Offshore outsourcing: the pros & cons of working with an offshore IT staff

Offshore IT services: the less expensive solution

Outsourcing a part of your projects is a hard decision to make. Even harder when you have to trust an offshore team, working from far, far away, with an other language, a different culture and in an other time zone. What are the pros and cons of offshore outsourcing? We focus here on outsourcing an IT team in India.

The pros offshore outsourcing

• The price, of course: working with an Indian team, for example, will help you to halve your development costs.
• The resources availability: when it’s hard to recruit a good web developer in France, in South Africa or in the USA, for they all already have a good job, India is full of very talented people looking for new opportunities. It is easy to recruit in India.
• The team’s motivation: in India, it sounds amazing to work for an abroad company. The developers tend to give the most they have and will keep doing so for years if the company they work for rewards them for it.
• The flexibility: in some countries, it is scary to recruit someone as we sometimes don’t know if we will have enough work for him/her on a long-term basis. Opting for a remote team and deciding to outsource gives you that flexibility. You need someone now and are not sure about what will happen in 7 months? Offshore outsourcing is the best solution for you.
• The space saving: in Paris, London, Cape Town, any other city in the world, the biggest your team is, the biggest your offices need to be. And the most expensive it becomes. By working with an offshore team, you will have the resources working for you without having to increase the size of your office. And here, you save even more money!

The cons offshore outsourcing

• The language: depending on the country you choose, you might have to speak English with your developers. Make sure your project manager speaks English properly and that the company you will create a partnership with is able to recruit good English speaking developers. That’s what LastShore does.
• The time difference: it is never easy to work with a team that works earlier or later than you. However, nothing is insurmountable. It is all a question of organization.
• The culture difference: if you explain blue and your outsourced developer understands green and tells you he understands blue, you might find yourself in an endless loop. It happens, because people in another country see things differently and you will have to learn how to deal with it. Having someone onboard with the same culture as you can be an invaluable asset. That is LastShore’s added value.
• The time tracking: how to make sure your offshore-outsourced team effectively work the hours they are supposed to? Not easy when they don’t come in your office everyday. There are very efficient tools to track your developers’ time and activities.

You have all the elements now! Think about it, make your own list and find the best partner to start outsourcing. Do not look any further: LastShore is the best for you!