Offshore Software Development Archives - Page 6 of 7

US entrepreneurs and companies have emerged as global leaders in technology over the past two decades. But surprisingly, most of US-based firms face a severe challenge due to the shortage of local software developers. At times, they cannot match with the package expectations of the local developers and this costs the companies a big-time, leading to business losses.

This is where the concept of hiring an offshore software development workforce comes into the picture. Over a few years, outsourcing has successfully resolved the critical issue of shortage of developers for US firms to a great extent. Today, these firms are availing top-notch software services from any corner of the world.

But another challenge that these companies face is that the costs of offshore software developers and the services aren’t uniform globally. Every country has different rules, practices, and cost considerations. So this blog is meant to help US businesses in this scenario. Here we have jotted down in detail the components that affect offshore development costs, region-wise hourly rates, various outsourcing models, etc. for estimating costs of offshore development services. So, let’s get started.

Fundamental Components Affecting Offshore Software Development Costs

Size of the Software Project

Project size directly affects the development costs. The higher the number of screens, features, and other factors, the higher will be the team required and so is the cost. For instance, a small software app will have between 10-25 screens and a larger app will have 40+ screens. So, the efforts and overall costs will hike accordingly.

Technical Considerations of the Project

Technical aspects like software architecture, UI/UX designs, tools and methodology selected, third-party integrations, etc. influence the cost of the project. Ultimately, it depends on the quality of the software product you are looking for.

Time to Market

Whether you want to bring your product early to the market or want to give it more time, both will affect the development costs. Also, deadlines affect the software project in myriad ways. For example, if you have an excellent idea but the timeframe to complete the project is shorter, chances are, it will affect the R&D, planning, and overall development. In such a case, you will have to hire an extended team of experienced developers to get things done efficiently and quickly, incurring higher costs.

Skills and Expertise of the Offshore Team

The knowledge, experience, and skills of your offshore development team are directly proportional to the project costs. If your project is simple, you can hire developers with comparatively less experience and skills. But if your project is complex, you need a qualified team of senior developers and this adds to the project costs.

Additional Costs

The offshore companies may charge extra for maintenance and support, some licenses like HIPAA in healthcare apps, infrastructural costs, etc. They may even charge in case the clients want some modifications. So, such factors should be clarified beforehand to avoid any ambiguity.

Region-wise Hourly Rates of Offshore Software Development Services Worldwide

North American Regions and Western European Countries: These countries charge the highest rates as compared to most of the other regions worldwide. Have a look.

New York: $58.44
California: $58.96
Washington: $55.01
Texas: $46.11
UK: $71
France: $82
Netherlands: $60
Germany: $56
Sweden: $67

Eastern European Countries: The average hourly rates in these countries range from $20 – $50. These countries include:

Belarus
Poland
Slovakia
Ukraine
Bulgaria
Romania
Estonia
Czech Republic
Hungary

African Countries: The average hourly rates of countries in Africa range from $20 – $40; which include:

Tunisia
South Africa
Belarus
Kenya
Nigeria
Polan Egypt
Morocco

Countries in Latin America: The average hourly rates in Latin American countries range from $30 – $50. They include the following:

Brazil
Argentina
Chile
Costa Rica
Columbia
Panama
Mexico
Peru

Asian Countries: Asian countries have average hourly rates that range from $18 – $40. India ranks in 1st position as an offshore destination in the Asia region. The countries that provide outsourcing services include the following:

India
Indonesia
Malaysia
Vietnam
Thailand
Pakistan
Nepal
China
Bangladesh
Philippines

A Glimpse at Diverse Outsourcing Pricing Models

Manager Team Model or Dedicated Development Team Model

In this model, the offshore software development services provide an entire team of expert software development professionals and this team operates independently. It is managed by a Lead or Project Manager from the offshore company and is responsible for reporting to the client firm. This type of model ensures effective communication between both parties, assures high-quality results, saves time for the internal team, and eliminates the risks to a great extent. This model is the best choice when you want a highly experienced team with good technical expertise and want to lead the software development process and decision-making of the project.

Extended Development Team Model or Staff Augmentation Model

This business model includes the addition of offshore software developers to the existing in-house team of the clients as and when required for the project. This boosts the overall efficiency of the in-house team while being in total control of the project. This type of model helps in improving development capacity and project output. It is a scalable and flexible model and leads to a substantial reduction in costs of development, operations, and HR as well. This model is beneficial when the internal team lacks some kind of skills or expertise or when there is an urgent requirement for additional technical staff.

Outsourced Product Development Model or Project-Based Model

This is a traditional model which frees the client company from the entire burden of the software project. Here, the offshore team takes complete control of the project and builds the software products as per the predetermined expectations of the clients. In this model, the client company has limited control over the project. They need to provide the initial details and specifications. The benefits of this model include- (1) lower time commitment from clients’ end, and (2) exact estimations of the project timelines and final outcomes. This model is the best option when the project scope is quite static and clients do not want to handle the burden of the project management. Besides, this model is good to go with when the project you are developing isn’t your core project.

Why India Has Emerged as a Global Favourite for Offshore Development Services?

For 15 years consecutively, India has remained the top-favorite destination of the US companies and other European countries too, for outsourcing software projects. Almost 50% of fortune 500 companies prefer India alone for their IT development services. Besides the software sector, India is a popular outsourcing destination for other services like BPO, LPO, KPO, engineering, R&D, etc. So, why India? Here are the potential reasons:

India is one of the largest English-speaking countries in the world, as per a BBC report, and hence, there is no or very little language barrier during project development. This improves communication, collaboration, and coordination of clients and offshore teams.

Budget-friendliness is another major reason behind the preference of India by the US and other western countries. As compared to the local developers, the average rates of developers in India are 30-35% lower.

Offshore software developers in India are known for delivering excellent quality products and services that meet the required global standards. India is home to the largest number of ISO 9000 certified IT firms and 75% of the world’s CMM Level 5 certified firms.

The availability of a massive talent pool is another driving force that attracts US companies to India. With a population of 1.3 billion, India boasts of highly educated, experienced, and certified software professionals.

To meet the business requirements of the clients, most of the Indian IT companies ensure flexibility in time zones, cultural differences, etc. making the offshoring process seamless.

Lastly, the favorable policies of the Indian Government are like a cherry on the cake. Their policies are designed for promoting ease of business in India. Also, there is a huge infrastructural support and numerous IT parks are often being developed across the country.

Are You Interested in Building a Top-Class Website or Mobile App?

Final Thoughts

Partnering with offshore software development services cuts down several costs. It also helps protect your business from any probable issues that may occur during remote collaboration with the offshore partner. But before partnering with offshore software developers in India or any other country for that matter, it is always a good idea to calculate the approximate costs of project development beforehand. So, this blog is meant to make this calculation easier. Hope this helps.

That’s it for now!

Share your thoughts in the comments section and for any assistance on offshore development, reach out to us.

The trend of hiring remote software development teams for executing IT projects has fuelled up in recent years. Take a look at the interesting data on remote software development as of 2021, gathered by the online portal Review42!

55% of the businesses around the world prefer hiring remote employees up to a certain capacity.
18% of the working professionals are engaged in telecommuting on a full-time basis and 77% of these telecommuters have reported being more productive.
Firms can save as much as $ 11,000 per year, for each remote employee working on a part-time basis.

Remote work undoubtedly ushers in myriad benefits for employers and employees unanimously. The key gain is of course enhanced productivity for employees and cost-reduction for employers.

However, managing a remote dedicated software development team, particularly in offshore locations, is quite challenging and requires a different management approach altogether. Therefore, I have penned down crucial strategies that will help you to lessen the gap between your in-house and remote teams, and also ensure that your remote workforce stays efficient, productive, satisfied, and accountable for their deliveries.

Check out some important insights on remote hiring and the effective management of remote software development teams!

Remote Teams: An Overview

The term remote teams generally refer to a group of professionals with diverse competencies, belonging to various time zones; working in unison towards a specified objective. Nevertheless, many software development teams/agencies have their employees working remotely from a single country or even city. These employees usually work from their respective dens and are categorized as remote teams as well.

The Key Components of a Remote Software Development team

A Business Analyst for accumulating the requirements of the project, comprehending the project’s scope, and understanding the needs of clients as well as their pain areas.
Software engineers, front-end and back-end developers, or a full stack developer depending on your project needs
A team lead, who understands the technical requirements well, is a part of the development team and looks after the technical delivery of the project.
UI/UX designer for ensuring that your product possesses a rich interface and delivers a sound user experience
A QA engineer for analyzing test results and identifying errors during the initial developmental stages
A project manager for handling documentation and budgeting, leading teams and making them accountable for what they deliver, anticipating as well as managing risks, ensuring timely project delivery, signing SOWs, and communicating with clients.
A scrum master who will implement agile principles and make sure they are adhered to by the team members as well as by the client-side in order to avoid sprint interruptions by introducing unexpected add-ons.

Tips on Hiring Remote Programmers

Hiring the right set of software programmers/agency is no cakewalk and involves a series of validations and checklists. Check them out!

For validating the proficiency and engineering skills of software development firms/dedicated teams; you can go through their company profiles published on B2B research platforms such as Clutch, GoodFirms, Wadline, Upwork, Freelancer, VenturePact, Toptal, RemoteOK, etc. These platforms analyze and enlist leading software firms, mentioning their level of excellence; and as such, ease out the process of hiring an IT agency.

Check out the following aspects while hiring developers or an app development company from a remote location.

Industry-specific content published by the firms through reading their blogs, research papers, surveys, podcasts, etc.
Core competencies and technology stacks
The firm’s achievement – Projects delivered successfully and other accolades
The various work models offered
Events and recognitions like hackathons

Factors to Consider while picking your Remote Software Development Team

Skillset and Expertise

Ensure that the software developers you hire possess the following virtues.

Talented engineers who not only write good quality codes but also are capable of communicating effectively.
They should handle the team by sharing their controversial opinions, are capable of accomplishing goals along with a team, and acknowledge individual inputs by peers at the same time.

Pro-activness

Software professionals should be keen to work on interesting and challenging projects. They should be proactive enough to ask questions, provide suggestions concerning tasks like organizing sprints, and imbibe thought processing within the members of other teams as well.

Ability to acquire new Skills

The members of your remote team should be able to walk that extra mile and be eager to expand their skillset. Professionals who are naturally self-learners and are willing to push limits for acquiring new skills without even being asked to do so; are preferable.

Sense of Responsibility

A sense of responsibility is an important trait to look for in the software workforce you hire. Employers may ask questions regarding their way of preparing reports, planning their day, prioritizing tasks, dealing with unplanned fixes, and executing alignment meetings and rollbacks; to figure out this trait.

Key Steps to Building a Productive Software Development Team

remote software development team in India

Selection of the Apt Engagement Model for the Project

Selecting the right set of remote programmers or a development team is crucial. Coming to the first step of hiring a workforce for your project, consider the below-mentioned questions.

Does their technical skillset befit your project requirements?
Is the developers’ location suitable for you?
Are the developer charges within your budget?

Once, you are satisfied that the aforesaid criteria suit your needs, check on the following aspects.

The past projects they had worked on, the skills they had obtained, and the quality of work accomplished by them.
Check for references like clients’ testimonials, reviews, etc.

Effective Onboarding

Once, you have finalized your dedicated developers’ team, it’s time for onboarding. The steps given below will ensure a smooth onboarding process.

Introducing the team to your project management toolkit through training sessions and providing the required login credentials.
Providing clear instructions about your data security protocols and the communication strategy you’ve selected.
Discussing the preferred payment model for the team
Setting the priorities and tasks for individual programmers
Ensuring that all team members are on the same page regarding the fulfilling of project objectives.

Skill-enhancement via Training sessions

Improving the skill set of your remote team via training sessions enables you to create a trustworthy team that will stay with your enterprise for a longer period. Moreover, this strategy helps you to deliver successful projects, grow exponentially, and hence, elevates the productivity of your business to the next level.

Monitoring the Team’s Performance

Since your team is working remotely, you need to effectively monitor their performances through continual tracking of the team’s performance and the project’s progress. This can be accomplished by keeping in touch, through conducting meetings, audio/video calls, etc.

Proper Communication and Collaboration

Proper communication and collaboration is the stepping stone towards success. For this reason, you need to establish a robust and open communication channel with the remote professionals, and more so, if they are working from various time zones. Consider them to be a part of your team and make them feel that they belong to your organization. This way of team building ensures more contribution from your remote programmers. Besides, your firm’s processes should allow them to focus on their core competencies and deliver top-quality product/software. Furthermore, following a bi-directional communication methodology is recommended, to promote knowledge sharing, so that you can benefit from their valuable inputs and suggestions.

Set Clear Expectations

Whether your remote team of software developers is working remotely or virtually, convey your expectations at the very beginning. Be transparent about the working hours, communication processes, required employee availability, responsiveness expected, scheduled meetings, and the need to adhere to strict timelines.

Selecting the Right Remote Management Tools

Invest in the correct Remote Project Management Software, for achieving success. Remote management tools and software come with the following advantages.

Tracking the project evolution and workforce productivity
Maintaining and managing timesheets/tasks
Holding team discussions and interacting effectively across various time zones

Some of the suggested remote management tools are ZOOM, TRELLO, ASANA, G-Suite, SLACK, and ZOHO.