Is it better to work with an offshore or nearshore partner?

We place a lot of emphasis on the subject of corporate culture because there are different types of partners that you can have access to in the immense pool of talents in the technology area. There are the nearshore partners, which refers to the teams that are in a country close to the company that hires them and there are the offshore partners, which are in a distant country and even on a different continent.

Starting from this point, we will analyze for you what it means to work with a partner near and far from your country and what is the best option for your business.

Is it better to work with an offshore or nearshore partner?

Nearshore Partner

Let's say that one of the main advantages of your partner being located in a country close to your company is that it facilitates easy integration with the in-house team. Being closer, it is likely that they speak the same language, with similar culture and customs as they are neighboring countries. This aspect is very important to create a productive work environment and that tasks flow efficiently.

If your company is located in North America, for example, you could perfectly hire a nearshore partner from Central America since, first, they are on the same continent and, depending on the country, the flight hours are few so you could make frequent trips hassle-free if necessary.

That your partner is on the same continent as your company is also a very valuable plus, since they share similar time zones or with very little difference, which greatly facilitates the planning and execution of tasks. When solving any concern or problem in the development, the partner will be available to attend to the contingency instantly, without delays.

One of the main motivations of companies when hiring a nearshore partner is budget savings. Yes, since it is a way to obtain highly experienced professionals but without investing large sums of money by hiring employees directly, which generates barbaric administrative expenses that many companies cannot assume.
 

Offshore partner

Now that we will talk about the work of an offshore partner, we can say that it is very similar to that performed by a nearshore partner. The partner provides a software development service to a company that is located far from their time zone, in a distant country, and even on a different continent.

Although the idea of an offshore partner may sound a bit far-fetched at first, it turns out that it is not so far-fetched: companies have access to a wide global talent pool, from which they can find any kind of professional their project may need, without geographical limits.
In offshore outsourcing there are no limits: if you need a mobile application developer in India, you are going to get it without a doubt. With the experience you want, at the price that best fits your budget. In fact, many companies risk hiring a partner located on another continent due to the high competitiveness of the prices they offer vs. nearshore partners.

If a company in the United States, for example, wants to develop a large project but has a reduced budget, it will undoubtedly get more affordable prices in offshore countries such as India, China or Vietnam than in the United States.

Another reason that leads many companies to seek their offshore partner is that in these distant countries more and better IT professionals are being trained, with surprising skills and performance. They are powerhouses in the world of technology, which is why we are seeing more and more technology companies based in these countries. Similarly, European countries are finding a lot of valuable IT talent in America at a competitive price.

So, better to work with a partner from a country near or far from yours?

It really is a decision that will depend on many factors present in your company. Mainly the type of project you want to develop, the time and budget you have for it. If you are about to develop complex software, highly technical dependency and you have the urgency to have it ready as quickly as possible, a nearshore partner may be more convenient.

Why? Because from our own experience we know that the most complex projects need constant attention and presence from both the company and the partner responsible for development. Being located in nearby countries, communication can flow better and everything that arises can be attended to in time. If, on the contrary, the partner is far away and in another time zone, the workflow would be irregular and ineffective for both parties, affecting the results of the project.

If, on the other hand, the company needs to develop software and already has a defined plan from start to finish, it can hand this project over to an offshore partner to carry it out under their instructions, with little need to be constantly in communication. When they are projects that are fully defined, it is worth taking the risk with an offshore service.

What you should keep in mind, in that case, is the language barrier, which can be an obstacle in offshore development. The universal language in the world of technology is English, so the partner must have a perfect command of this language so that he can communicate effectively with your company's team.

Also remember that offshore development has very competitive prices in the IT market, making it possible to get incredible software engineers at an even more incredible price.
 

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