will discuss the challenges of this model and delve into some effective strategies to overcome them.
What Is An Offshore Software Development Company?
An offshore software development company is a company that provides software development to clients in other countries. These companies became increasingly valuable in today’s borderless economy as they typically have lower labor costs than in-house development teams resulting in major cost savings for businesses. One of their main advantages is having access to a large pool of highly-skilled and well-trained dedicated developers, thus giving their clients a competitive edge.
Why Offshore Web Development:
Various factors drive the decision to engage in offshore web development. One significant reason is cost efficiency. Offshore development offers the potential to significantly reduce expenses associated with hiring and retaining in-house dedicated software development teams. In addition, by leveraging the expertise and competitive pricing offered by offshore developers, companies can allocate resources more efficiently, resulting in substantial cost savings.
Additionally, The substantial disparity in average base salaries between North America and offshore development countries played a significant role in the growth and adoption of the offshore software development model. According to Glassdoor, Junior Software developers in North America command significantly higher salaries, 90,00 USD/Year. Compared to their counterparts in India, Egypt, Ukraine, or the Philippines, that’s almost triple the average pay. By leveraging offshore development, companies can tap into talent pools with competitive rates while maintaining the desired level of quality and expertise.
Overcoming Top Offshore Web Development Challenges with Effective Solutions
Also, read:
Driving Success: How an Offshore Software Development Company Can Tackle Technical Debt Head-On?
Offshore Programming Quality and Standards:
Problem: One of the main concerns companies offshoring their development process face is the quality of the written code and the standards to which they have to adhere to and abide by to ensure that the required code is at an acceptable quality level and meets the requirements.
Solutions:
- Clear and Detailed Project Documentation: Providing comprehensive and detailed project documentation, including requirements, design specifications, coding guidelines, and quality standards, can help bridge the communication gap and ensure a shared understanding of expectations.
- Training and Knowledge Transfer: Investing in training programs and knowledge transfer initiatives can help elevate offshore developers’ skill levels and expertise. Sharing best practices, providing coding standards and guidelines, and offering ongoing mentorship contribute to maintaining high programming quality and adherence to industry standards.
- Code Reviews: Implementing robust quality assurance processes, including code reviews, automated testing, and continuous integration, helps identify and rectify programming issues early on. Regular code reviews by both offshore and onshore teams ensure compliance with coding standards and enhance overall programming quality. Additionaly, if you pair up with flairstech, you will be able to leverage our advanced AI-powered code reviewing solution amongst many other solutions that streamline and cut your testing times significantly.
Offshore Communication Gaps and Challenges:
Problem: Communicating with a remote team that does not share your language, culture, and time zone can be both challenging and tricky. However, it is not the end of the world, and there are definitely ways to reach common ground and communicate in a manner that fosters a healthy, positive, and productive work environment.
Solutions:
- Set up regular communication channels, such as video conferences or virtual meetings, to bridge the geographical distance and ensure effective communication between onshore and offshore teams.
- Establish a clear and concise communication plan that includes specific communication protocols, preferred communication methods, and designated points of contact.
- Foster a culture of transparency and openness, encouraging both onshore and offshore teams to share their thoughts, concerns, and ideas freely.
- Use project management and communication tools that help bridge communication gaps and foster a sense of clarity. Ex: Asana, slack, Jira, Basecamp ect…
- If you are still a bit confused and feel like you dont have something tangible enough to enable you to take action, take a look at this hubspot blog about effective communication strategies, they hammer on the topic quite effectively.
Scope Creep in Offshore Development:
Problem: Scope creep refers to the uncontrolled expansion or addition of project requirements and deliverables beyond the originally agreed-upon scope in offshore software development. It often occurs due to unclear project specifications, inadequate change management processes, or evolving client expectations. If not effectively managed, scope creep can lead to budget overruns, delayed timelines, and compromised project quality.
Solutions:
- Clearly define and document the project scope at the outset, including specific deliverables, functionalities, and timelines. Ensure that all onshore and offshore stakeholders have a shared understanding of the project scope.
- Implement a change management process that requires thorough evaluation and approval of any scope changes. This process should involve all relevant stakeholders and assess the impact on budget, timeline, and resources.
- Conduct regular project reviews and progress assessments to identify any signs of scope creep early on. This allows for prompt corrective action and prevents the accumulation of uncontrolled changes.
- Implement effective project tracking and monitoring tools to keep a close eye on project progress, resource utilization, and adherence to the defined scope. This enables early identification and mitigation of scope creep.
- Deploy software developing strategies and methodologies such as the waterfall model to streamline the progress of tasks and prevent scope creep significantly.
Ensuring Data Privacy and Security
Problem: Nothing comes second to the security of your data and the overall safety of any line code produced within your onshore and offshore development teams. Data leaks and security issues severely impact the integrity of your software as a whole, and more importantly, it affects your company’s reputation and overall brand equity and trustworthiness in the market. Take Uber or Yahoo’s data leaks as an example, and make sure you avoid that if you want your business to stay afloat.
Solutions:
Adopt secure coding standards and guidelines, such as OWASP Top Ten Project, CWE/SANS Top 25, and CERT Secure Coding Standards. These are widely recognized and accepted guidelines for developing secure software applications.
- OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving software security. The OWASP Top Ten Project lists the most critical security risks to web applications and recommendations for mitigating these risks.
- CWE/SANS Top 25 lists the most dangerous software weaknesses compiled by the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) project and the SANS Institute. It provides a prioritized list of the most important security weaknesses that software developers should focus on when building secure software.
- CERT Secure Coding Standards is a set of guidelines developed by the CERT Coordination Center at the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute. These guidelines provide a comprehensive set of rules and recommendations for writing secure software code, including best practices for input validation, error handling, memory management, and other key areas.
How Flairstech Can Help With Your Offshoring Journey:
The offshore software development model can be tricky and painstaking and can require a lot of time and effort to both manage and properly maintain for the best results possible. With Flairstech, however, we offer you streamlined and scientifically proven and tested solutions that guarantee you a smooth, seamless, and frictionless approach to development that will most certainly surpass your requirements, and here is why:
- We have over 1,000 available talents delivering top-notch results from three continents (North America, Europe, and Africa) covering every language and time zone on the planet.
- Over 100 global enterprises depend on us for their Software development, Technical Support, Customer Support, and digital solutions needs.
- Our size, however, does not affect our agile processes, as we have fast and exceptionally efficient processes when it comes to hiring and time-to-market.
- We guarantee the products we deliver for life.
- We will cut your development budget in half, increase your overall output, and achieve the desired results.
If you need any assistance deciding on a digital solution that will elevate your business or have any questions regarding the development ecosystem in general, schedule a free one-on-one consultation now, and one of our engineering managers will gladly assist you.
FAQS:
Q: What are the main advantages of offshore development compared to onshore or nearshore development?
- A: Offshore development offers several advantages, including cost efficiency and budget optimization, access to tech-experienced developing economies, accelerated project speed, exposure to diverse techniques and learning opportunities, and simplified HR processes.
Q: How does offshore development accelerate project speed?
- A: Offshore development facilitates round-the-clock productivity by leveraging different time zones. While one part of the world rests, work continues in another, ensuring uninterrupted progress and faster turnaround times. This global collaboration allows businesses to expedite their development cycles and deliver solutions to the market more swiftly.
Q: How does offshore development simplify the HR process?
- A: Offshore development eliminates the need for extensive HR processes by partnering with offshore development providers. These providers have pre-screened and highly skilled talent
Leave a Reply