Hiring offshore developers to complete software development work for an onshore company is becoming more and more popular. Benefits include: you get to focus on the big picture of your company while someone else does the detail work, office-wide productivity is increased with fewer office distractions, and you are opened up to fresh ideas that are seen through a new set of eyes.
These are only a few of the benefits to outsourcing. Follow along with this Number8 blog to learn more about other benefits to outsourcing. However, before you decide to hire offshore developers there are some important things to know and important questions to ask. Below, we’ve outlined five things to know before hiring offshore developers.
The biggest challenge when working with someone who isn’t in an office with you is often communication. Finding ways to communicate the goals of your business can be difficult if the only communication is over the phone or through e-mail. Being aware that communication is crucial to success is the first step to a partnership with offshore developers.
You can improve communication with offshore developers through programs like join.me and Skype that allow you to share screens with other computers. Another useful tool for communication is Lightshot – a screenshot tool that allows you to mark up images for 100% clarity.
If you are working with offshore developers, more often than not you are located in a different timezone than your offshore team and need to consider the hour difference. When searching for a team of offshore developers to hire, be sure to consider the difference in hours. Ask yourself what kind of effect the difference will have on your work flow.
It is recommended to hire an offshore team that is located in similar time zone to your own. This is helpful so you can communicate with your offshore programmers throughout the day, experiencing more of a “real time” development experience and workflow.
Whether you are a new business that is only getting started or an established business that has been around for years, you’re going to want your offshore developers to have experience. When you hire offshore developers, it is really important to consider how much experience they have. The more experience, the better. An experienced developer or team of developers will be capable of completing complicated tasks at a faster rate and with more accuracy. This, in the long run, saves you time and money while also helping to propel your business to the next level.
You need to hire offshore developers in the same way that you hire in-house employees. Look for the same qualities that you look for in potential hires who you interview face-to-face. Hold your potential team of offshore developers to the same standards. While the offshore developers aren’t going to be people you see every day or work in close quarters with, you will be depending on them for important IT work that your business will be relying on. You’ll want to hire people that you could get along with if you were to work in the same office with them. This way communication comes easier and trust can be established quickly.
Before hiring offshore developers to take care of your IT work, you will need to determine how you are going to pay for these services. Make sure the company that you choose to work with is legitimate and that they offer a variety of payment options. It is particularly beneficial if they have a U.S. location, along with their offshore programmers. Talking with other happy customers can be another great way to gain confidence that you are choosing the right offshore company for your business.
The offshore developers you hire can have a significant impact on the success of your project. If the team is not familiar with the methodology or programming language best suited for your project, hire a different team.
At number8, we use the Agile method when approaching software development projects and incorporate Scrum into our work. Our team of highly experienced, software development professionals are skilled in many programming languages. If you are in need of offshore developers to help with software development for your company, Contact Us today!
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