Guide to Outsourcing 3: Advantages and Disadvantages of Outsourcing Software
Outsourcing your software development projects can be greatly beneficial, but if improperly executed can also result in unusable projects and wasted resources.
The biggest benefit to outsourcing software to offshore development teams has always been the cost savings. Completely different economic conditions and the disparity in currency values enable you to employ 3 or more developers at the same cost as an employee in a North American market.
Another large benefit to outsourcing is that it frees up internal resources and expands the capabilities of growing software development firms. The capacity to get an out of control project back on timeline and within budget, differentiates successful firms from their competitors.
In the future the demand for highly skilled developers will increase beyond the already tight labor market, and access to a virtually unlimited supply of talent is another reason so many of the Fortune 500 companies outsource some portion of their business to offshore markets.
The difference in time zones can also work to your advantage. Depending on the locale of your team, you may be able to take advantage of an almost 24 hour production team. This enables project turnaround times to drop dramatically, impressing customers and supervisors alike.
The downsides to outsourcing software development to an offshore team are usually rooted in communication and reliability. An improperly interpreted email can sometimes result in disastrous results if your team is not familiar with the North American style of communication, or worse, the English language.
Another frustrating aspect of an offshore development team may be your inability to meet face to face, or even in your time zone. A software development project can get very quickly off track if you aren’t able to direct your workers properly or meet in a timely fashion.
The biggest detriment to an offshore software development team is simply the great distance between yourself and your team. What if something goes wrong? International Law can be tricky and many companies have found out only too late that their contracts aren’t enforceable. It can be harrowing if you can’t simply drive across town to rectify a situation.
If the proper due diligence is used, and you have accurately evaluated your potential offshore development team, you will reap one of the benefits of our globalizing world. Failure to do this and the consequences could be dire.
Laurel Lindsay is the founder and president of Small Planet Software International. A Calgary based Risk Free, Quality Guaranteed Software Outsourcing Firm which provides Local representation and Offshore Access.
Contact Small Planet Software International today to discuss how an offshore development team can benefit you.
See also:
Overview of Outsourcing Software Development
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Questions to Ask Before Outsourcing Your Software Development
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Read about some of our past projects.
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