The Business Benefits of an Offshore Development Centre

by The Scalers Offshore Development Teams In India

Digitalisation and overall business transformation have gone to the top of the 'to do' lists of CTOs and CIOs across the world. The acute problem they face in this race to digital-first products and services is developer talent shortages. After all, how can software be placed more centrally to business objectives if the software talent to best make use of it isn't available? Or, more accurately, when the best software talent is monopolised by tech giants in leading markets.

Across North America, Western Europe, and Australasia, tech leaders are at a point of crisis, as the best software engineers are getting harder to obtain and retain in what is now essentially a seller's market. To combat this, they're increasingly looking towards building an offshore development centre (ODC) in a talent-rich location.

Different options to go down

As well as an offshore development centre, they can also look at oursourcing and team augmentation. The problem with outsourcing is simple: the softwarwe developers aren't sourced nor hired by the business, and don't work wholly for one organisation. It's essentially third-party support, and it's superb for short-term fixes or one-off projects. With team augmentation, the engineers work only for the primary business and are offshore developers integrated into the company's wider development operation. This is essentially the same as an ODC or offshore development team.

The benefits of an offshore development centre

Cultural alignment is often what drives tech leaders to building an ODC. Like extended and dedicated offshore teams, the developers are full-time colleagues. They're holistically aligned operationally and culturally to HQ, or the primary development location and work in the same capacity as the engineers at home. By partnering with an offshore team building expert, fluid and seamless collaborarion is enabled where the 'home' engineering team and the 'offshore' engineering team are all working together as part of the business' wider software engineering setup.

An offshore development centre also allows organisations to move away from third-party vendors and not only upgrade on the existing skills they have, but keep that capability and knowledge in house. Essentially, it can become the nerve centre of new product development and R&D where new ideas come to life.

The drawbacks of an ODC?

The only real 'downside' of an offshore development centre or dedicated team is that a CTO or engineering lead does indeed have a role to play in recruitment. While a team building partner on the ground can source and put applicants through role-specific testing, the final decision lies with the hiring organisation, as opposed to an external software house as is the case in traditional outsourcing. But considering the upsides, is it really fair to consider this a drawback?

Ultimately, the level of talent is so important in an ODC because it's about long-term value, collaboration, and cultural alignment — and not strictly cost efficiency or speed of delivery.

Source:https://www.zupyak.com/p/3108258/t/the-business-benefits-of-an-offshore-development-centre