How to Pick the Best Nearshore Software Development Company

As a means of accessing technology talent, nearshoring has become an essential part of the business playbook. Since not all companies are lucky enough to have software development expertise in-house or a sufficient pool of engineers locally, many choose to source the missing talent through a nearshore software development company. At its best, this approach can help you build a skilled tech unit – on the caveat of selecting a reliable provider.

A nearshore software development company is a company operating in a neighboring country and specializing in various fields, all within software development. It’s also known as nearshore software development services. Below, we describe the steps that will hopefully help you identify the best nearshore development partner.

Create your Project Scope

While development service providers do the heavy lifting by sourcing the development talent, it’s in fact the clients who always know best when it comes to their business. Thus, before you embark on your nearshore development journey, it’s a good idea to craft your Project Scope – a document that helps keep you on the right path throughout the project.

Your Project Scope is the heart of your software development project and the primary step in your search for nearshore development services. This document allows you to better understand what kind of technologies you will use, the type of skills you need to bring in through nearshoring, as well as your budget, time frames, and how you’ll measure your success. On top of helping you source the right kind of engineers, your Project Scope eliminates uncertainties and ensures predictable results. Thus, it’s worth your time.

Choose location

Choosing a hosting country for your nearshore development activities, you may take into account several criteria:

Developer rates. Nearshore development services typically excel at curbing the exorbitant costs of onshore development, given that you can choose a region where developer rates fit the bill when it comes to your budget. For example, Eastern Europe, one of the hottest nearshoring locations, offers competitive developer rates within a range of $50-$55 per hour of work of a senior engineer, including service fees.
Talent availability. Not only do nearshore software development services allow companies to save, they also let them access a more diverse pool of talent than they may have access to locally. Countries with hundreds of thousands of engineers can offer you a broader choice and even better development skills, as competition leads to higher proficiency levels. For example, Ukraine boasts nearly 275K software engineers on the market, and thus nearshoring software development services here can potentially drive hundreds of skilled candidates your way.
Industry/tech expertise is one more key criterion that can help you select the best nearshore software development partner. Many engineers draw their experience working at ambitious companies and startups, strengthening their skills and domain expertise, which lends itself to high-quality nearshore development services. For example, Ukrainian engineers boast strong domain expertise in Fintech, Healthcare, and Edtech, given the number of local startups and companies in this area headquartered in the country. In fact, Clutch suggests that there are 300+ companies that can help you with financial software development, and 100+ eCommerce, and 150+ Edtech companies, all contributing to the domain expertise of local engineers.

Shortlist potential companies

The most arduous task is probably to sift through the companies that provide nearshore development services and choose ones that can potentially become your partners. Here are some signs of a reliable nearshoring development provider that may come in handy at this step:

A modern website;
Client testimonials and success stories;
A career section with recently posted vacancies;
A blog with recent posts;
Information about the company’s offices, phone numbers, and locations;
Social media presence;
A corporate video.

When choosing a provider, be sure to pay attention to the values the company transmits and choose those whose values resonate with you most.

Verify your chosen companies

At this step, you can single out companies you find reliable enough to work with. Narrow down your shortlisted companies by comparing and contrasting their portfolios, particularly the types of companies they worked with, including their size (startups, mid-size or enterprise)and domain. That way, you can choose the most relevant nearshore development provider. Then, you can pay attention to the nearshore software development model they provide, including the following:

Adding missing skills to your existing team;
Building a nearshore development team from the ground;
A turn-key solution executed with the company’s own resources.

Depending on the model, you can select the right kind of provider who will provide the service in line with your business needs.

Contact a provider (s) of your choice

Once you’ve verified the providers, schedule an intro call with them. At this point, it’s vital to pay attention to the quality of communication and identify the red flags. If you feel that the provider takes a lot of time to respond, neglects your business needs, or tries to sway you to sacrifice the things you deem essential for your project, it’s best to part ways from the get-go. Ideally, your communication should be guided by a personal account manager on the provider’s side who will always be in touch with you.

Participate in every aspect of the process

It’s both in the client’s and provider’s best interest to build a team that endures in the long run. And it takes two parties to build a sustainable nearshore development team. With that in mind, it’s best to discuss your developer and project needs in as much detail as possible. Below are the steps expert nearshore software development services providers follow to customize a team formation process:

Discovery. Going over the client’s project scope and candidate profile description;
Talent sourcing. Human Resources managers on the provider’s side launch candidate search based on the requirements;
Internal review. Suitable candidates undergo Tech & HR interviews and an English proficiency test;
Client review. Shortlisted candidates are passed on for client interviews.

Only the best providers of nearshore development services follow all of these steps, as this ensures their clients work with people whom they have chosen first-hand.

Prepare a legal base

The provider of nearshore software development services should always emphasize the security of cooperation. That includes Service-Level agreements with clauses that safeguard your Intellectual Property as well as outline the terms of scaling up and down, time-frames, termination conditions, and other critical aspects. You can review the contract with your legal department and amend it if needed. The bottom line is that the provider of nearshore development services should go the extra mile to make your partnership as safe and secure as possible.

When do you need a nearshore software development partner?

Companies tend to make the shift to nearshore software development partnerships when they face certain scenarios. Below we will explore some key circumstances so you can identify ones that imply your organization may need the help of a nearshore development company.

Your team starts to drift away from core business activities

At some point during the project, your team may become overwhelmed with tasks, which may lead to a loss of focus on their core duties. When that happens, it’s critical to take stock of your priorities. This is where the option of hiring a nearshore software development partner may become relevant. In fact, such a scenario is rather common, especially for companies where software development isn’t a central activity. In such cases, a solid nearshore software development partner can help you balance things out, in a way that you can beneficially combine your business activities while meeting the demands when it comes to software development.

Resource allocation challenges

Companies without established tech units have to fight an uphill battle when it comes to finding software development resources. The problem typically stems from the lack of local tech talent. As a result, companies tend to bridge the gaps by hiring freelancers or shuffling various tasks between different outsourcing vendors. However, we believe that hiring a nearshore development company offers a more comprehensive approach, as the provider can help you build a skilled team that will oversee your project from start to finish. A solid nearshore software development partner like nCube will also adapt the size and composition of the team based on your evolving needs throughout SDLC.

You have budget constraints

When building a local tech unit is beyond your budget, a nearshore development company offers a viable solution. Such a partner provides access to software developers located in nearshore zones with lucrative hourly rates, for instance, Central & Eastern Europe or Latin America. Additionally, with a nearshore software development partner by your side, you avoid the pitfall of insufficient resource allocation. You will have the opportunity to add developers who will handle a pre-determined set of tasks while being fully integrated into your project as if they were your internal team members.

Your company is growing rapidly

Expanding into new markets often necessitates the addition of resources at short notice. This is especially true for startups undergoing rapid growth. In such cases, partnering with a nearshore development company can provide a viable solution to meet the needs of your expanding company. By engaging a nearshore software development partner, you can bring in skilled developers to handle increasing workloads or time-sensitive projects. With access to vast pools of IT talent, a nearshore partner can effectively address the demands of any growing company. For instance, at nCube, we can build a standard development team within a timeframe of 2-4 weeks.

Summing up

As a company that has spent the past 15+ years building nearshore development teams in Eastern Europe and Latin America, allow us to give you our take on what would be considered a great nearshore software development company.

Above all, that company should be flexible enough to meet your business needs. Additionally, it should have access to a vast pool of skilled software development talent. Last but not least, that company should provide you with confidence when it comes to the safety of cooperation and quality of software engineers.

If you’re interested in a partnership based on these principles, contact us to discuss our model.

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