How to Hire an Offshore Software Development Team in 3 Easy Steps

Kudos! After a long period of deliberation, you’ve decided to work with an offshore software development company to handle your software engineering requirements. How to execute it properly is the following apparent query that can be straining your grey cells i.e., obtaining the needed advantages while reducing the technological risks.

You are not, however, alone in your search. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, many companies now favour a hybrid or remote operating strategy to manage tech software development. These developments have taken place more quickly than anticipated. And it’s understandable that company owners who haven’t used such effective tools before are worried about the dangers and headaches that may quickly outweigh the obvious advantages. However, the idea of an offshore technical staff working remotely is not new. Over the last ten years, several businesses and start-ups have been successful in optimising remote work; it is only now that this practise is becoming more widespread.

An outline of the key considerations for finding, vetting, and testing possible offshore software development teams will be given in this blog. These crucial factors are based on our experience managing offshore software development teams for 100+ firms over the course of the last decade, including VC-funded start-ups and rapidly expanding businesses. Let’s go through each one individually.

Identifying a viable offshore software development team

The “best” offshore software engineering teams are purportedly available from a variety of software development companies globally.

We now live in a digital world where locating these businesses is growing simpler but shortlisting the appropriate ones is also becoming tiring. This is due to the widespread use of high-speed internet. Let’s clarify a few phrases we’ll use in this piece before outlining how it may be done effectively.

Offshoring and Nearshoring are two subcategories of the idea of remote teams. The latter is more advantageous for start-ups who want to access a software team in the same time zone but are willing to compromise on the developer talent pool and project costs. Offshore software teams have no geographic boundaries and are best if you want to access A-rate teams without burning a hole in your pocket.

We will concentrate on the notion of “Dedicated Offshore Software Teams,” which is a different idea altogether. Although they are located in a different country, these teams function much like your own internal software teams. They resemble your extended offshore software teams and more often, they are made up of product managers, tech architects, subject matter experts, and software engineers who are able to make choices and work well without much oversight from technical personnel. In a word, these teams may operate autonomously, have highly qualified personnel, and years of product development expertise. As a result, they should be able to advise you on the implementation of your tech product plan.

Now, you might be asking yourself the following queries in your search for the ideal offshore software development company for you:

• “How can I entrust the creation of my secret product to anyone?”
• “How difficult is it to lead the offshore software team?”
• “Will they blend with the company’s culture?”
• “What do I need to get going?”
• “How can I assess a possible partner’s credibility?”
• “Do I require a nearshore crew or an offshore team?”
• “How can they assist me?”
• “Is there any danger involved?”

The majority of IT company founders and directors of technology ask these queries the most frequently. Your preferences and requirements will determine the answers to these questions, but I’ve highlighted the key components to assist you make the best choice.

Choose between an offshore or nearshore team first

Want more authority over the group’s daily operations? Choose the nearshore option if the answer is yes. However, there is a drawback: you will have less access to qualified candidates, the cost could not be advantageous, and management overheads might go up. Good Dedicated software teams have operational and delivery models that have been tried, validated, and improved in order to minimise communication overheads. Therefore, seek for an offshore software development provider who can offer some work time overlap and has a lot of expertise managing organisations that are comparable to yours.

Next, compile a list of solid choices

You may quickly get a list of possible offshore software development partners on one of the numerous reliable listing websites. You can use these websites as a fast resource to compile a preliminary list of possible partners. Instead of mid-level managers or engineers, pay attention to authenticated customer video testimonials, particularly from CTOs and technology leaders. Additionally, look through their customer profiles to see if any of them resemble you.

Third, consult with your personal network

Finding the best offshore software development partners may often be done through recommendations. Simply search your network to discover whether someone has already completed the task. You may learn from their experiences and receive fair, truthful opinions.

If you know where to look, it may be quick and simple to find reputable software engineering service providers. The assessment procedure is where the true difficulty lies.

Evaluate the viable software development team

You must choose the best product development partner who can offer the ideal fusion of people, processes, and ideals if you want to achieve the necessary success. To make the decision-making process easier, let’s divide the evaluation procedure into questionnaires.

1. Are you a young, developing, or established start-up?

Start-ups in various phases of development will have distinct needs. If you are a pre-seed or seed-stage firm, you should search for an offshore software development team that can swiftly create a scalable MVP or turn an MVP into a tech product that is ready for the market.

On the other side, if you’re a fast-growing business (Series A, Series B, etc.), you want someone who can expand the product team effectively and swiftly to manage the influx of new consumers while maintaining the purity of the architectural design.

Look for a partner for established start-ups that can work independently on developing new features and integrating new technologies such as AI/ML, Blockchain, Big Data, and IoT, etc. into your current tech product.

2. Pricing?

Are you thinking about a set, short-term project or a long-term, strategic initiative? Always use the time and material pricing model for lengthy projects that have a significant impact on the organization. It will prevent pointless problems that, especially in a tumultuous setting, might result in start-up failures.

As a general guideline, choose an offshore partner with a longer average client duration if you’re searching for a long-term software development team. Compared to shorter tenures, which call for less technical skill, longer tenures demonstrate a higher degree of trust and the capacity to execute on product roadmaps.

3. Can I rely on them?

It is essential to have a partner you can count on for all of your software engineering needs and who you can entrust with IP protection. Choose the company that has a sizeable and high-quality client base, as well as all the technological skills you currently want or may require in the future. Verify the veracity and applicability of the testimonials the business has supplied. Whitepapers and case studies are also essential. A last thing to look for is whether they have official partnerships with well-known tech companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, etc.

4. Do they fit your cultural norms?

Keep in mind that outsourced software development teams should function as an extension of internal product teams. Working effectively is impossible if the workplace culture is different. So, if you are a start-up, pick the person who has experience in developing start-up products at your level and higher. The company that focuses only on start-up software engineering requirements is your best choice. Such a tech partner can offer software development teams that are well synchronised and foster creativity for your firm.

 5.The disparity in proportional size?

The vendor’s team size should preferably not be too huge or small in comparison to the size of your team. You may not receive the required priority from the tech specialists and the developers may not meet the desired quality if the offshore software development partner is significantly larger than your firm.

Otherwise, if they are too tiny, they might not be able to meet your demands for software engineering. Search for the ideal balance.

Now that the review procedure is complete, let’s swiftly move on to the next stage of testing them.

Verification of the prospective offshore software development team

Before agreeing to work with an offshore software development team for a longer period of time and for more money, it is wise to assess their talents. You can explore the following three options with your chosen partner:

Make a test run

About 60% of the vendor’s work capability may be evaluated using this procedure, which takes about two weeks. Follow the advice listed below:

• Arrange a two-week trial period with the team, during which you will evaluate them according to agile methods, problem-solving techniques, productivity rates, and design and code quality.
• Give a team of two to three people access to a restricted version of the product and ask them to deliver additional user stories on top of it. To determine these tales’ efficacy, compare them to an existing feature.
• Watch how they perform at each stage, from scrum planning through designing and developing a product. It aids in increasing awareness of their talents and business model.

Proof-of-concept creation

You may use this to assess their aptitude for architectural problem-solving. You might take into account these two possibilities while developing a PoC:

• Uncompensated PoC to assess the ability of the offshore software development team to address any issue statements. The wonderful thing is that there is no expense to you.
• For 1-2 weeks, paid PoC will examine their work. You will have a greater understanding of the skills of the offshore software development team.
• To let the offshore software development partner know you are serious, we advise using the premium option. You may decide whether to work with them or find another competent partner based on their response.

Interviewing significant parties

This stage, when paired with the others listed, can help you evaluate the technical skills of the potential offshore software development partner in greater detail. Talk with important stakeholders including team heads and well-known engineers as they lay the foundation.

Review your product with tech professionals to learn their opinions, what can be improved, any obvious tech risks, their method to improving it, etc.

Prepare a brief assignment with important engineers that will give you a better understanding of the strategy they employ.

Parting Thoughts

Avoid the estimating temptation and don’t accept the lowest offer. The greatest choice is quality; avoid cheaper. That’s it.

You are now prepared to put your newfound knowledge to use by selecting the best offshore software development company while reducing financial and time-related concerns.