Companies that work on developing a different kind of software are struggling with finding a relevant skilled developer who will deliver the best software solution without delay. Many of the companies who did not manage to find an in-house skilled team or to expand the existing one are forced to not accept new projects because they haven’t the capacity to work on a new work task.

That is why companies started to think about hiring remote teams in other countries instead of wasting time and resources to search for an in-house team. In the text below we will talk more about the pros and cons of using offshore software development services and how to choose your best option.

With simple words in practice, the term offshore software development services mean searching and hiring an external company or team of developers to build a software solution or work on a part of a project outside of the client’s country.

Hiring an in-house team of developers to work on these tasks requires a lot of time, resources, time for education, etc. That is the main reason why many companies decide to avoid extra expenses and hire a team of remote developers outside of the country. In most cases, companies who offer offshore software development services already have an experienced team of developers and they can start with the projects as soon as possible.

The current pandemic situation has also done its part in speeding up the adoption into the new form of work environments where remote teams and outsourcing teams are the new normal.

For small business owners or founders of startups, hiring a remote team of developers in another country is a game-changer. Some statistics showed that remote teams are more loyal to employers and more dedicated. Small business owners also must be more cautious with spending and investing. Hiring outsourcing or nearshoring company in other countries seems

There are different approaches when some companies decide to outsource software development projects:

• Outsourcing all the activities that are related to the development and maintenance

• Outsourcing part of the project

Offshoring software development services also means that the vendor company is in another country with a different time zone. The other also a good alternative to relocating the business is nearshoring in the nearby country with the same or similar time zone.

One of the leading outsourcing destinations is N. Macedonia and there are many established companies with deep industry experience. N. Macedonia is a small country located in the center of the Balkan Peninsula with approximately 2 million citizens. Statistics show that in the period of five years N. Macedonia sold the world computer services costing more than 240 million euros. Experts claim that except for the export in free zones, the IT service export is one of the most stable and most evolving exporting sectors in N.Macedonia.

N Macedonia is a fast-developing IT center backed by a strong literate community and government-supported IT infrastructure. Macedonian development companies are known for their strong work ethics, multilingual developers adept at communication skills, flexible work terms, and cost-effective hiring solutions.

Read more about why to nearshore your projects to N. Macedonia companies. Cultural similarities, extremely skilled developers, language skills, similar time zone, good geographical locations are some of the advantages that every company will get if choose to partner with a company from here.

You can effectively schedule virtual meetings and coordinate workflow across the teams easily in real-time.

In the process of choosing the best appropriate company that offers nearshore or offshore software development services, there are a few things that every client needs to be aware of in order to choose the best partner.

The first thing is to plan properly due diligence process.

This is a very important step, and every company should not skip it.

What exactly means this in the offshore software development services business?

This involves an examination of potential vendor companies, already finished projects, and their quality, background check of the developers, comparison of the costs, etc.

A legal background check on the vendor is a crucial point to start with. By dedicated time to this step, a potential risk can be eliminated from the start.

An advantage you should consider in choosing an appropriate vendor is having ISO 27001 certification. This is a leading standard focused on information security and is a combination of policies and processes that companies should use. Because it is an international standard, ISO 27001 is easily recognized all around the world, increasing business opportunities for organizations and professionals.

Our company Nearshore Macedonia has established ISO 27001 2 years ago and we are fully dedicated to our client’s information security. We had created many policies, procedures, and processes that helped us to increase the level of information security, and also, we continually measure the results in order to improve in the future.

The basic goal of this standard is to protect three main aspects of information:

• Confidentiality

• Integrity

• Availability

Companies that have acquired ISO 27001 have better organization in a comparison with other companies. In terms of complying with laws and legal requirements, companies that are ISO 27001 certified to have a well-structured methodology for how to comply with required laws. This is only a quick update on why everywhere in the world ISO certified companies have a big advantage over competitors.

As an ISO 27001 certified company, we formally adopted a broad set of security best practices, and this certification confirms our commitment to the security, confidentiality, and high availability of our software development.

It is a good practice before finally deciding which company vendor you will choose, visit the company’s office, spent time with developers, see work culture and working environment.

There are many advantages to working with outsourcing partners:

If we compare companies who offer offshoring software development services vs nearshoring companies who offer the same kind of services, geographical proximity is a huge plus for nearshoring companies. This also means the same or similar time zone and quick travel time frames.

For example, N. Macedonia is in the CET time zone. Only 1-hour difference from the UK time zone and the same time zone as the Netherlands. This makes the whole outsourcing and nearshoring process very easy, and communication goes very well. Regular meetings in the same or similar time zone can be held very easily through Skype, Zoom, Slack, etc.

This is not the case with offshoring companies that have different time zone and require extra costs for traveling. This makes communication a lot more difficult, and we all know that communication is key for high-quality, cost and time-efficient work.

Reasonably lower costs are a common character for both nearshoring and offshoring software development companies. In these countries, the costs of living are lower than the costs of living in the country where the company is based. According to rough estimation, you can save around 30-40%. Also, you do not need a bigger office and equipment for a remote team. So, this is an extra expense which you could bypass. With hiring a remote team, business owners will have more time to dedicate to other activities for growing the company, additional marketing activities, elaboration of new ideas, searching for interesting new projects, etc.

Cost-saving is no longer the main factor for one company to decide to outsource or nearshore their projects. Also, a great benefit is improving business performance on the whole company, despite lower costs. The value of outsourcing is now measured less by costs saved and more by how it can help enable strategic growth, through rapid access to talent, increased agility, and improved quality of service delivery.

In this article, we want to present a short case study of successful outsourcing among big and successful company as Slack.

Slack is a new way for communication in real-time. It is faster, better organized than an email. There are a lot of features like private messaging, chat rooms, private groups and with one word the best and most used tool for business communication. This company has outsourced design and app development services from the beginning. At the same time became a startup that outsourced its development and acquire in the first 2 weeks, 15000 users.

The same example is with WhatsApp. In 2021 WhatsApp was a small organization with only 30 employees. In order to cut costs and find the best appropriate and skilled developers, the company decided to outsource and hire remote teams in East Europe.

There are also many similar case studies with Google, Alibaba, and other companies.

Important points to consider when you need to hire a remote outsourcing team of developers:

The concept of outsourcing started in the 1990s and these days is known not only as a cost-cutting option, but also and business strategic planning. From outsourcing, great benefits have all types of business, especially software development companies. Business owners have more time and resources to dedicate to the core business activities. Despite cost-cutting, with hiring remote outsourcing teams in another country, you will save time and resources in searching for a house team.

Also, it will take a lot of time to educate new employees. In developed countries in the past few years, there is a shortage of skilled developers with experience in some fields. or they are available but for higher costs. In a lack of resources, it is harder to close down in-house teams, rather stop working with remote outsourcing of nearshoring team.

A quick evaluation of the vendor company. Having an ISO 27001 standard implemented is a huge plus in choosing the best partner. Every ISO certified company works within strictly defines policies and procedures and information security is the number one priority. Demonstration of on tech skills and portfolio with finished similar projects is another thing to consider. Try to collect more info about past projects and reviews. Location of the company and time zone is crucial for effective communication. Choose your potential vendor with the same or similar time zone, in this case, you will haven’t communication issues and the projects will run smoothly without deadlines.

Nearshore Macedonia is a software development company consisting of experienced and well-skilled developers. Over the years we worked on different projects using the latest technologies without delaying and creating the best software solution possible.

You can read more about our team and schedule a quick call to introduce ourselves and the projects on which we are working. Our offices are located in Skopje, N. Macedonia. located in the center of the Balkan Peninsula with approximately 2 million citizens. N. Macedonia has 2 airports that cover flights no longer than three hours to all major cities on the continent.

Keeping sensitive information secure and complying with all legal requirements will result in happier customers who will have the trust to work with us which is essential for a functional business relationship.

Learn more about our nearshoring services and tell us about your requirements for your next IT project. We will deliver the best solution for your business.