{"id":8487,"date":"2010-03-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-17T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.future-processing.com\/2010\/03\/18\/choosing-offshore-development-partner\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T14:11:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T12:11:22","slug":"choosing-offshore-development-partner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.future-processing.com\/blog\/choosing-offshore-development-partner\/","title":{"rendered":"Choosing an offshore development partner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Let\u2019s take a step back from talking\nabout RFPs. Alongside writing this document, organisations are being faced\nwith the difficult task of choosing which suppliers and developers to approach<\/strong>.\nIn most cases, these businesses have already decided they want to outsource a piece of software development<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have a good idea of what they\nwill include in their software RFP<\/a>, but are unsure how to decide which\ndevelopment team to send this RFP to and what sort of project pre-qualification\nis required in order to come up with a supplier shortlist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Offshore software development is the\nprocess of looking for a software development company in order to take\nadvantage of untapped talent and cost savings. Increasingly popular, as there\nare now numerous options when it comes to finding a development company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not to mention, offshore\ndevelopment is an incredibly effective way of getting your project done<\/strong>\nbut, as yet, there are few guidelines in place for businesses going offshore.\nThis can lead to a lot of confusion and wasted time if you’re not sure what\nkind of qualifications or expertise that you should be looking out for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind that the development of\nyour software may just be the most important project that your business will\nundertake and so you need to invest the appropriate amount of time in choosing\na supplier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article aims to give you an\nidea of what you should be looking out for and how you can go about choosing\nyour offshore development team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n


Getting started with offshore software outsourcing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to searching for a\nsuitable offshore development partner or company to hire, perhaps the\nsingle most useful thing to do <\/strong>is to talk to peers about their experiences\nin offshoring project management \u2013 in particular, what they liked and\ndidn\u2019t like about their outsourcers and what, out of this list, can be\nattributed to specific cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Finding an offshore software development company to hire<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The IT Director of one of our\ncustomers\u2019, Steamship Mutual<\/strong><\/a>,\nrealised after talking to other CIOs and IT Directors and project management\nexecutives, that the effects of the time difference with Asia might make it a\ndifficult destination for them. He says that feedback from peers made him\nunderstand that nearshoring would be the best route for his organisation.\nHaving arrived at this decision, his team looked at several organisations within\nwestern Europe including the UK and Ireland and, various Eastern European\ncountries. From this, they made a short-list of five companies and visited them\nall. After taking the time to follow a strict tender process to make sure that\nall bases were covered, we were delighted that they chose us as their offshore\nteam!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you can see, location was very\nimportant to him, so let’s take a closer look at this criterion then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Final destination <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Probably the most important decision\nthat you\u2019ll make is the location of your offshore development\npartner. Although distant locations were once popular due to the cost\nsavings, these days it\u2019s generally considered that the issues outweigh the\nbenefits. Although there\u2019s no doubt that outsourcing to developing\ncountries is cost-effective, there can be a huge headache in the form of\nlanguage barriers and time zone differences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, nearshoring is a clear\nfavourite<\/strong> when it comes to outsourcing software development offshore and,\nin the last couple of years, there have been a few stand-out Eastern European\ncountries emerging: <\/p>\n\n\n\n


Poland<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Poland has become a force to be\nreckoned with for nearshore software development outsourcing in recent\nyears. This is largely due to the fact that Poland has a wealth of talent\nas more and more students choose technical subjects in direct correlation to\ndemand.  Information Technology is the most popular field of study<\/a>,\nwith 71,000 students and 11,000 graduates a year<\/strong>, allowing the\ncountry to develop into a fully-fledged outsourcing location, with many\ndevelopers speak fluent English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The World Bank Group<\/a>\u2019s flagship Doing Business report which compares Business Regulation in 190 Economies, gave Poland the 40th place<\/strong> out of 190 countries listed in the ease of doing business ranking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n


Ukraine<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Next door to Poland, Ukraine has\nbegun to show itself as a powerhouse when it comes to software development\noutsourcing.  As reported in 2018, this is largely down to a boost of investment in Ukrainian IT companies<\/a> to the tune\nof $630 million over the last five years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n


Romania<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Not usually known as a centre of\ncommerce, Romania has begun to show its face in the offshore software\ndevelopment market due to favourable tax conditions created by its government\nfor software development activities. This has seen the industry grow\nexponentially and has attracted some of the big guns including Microsoft and\nHuawei. <\/p>\n\n\n\n


Creating a shortlist for your offshore developers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once you’ve chosen the location of\nyour IT partner, it’s time to narrow down the companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many ways to do that. You\nmay think that \u2018word of mouth\u2019 approach to offshore development is\nan insignificant part of the process<\/strong> but it’s more than that. I think that\nasking partners, business associates and even people you meet at\nconferences who they use for offshoring and whether the delivered software met\ntheir expectations or not is a great source of knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From what our customers say, it\nseems that another good place to start is the internet<\/strong>. You can\nusually tell from a company’s website whether or not the company can meet your\ncriteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, you then need to see for\nyourself if the development team really can deliver but, examining\nwebsites and, in particular, the case studies and customer\ntestimonials featured, can be an effective way of creating a long list, if\nnot yet a shortlist<\/strong>. Other useful places for advice and supplier details\nare associations<\/strong> like the Global Sourcing Association. These groups\ncan provide free, expert advice and also details of reputable suppliers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supplier directories too contain\nuseful information that allows you to compare suppliers in terms of their\nskills, size, location <\/strong>etc. These\navenues of supplier discovery are, I think, the main ones. Once you have\nbeen able to compile a \u2018long-list\u2019 of potential offshore development partners,\nthe next step, based on what you’ve learned about these companies, is\nto apply some of the criteria you have in mind to them when looking to\nmake a hire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


How to choose your offshore software development company?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

After you’ve done quick research,\nit\u2019s time to drill down the options by creating a shortlist of suppliers. As\nwe\u2019ve mentioned, word of mouth can be really helpful here, as can forums and\nsocial media. Most specifically, using these methods will help you to weed\nout the suppliers that you are definitely not interested in.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From your list of suppliers, your\nnext step is to dig deeper to see if each company has the skills and experience\nthat you require for your project<\/strong>. You can often find this information\non a company\u2019s website but, if not, feel free to contact them to ask for\nspecific samples of previous work as well as proof of credentials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n


Request for proposal<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now that you\u2019ve whittled down your list of offshore suppliers, it\u2019s time to put together a Request For Proposal<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0This is a document which lays out the parameters of your project for a supplier and is a request for them to send you a proposal for your project.\u00a0Your Request For Proposal should include, among others:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n