Offshore software development is in vogue, especially after the COVID-19 massive hit. After all, who doesn’t want easy access to technical expertise and cost-effective solutions across the globe? However, certain hurdles or challenges can ruin your first offshore development project, and you may face unwanted repercussions. Fret not; the following post offers a detailed understanding of the concept of offshore development, what it is about, why it is so much in vogue, the top challenges faced when conducting offshore projects, and how to take care of them this instant. I bet you will be able to maintain efficiency, quality, and timely delivery once you have read the following post. Are you ready to change the definition of success?
Over the years, offshore development has become one of the most popular strategies for businesses seeking around to tap into a global market for multiple reasons, such as easy access to a large talent pool, reduced costs, accelerated time-to-market, and more.
When Is the Right Time to Consider Offshore Software Development?
When you require specialized skills
When you face local talent shortages
When you need cost-effective solutions
When the project is complex and requires special expertise
When budget constraints are of prime importance
When you need high scalability and flexibility
When you want to work leveraging agile methodologies
Benefits of Offshore Development
What else, offshore software development offers numerous compelling advantages for businesses to streamline their operations and successfully gain a competitive edge?
Cost-effectiveness - One of the obvious benefits to consider when it comes to offshore development projects is cost-effectiveness. Yes, these projects are much less costly in comparison to the in-house ones. Here, you get a chance to hire talent globally with lower labor costs, reducing overall development costs and expenses at the same time you are maintaining high-quality standards. Also, by considering offshore development, businesses will be able to allocate resources to more critical areas.
Access to global talent - The next benefit offered by offshore development services is easy and quick access to a global talent pool. Yes, in-house development means you have to choose professionals from within which means a limited talented pool; however, this is not the case with offshore development services. Here, companies can tap into a diverse and highly skilled workforce from around the world. This also means businesses can seamlessly find the right professionals having the right expertise, and that too within a pre-determined budget.
Seamless flexibility and scalability - Hiring offshore development teams means businesses get a golden opportunity to scale their teams up and down according to their needs and project-based requirements. One of the most amazing aspects of these offshore development projects is that they are quite agile, and to top it all, developers have to cope with a variety of situations, from changing market conditions to ever-fluctuating workloads and, of course, evolving project scopes. Not to mention, offshore teams have the potential to provide 24/7 support, which leads to continuous progress of the project and faster time-to-market.
Focus on core competencies - And, of course, considering offshore development services means you get more time to focus on your core competencies, come up with more innovative ideas, and strategize on how to gain a competitive edge. As a result, here you get increased efficiency and productivity and are bound to succeed.
Does this mean there are no hurdles or challenges? Well, of course, there are a few common offshore software development challenges that must be addressed in the nick of time to maintain efficiency, quality, and timely delivery. Also, we will be offering practical solutions to overcome each obstacle and assist you in drawing relevant and well-proven strategies. So, by the end of the following post, we assure you that you will be equipped with the knowledge to manage your offshore development projects effectively.
Top Offshore Development Challenges and How to Solve Them?
Navigating through the landscape of offshore, nearshore, and onshore has become a huge compulsion these days, so what you need is a keen understanding of what it is all about, what things can go wrong, and how to solve the typical hurdles faced during the journey.
#1 Managing the project
One of the obvious issues faced by businesses these days when considering offshore development projects is managing the project. You see, offshore development is a pretty tried and tested technique, so it doesn’t mean it is an impossible job. However, managing such projects can be pretty daunting, especially if not everyone participating is aware of the project, especially in terms of aims and objectives. To top it all, there is no strong, established communication channel, so this is why more and more difficulties keep on arising, and this won’t do any good.
A competent project manager is said to be pretty familiar with the subtleties of overseas outsourcing. This also means he is highly capable of handling potential issues. What else, how can project management in offshore teams become successful? Well, to cut the long story short, they need to be well prepared and communicate absolutely.
As a solution - Do not hire offshore development service providers just like that, make sure you thoroughly verify them. Check how their experience and expertise can they address management-related difficulties or not.
At the same time, businesses need to understand the company’s method of working as well. Since it’s a two-way process, you need to make this work from your end as well. Keep tabs on what kinds of solutions and services they can offer you. Certain parameters must be taken into account, such as:
Escalation matrix
Working procedures
Systems
Frameworks
Operational hierarchy
Resource backing up
#2 Communication-based hurdles
Since we are talking about offshore development services, it means there are no physical or face-to-face interactions, which can certainly lead to miscommunications or misinterpretations, and somehow, these small basic elements can become a significant hurdle, especially due to time zone disparities, language variations, and cultural distinctions. So, to succeed, you need to have relevant communication tactics, amazing project management skills, and a good grasp of different cultural/language nuances to establish streamlined operations and successful outcomes.
As a solution -Try enforcing overlapping working hours just to ensure to establish real-time collaboration. Here, you can try making the most of project management tools such as JIRA, Trello, Basecamp, and more. Also, ask for regular conferences, especially video calls, to build the gap and ensure teams located in different time zones are well synchronized.
In addition, ask to use a common language, let's say English, and if that’s not possible, try offering language training if needed. For establishing effective communication, ensure to be clear and concise and try using as many diagrams and flowcharts as you can.
And lastly, do not forget to encourage awareness and sensitivity through different training sessions and team-building exercises, many of you consider this a waste of time, but all this is extremely important. You need to foster one such atmosphere where team members feel at ease in sharing their issues and viewpoints.
#3 Security
Another offshore development challenge to consider is security. You see, businesses that outsource development projects always tend to worry about IP protection and data security. It can be anything data security against external threats, malware, or any other hacking-related issue. What you need to be guaranteed is:
Confidentiality
Integrity
Accessibility
Now down below I would like to mention certain aspects that can lead to a breach of information or allow unauthorized access or even deletion of valuable data.
bad policy
Risk management
Inexperienced security practices
Failure in a certain area
Some of the sensitive information that needs to be saved is trade secrets, intellectual property (IP), or financial and operational data.
As a solution - What you need to do is try conducting a risk assessment and make sure you end up following proper measures. This is the only way to get rid of issues with data security and IP protection. Also, make sure they sign comprehensive NDAs. You can even create a local database just to keep tabs on how the project progresses.
#4 Ensuring quality control
Ensuring quality control is The next unbeatable challenge that needs to be overcome at any cost. Of course, you are not putting up with all this hassle for nothing. You need to gain all the perks and maintain proper quality standards, especially when incorporating teams featuring various levels of knowledge and expertise.
As a solution - Try offering different training programs and implement proper recruiting procedures just to ensure all team members do meet all the necessary skill requirements. Also, it is advisable to carry out code reviews and pair programming activities.
#5 Trust and collaboration
The last but not the least challenge is the feeling of disconnect. You see, when you work with offshore teams, this feeling of disconnect and trust issues are pretty common. So, what one can do is try creating a cohesive team culture.
As a solution - How about you foster strong team collaboration? This might seem difficult, but it is somehow a doable job via regular interactions and conduct through virtual team-building activities. Do not forget to celebrate achievements and reinforce a positive team culture and mutual respect.
Conclusion
Offshore development is pretty much in vogue, so riding the high tide is the right thing to do. Only you need to make sure to take all the aforementioned challenges into account and then find the proper solution so that there is no scope for any failures.
Your success in offshore development is sure to catch only if you follow these steps:
Defining clear project goals and expectations
Create detailed project documentation.
Clear milestones
Regular updates
Align everyone towards the same goal.
I hope you find the following post worth reading. In case you still have any issues, feel free to let us know, and we will offer as much assistance as we can. Good luck with your development project.