How to Build Your own Nearshore Software Development Team

Even before remote work ascended to new heights, nearshoring has been a road often traveled by many organizations located in Western Europe and North America. Given the many benefits, ranging from multiple overlapping hours to an abundance of specialists with varied skills and backgrounds, a nearshore team is a common solution to tackle the talent shortage in your location.

You probably wound up here in the hope of finding the right partner to build a team of nearshore developers. If so, you came to the right place, as in this guide, we’ll walk you through the concrete steps. As a company that specializes in building nearshore development teams, we can say undoubtedly that such regions as Central & Eastern Europe and Latin America, as rich repositories of technology talent, live up to the expectations when it comes to variety of talent and availability. Dive in to learn more.

What is a nearshore team?

A nearshore development team (also known as a nearshore software development center) allows companies to delegate software development to the IT workforce located in neighboring countries. As opposed to outsourcing, a nearshore team is built from the ground up and tailored specifically to the client’s project. Nearshore developers are solely dedicated to the client’s project, working under the client’s leadership. 

What are the benefits of nearshore software development teams?

Let’s go over the key benefits of nearshore software development teams to see why this model attracts business leaders.

Minimal (1-3 hour) time differences. A major benefit of this approach is the negligible time zone differences, which lends itself to real-time collaboration and swift communication between your primary and nearshore teams. This can result in higher productivity, timely delivery, and seamless understanding, which is crucial for remote collaboration.

Far better communication than in offshoring. Similar time zones and cultural compatibility boost collaboration and eliminate risks of delays compared to an offshore setting. Nearshore software development teams are highly accessible, as by collaborating in real-time, you can build a more cohesive working relationship.

Linguistic and cultural alignment. Given that nearshore software developers are located in nearby regions, there’s a high possibility that their business culture and language will be familiar to your local squad. On the other hand, team members stemming from far-off countries might be drastically different from your home-based staff, which doesn’t always have a positive impact on collaboration.

Cost savings. One of the reasons to go for nearshore software development is to dive into a pool of technologists with moderate rates, especially compared to the EU and the US. According to Accelerance, the cost savings from this model can reach up to 70%. In addition to that, you can also delegate the costs such as payroll, bonuses, insurance, vacations, and sick leaves to the vendor.

Greater access to niche skills. A nearshore software development team can be a stronghold of talent you may lack in-house. With a provider like nCube, you can access skilled technologists in CEE (for instance, explore nearshoring Ukraine, Poland, or Romania) and LATAM (Mexico, Argentina, or Brazil), including sought-after innovative solutions like machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, Data, Blockchain, or Cloud solutions as well as web app development, mobile app development, software testing, and more.

How to build a skilled nearshore software development team

A nearshore software development team will be a tech muscle for your vision or idea, so finding the right kind of experts is essential. Let us shed light on a few aspects to help you find skilled near shore developers.

We at nCube leverage these criteria in our approach to nearshore IT staff augmentation to secure the top 1% of tech talent in CEE and Latin America for our clients.

Highlight problem-solving skills. When building a skilled nearshore software development team, you may want to consider looking beyond technical expertise and coding skills. Tackling various challenges and providing complex software solutions is an essential quality of a solid expert who will drive your nearshore project forward.

Check nearshore developers’ background. If you want to get the most out of your nearshore branch, consider developers with a proven track record in your business vertical. You can verify their background by checking their GitHub presence – or simply ask a provider like nCube to match you with a candidate who has worked in the same field.

Look for OOP/OOD skills. Your nearshore software development team is likely to deliver modern software solutions. Thus, it’s essential that your hires are familiar with and have experience in applying the principles of object-oriented programming.

Make sure they speak English well. Even though English skills are the cornerstone of today’s globalized IT world, evaluating a candidate’s language proficiency should be a part of the interviewing process. Why is this important? Because mutual understanding between your primary and nearshore software development team is a must.

Make sure cultural fit is present. When you manage a nearshore development team, it’s key to seed a unique culture of your organization and be sure it sits well with your staff. By focusing on candidates with shared values, you’ll pave the path to smooth integration and a cohesive bond with your core squad.

Ask candidates about their Agile proficiency. In this day and age, nearshore agile software development teams is a popular model. Adopting the best practices of the Agile methodology such as keeping up with short iterations or remaining flexible to adapt to rapid customer feedback requires the ability to synchronize well with the rest of the team, address problems quickly, and respond when needed. So, it’s best to focus on nearshore Agile development experts with these qualities. 

Step 1. Outline the scope of work for your nearshore team

The nearshoring approach starts with outlining your goals and drafting your Project Scope, a document where you dissect your project into deliverables and assign a time frame for each deliverable. The document will further be used by your nearshore development team as a guide to what needs to be done and when, allowing your nearshore developers to move at the right pace to meet your goals. 

One more important point to include in your Project Scope is the budget. Knowing the range of developer salaries you count on, can help your provider of nearshore staff augmentation source the right candidates in terms of their salary expectations. 

In addition, each step should include the key measures for success so you can see if your nearshore development team is moving in the right direction. 

Step 2. Define the technology stack 

A technology stack is a set of technologies that your nearshore development team will use to execute your software development project. Knowing what technologies need to be applied for your project gives your nearshoring vendor an understanding of the type of talent you need to add to your team. Thus, based on your technology stack, your nearshoring partner will form your nearshore development team and provide the skills you may lack access to locally. 

We at nCube specialize in sourcing nearshore software developers, including specialists with common backgrounds (JavaScript, PHP, Python) as well as other type of specialists capable of handling a project on a turn-key model, such as project/product manager, DevOps, Quality Assurance engineers, and UX/UI designers. No matter the technical skills you require, we’ll build the right kind of nearshore development team, meeting your technology stack requirements, business objectives, and candidate preferences. 

Step 3. The vendor screens nearshore software developers

At this step, you can put your feet up and relax as your vendor’s HR team is sourcing nearshore software developers from the country’s pool of local talent. The process includes identifying strong candidates that match your candidate profile and putting them through a series of tests, including technical interviews, soft skills, culture fit, and English comprehension. Only the candidates who’ve made the cut will be recommended for your further review. 

Vendors tend to maintain a personal approach to team formation, which means that the client is always in charge of whom to add to their nearshore development team. With this in mind, you’ll interview our pre-selected candidates yourself because most vendors (our nearshore development company included) want you to know who you’re going to work with. Your nearshoring partner will also help you coordinate interviews and address any challenges that may appear down the road. 

After you approve a candidate, we’ll send them a job offer with your agreed start date. That’s all! Your nearshore developers are on board. 

Going further, in the nearshore teams model, you’ll have direct access to every developer on the team, managing the development process as you see fit. It’ll be your own team in every sense of the word. 

Step 4. Launch your nearshore development team

The screening stage is over and all team members are defined. It’s time to finalize the paperwork and sign a Service Level Agreement that should include IP rights protection clauses. After signing all papers, your team members will start on their agreed start dates, and your nearshore squad will be officially launched. 

The process of team launch and integration will be coordinated by an account manager on our side who will make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible. 

What will your nearshore development team with nCube look like?

Now that we’ve gone over the main steps of sourcing nearshore software developers, let us give you an idea of how your team will work. Below is a run down of our nearshore development model’s features:

• We’ll build your own nearshore custom software development team tailored to your individual needs, project specifications, and business goals;  
• We’ll provide you with access to each team member, so you can communicate with them directly. This way, your nearshore software developers will work under your management, which allows to you to have full control over the development process; 
• Your nearshore developers will be solely allocated to your project, working for you full time, 5 days/40 hours per week. Given that nearshoring assumes only a small time difference (1-3 hours), it’ll feel as if your nearshore team is always within a reach; 
• We create nearshore dedicated development teams where the team will be fully integrated into your workflow and engineering processes, becoming a valuable asset to your organization;
• While you retain engineering process control, we take care of your employee retention. Our employee benefits package includes all the perks of a modern IT company, from health insurance and HR support to a cozy downtown office with modern IT infrastructure and regular team building events. All of this creates a comfortable environment for your nearshore software developers, which lends itself to a high retention rate. Last year, we achieved a whopping 98% of unforced retention. 

Our goal is to let you work with a sustainable nearshore development team for as long as you need. We are sure that a nearshore team like this will help you meet your goals and add value to your company in the long run. 

If you’re interested to hear more about sourcing nearshore software developers in Eastern Europe or LATAM, let’s connect.

Common questions and answers about nearshoring

What is nearshore development? 

Nearshore development is an outsourcing model where a company hires a team of software developers based in a nearby country, located within a 1-3 hour time difference.

What is a nearshore team? 

A nearshore team is a group of software developers and other IT professionals like Quality Assurance engineers, UX/UI designers, Business Intelligence experts, and Project Managers located in an adjacent geographic region. 

What are the benefits of building a nearshore development team? 

The greatest advantage of a nearshore development team is having 5-8 common business hours to ensure real-time communication with your local squad. Other benefits include culture fit, cost savings, and shorter travel times.