Here or There: Should you Outsource Development to Another Country?

In recent years, it has become a growing trend for companies and small businesses to outsource their IT developments to other countries. This is called offshore development, which can be beneficial for some businesses but has its fair share of cons as well.

If a company cannot handle its own software and web developments, their only option besides offshore development would be to outsource to a local IT firm. Both of these have advantages and disadvantages which must be weighed.

Outsourcing to Another Country

These days, technology is advanced enough that communicating across the world is no problem. A company can outsource to India or China and still get the job done in the same time-frame. Below are some of the top advantages of outsourcing development offshore.

• Costs are cheaper when you choose offshore development and can leverage the purchasing power of the dollar.
• There is less hands-on management when the workers are across the country, freeing you up for more important work.
• Outsourcing companies in other countries diversify their work and train their employees to handle many different tasks.

But choosing to go with offshore development can have its disadvantages as well.

• Workers are completing projects in a different time zone and might not meet tight deadlines.
• You can’t be on hand to check the work of employees and ensure that they are producing quality work.
• Communication across cultures and language barriers can be difficult if instructions stray outside of technical terminology.

If you want to make offshore development work for your company, you can find plenty of practical guides.

Keeping it Local

Another option for getting your development projects done is by hiring a local company. Plenty can be found by searching “IT companies near me” This will produce a host of different options. Once again, this kind of onshore development has some obvious advantages.

• Since workers will be at your local time, you can ensure that tight deadlines will be met.
• Communication will be better considering that there are no barriers like language or culture.

The advantages mainly center around the quality of work that will be produced. Your web and software developments are more likely to be exactly what your business needs.

However, there are disadvantages that mainly center around costs and diversification.

• There will be less profit on the bottom line when you have to pay more for the work. Onshore firms will have to meet federal minimum wage guidelines.
• It is also likely that a local firm will specialize in specific development tasks. There will not be employees trained in multiple disciplines and they not be able to complete your whole project.

If you want your web development projects done onshore, you can get some great tips on securing a great local firm.

The Choice is Yours

In the end, a business must decide what is best for its bottom line. Are low costs driving your decisions? Are you securing high-value clients that want their work to be above average quality?

Technology has opened doors for small businesses looking to grow their business and make IT developments without having to hire more employees.