Introduction

Smart organizations know when to delegate in order to improve their business value. Delegating within and in countries many time zones away can be counterproductive due to high costs and other issues. Nearshoring on the other hand is when companies outsource business processes or IT functions to a third party located in “nearby” countries. It enables partners to collaborate more efficiently, develop high quality software and release them frequently without any hassles. For example, this company located in England achieved its business goals by leveraging the proximity of our facility in Poland. This is because as the business grew, the need to match escalating demands will have to be managed skillfully and nearshore partnerships are better suited at it than offshore partnerships. The proximity, time zone compatibility, cultural affinity, and accessibility will give you an edge over your competitors.

Time Zone Compatibility

One of the obvious advantages of nearshoring model is that the outsourcers and the nearshore destinations are in the same time zone. This means that teams will have to travel a lot less compared to offshore situations and meetings are easy to conduct. These two factors result in high accessibility. Arranging meetings, both online and in-person are ridiculously easy due to them being in the same time zone. Plus, outsourcers can save a ton of money on travelling on flights. Since there is an incentive for outsourcers to meet their developers in their destinations, nearshoring enables high level of engagement and flexibility among teams. This is one the reasons remote agile teams do well in nearshore models. Developers and business teams can organize daily scrum and team meetings during normal working hours. For example, a business team on mainland England can inform the developers in Poland about changes in business goals without any hassle. Developers can then make the necessary course corrections and help the outsourcers to navigate difficult market conditions quickly. Moreover, compatible time zones allow the teams to present completed iterations whenever possible so that the project manager can redirect the team towards the client’s goals with ease.

Cultural Affinity

Countries in the same geographical region tend to have similar pasts and as a result similar culture. Europe is not a stranger to this phenomenon and as a result, cultural exchanges in this continent have been always high. For example, languages, ideas, and people have spread easily in European countries of close proximity. The European Union too has made it easy for organizations to outsource their business processes within the continent. In an industry where accents decide the outsourcing destinations, cultural similarities such as these are hard to come by. Apart from language and lifestyle, Europe has higher security for intellectual property compared to some traditional offshore destinations. Political stability and predictability also play an important role in business decisions of outsourcers.

Eastern European countries such as Ukraine, Poland, and Romania are emerging as nearshore destinations owing to higher affinity with Western Europe. They have leveraged their nearness and other factors such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to become highly sought after places to develop high quality software cheaply.

Another factor that usually goes unnoticed is that ideas of leadership vary from region to region. For example, leaders from Asia generally lay emphasis on the collective and focus on relationships between departments and individuals while leaders from Western countries focus on individual empowerment to bring flexibility in organizations. While all leadership philosophies have their own pros and cons, outsourcers have to choose the one that works for them and the one that is similar to them is always the winner.

Reduces the Impact of Digital Disruption

Organizations have to be highly responsive to the changes in the markets they operate in order to be successful. Agile software development empowers organizations to adapt quickly to constantly changing customer demands by providing the framework for rapid iterations through cross functional teams. As the software product development process increases in complexity, face-to-face interactions and meetings will become inevitable. Nearshore software development model will allow developers, business personnel and other stakeholders to practice real-time communication. Combining Agile and Nearshore software development processes will drastically improve the productivity of the organization as a whole. Teams can work side by side whenever they want, have conversations and celebrate their successes together more often. Nearshoring makes companies resilient in an environment where digital disruptions are frequent. Thus, nearshoring reduces the impact of digital disruption. While all business partnerships bring in expertise in unknown areas, high level communication that nearshore partners bring is far-reaching.

Conclusion

Aspire’s Nearshoring Model provides the convenience of an onshore model with the benefits of an offshore model. With centers in Poland and Mexico, our highly skilled experts can act as a plug-in extension to your IT team. Our offerings include Cloud services, Digital Software Engineering Services, Software testing services and Experience design.

Ready to improve your quality standards and shorten product delivery times? Learn how Aspire System’s Nearshore Offerings can help you achieve them.Webinar

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