DEV Community: Blue Coding

Advantages of Nearshore Software Development

MaxB-2148 — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 16:00:07 +0000

Outsourcing software development is becoming common practice, and while the methods may vary, the objectives are usually the same. Companies are outsourcing to Latin America to lower costs and solve capacity issues, which frees up in-house teams to focus on core business functions. In this article, we examine the advantages of nearshore software development as opposed to offshore or onshore, to help you decide which option best suits your organization.

Different Outsourcing Options

Let’s start by looking at onshoring, which is the practice of outsourcing to a company located in the same country as you. The benefit of onshoring is that your outsourcing partner will likely share close geographic and cultural proximity, but these benefits come at a cost.

Of the three options, onshoring is the only one that doesn’t always provide a clear cost-benefit. Then you have offshoring, which is when you outsource to a company located in another country, typically one on the other side of the globe. Offshoring offers lower rates, but the language and culture barrier can be significant. Not to mention the time difference, which in some places, like the Philippines or India, can be as much as 12 hours.

Outsourcing nearshore, or nearshoring, provides a middle ground where you can still see significant cost benefits without sacrificing convenience or efficiency. Outsourcing to a nearby country allows you to collaborate in real-time, with minimal effort.

Still not clear which makes the most sense for you? Be sure to check out "Nearshore, Onshore & Offshore: what's the difference?"

Let’s examine the benefits of outsourcing nearshore in detail, starting with one of the main reasons to choose outsourcing in the first place: cost-efficiency.

Cost efficiency

One of the significant advantages of outsourcing nearshore is lower labor costs. US-based companies save, on average, 38% to 48% by outsourcing development to Central and South America. Nearshore software developer salaries, North America compared to Latin America

Return On Investment

nearshore development reduces the resources and effort needed to collaborate effectively helping you maximize your ROI.

Reduced Travel Costs

In-person meetings can help facilitate collaboration and increase productivity among remote and distributed teams. Outsourcing nearshore, as opposed to offshore, will make it easier to plan and less expensive to organize in-person meetings. Closer geographic proximity means your team will spend less time in the air and more time collaborating in person.

Operation efficiency

Cultural parity helps foster an efficient and collaborative work environment among remote and distributed teams. It’s difficult to put a dollar sign on, but cultural alignment is an important factor in nearshoring’s growing popularity. Companies who have experience with offshoring know cultural barriers and communication obstacles can lead to missed deadlines, projects going over budget, and other complications.

Effective communication

Much like cultural barriers, language barriers can negatively impact your bottom line. Miscommunications and having to wait several hours between communication windows can drastically slow down your project, many times forcing you to push back delivery dates. With nearshore partners, on the other hand, you won’t need to wait for hours to receive a response making it easier to plan and meet your deadlines.

With nearshore outsourcing, the communication style and quality expectations are comparable to onshoring but at rates similar to offshoring.

Similar work practices

Latin America has heavily adopted software development methodologies like Agile and Scrum. Due to the popularity of outsourcing software development nearshore, a considerable percentage of Latin American developers already have experience working with US companies.

More influence and control

Shared borders, common language, and close time zones make it easier for you to maintain full control of your development project. With nearshoring, you get many of the same benefits of onshoring but at a lower cost. Your partner is nearby, they can communicate effectively, and are available to collaborate in real-time.

In conclusion

By outsourcing development nearshore you’re gaining the cost benefits of offshoring without the need to fly to the other side of the world to meet your team, avoiding heavy language barriers, and time zone differences. You also benefit from most of the same advantages of onshoring, but with a larger talent pool to choose from and at a lower cost.

If you’re interested in finding out how outsourcing can benefit your business, contact us today for a free outsourcing evaluation.

Hiring remote devs in Latin America

MaxB-2148 — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 19:18:28 +0000

Outsourcing software development nearshore to Latin America

For many companies in the US and Canada, hiring remote developers based in Latin America is a great option for keeping development lean, code quality high, and costs low. If you’re considering taking the leap but still have some questions, read on for more information on the pros (and a few potential downsides) to keep in mind as you make your decision. Let’s start with the potential cons or downside.

The downside of outsourcing software development to Latin America

Rates aren’t as low as Eastern Europe or India.

There’s a reason that India and Eastern Europe are known as outsourcing hubs – their main benefit (and the deciding factor for many companies) is their low cost. There are some situations in which low rates and quick turnaround time might be your company’s top priority – like urgently getting a product to market, or having a small budget to begin with and needing to develop your project in order to begin testing and validating.

If you are in this situation, it could be worth looking into India or Eastern Europe as an outsourcing option. However, the adage “you get what you pay for” unfortunately can apply here. If you need something developed right the first time, it may be worth investing a bit more in a nearshore outsourcing option to ensure high code quality and less back-and-forth.

You may need to wait a bit longer to find the right fit for your development needs.

As opposed to some other offshore outsourcing locations, Latin America tends not to have massive “coding factories” where you show up with your project and are matched with the first available developer(s), no matter how good (or bad) a fit for your project they may be.

Many firms in Latin America take the time to pair you with the right developers for what you’re looking for, taking into account culture and work fit as well as technical fit, so you may need to wait a bit longer to get your project started.

While rates and quick turnaround time may be the top priority for some companies, if you have the flexibility to find the best fit for your team and project needs, and if you need your project developed right the first time, it may be worth looking into Latin America for your development needs. Let's look at the pros or upside.

The upside of outsourcing software development to Latin America

High-quality code at reasonable prices.

Latin America has established itself as a hub for programming in recent years, and Latin American devs closely follow coding standards and best practices used by North American companies. This means that you can expect the same high-quality code that you’d get when hiring a local developer in the US or Canada, but at far lower rates.

Timezone overlap with the US and Canada.

Naturally, one of the biggest potential issues working with remote developers is the potential for late-night calls or work being delayed by up to a day due to fragmented communication and no overlap in working hours. When working with developers in Latin America, this is a non-issue, as Latin America spans all US timezones.

This means you can work (virtually) alongside your development team, if desired, resulting in a closer working relationship and quicker results and troubleshooting.

Cultural and work culture fit.

Latin America is steeped in North American culture, both from a popular culture standpoint and also from a work standpoint. This means that much of the top development talent in Latin America already has experience working with international clients, many of which are in the US and Canada, giving them crucial experience working in a North American environment.

Similarly, there is cultural overlap between the two, meaning that developers from Latin America can more readily integrate into North American teams, ensuring a smooth working relationship that may be difficult to find in other outsourcing hubs.

Interested in outsourcing software development to Latin America? Setup a free outsourcing strategy call, today!

Nearshore, Onshore & Offshore: what's the difference?

MaxB-2148 — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 17:12:27 +0000

An ever-increasing number of businesses are turning to outsourcing to free themselves from hiring, training, and maintaining in-house employees.

This enables them to save time and money while tapping into a virtually endless stream of experienced IT talent.

We've defined what it means to outsource software development onshore, offshore, and nearshore, as well as provide tips on how to decide which choice makes the most sense for your project or business.

Article originally published at bluecoding.com - "Nearshore, Onshore & Offshore: what's the difference?"

What's the difference between onshore, nearshore, and offshore software development?

When it comes to outsourcing software development, there are three location-based variations: onshore, nearshore, and offshore. Each option inherently different with its own unique advantages.

Let’s start by defining each term in detail, and then we'll break down the benefits of each option.

Onshore software development definition

Onshore software development is the process of building or maintaining software using a team located in the same country as you. That could mean freelancers, third-party software development companies, or even in-house employees. Although the term is usually associated with outsourcing.

An example of onshore software development: would be a company operating in the Bay Area that hires freelancers or independent contractors in a nearby city like Seattle. While hiring outside the bay area allows them to save a little bit of money on salaries they still have a relatively high level of oversight and control.

Offshore software development definition

Offshore development refers to working with developers or an agency located outside of your country, usually with a significant time zone difference of six hours or more. In some cases, like with China or the Philippines, the time difference with North America can be as much as 12 hours.

An example of offshore software development: would be a software company in New York that hires a team in Pakistan to help with their software deployments.

At times the time zone differences can be an advantage like when you want a team to help with late-night deployments or need 24hr coverage.

With offshoring, we recommend working with an agency or outsourcing partner over an individual freelance developer. With offshore development, you need to pay special attention to communication, and working with a firm tends to be more reliable.

Nearshore software development definition

Nearshore software development refers to hiring foreign talent in countries with timezone parity or at least significant time zone overlap.

It’s hard to say exactly when nearshore becomes offshore. We've even seen companies in Europe and Africa referred to as "nearshore" in the past, despite having a six-hour plus time difference with North America.

We feel that to be considered nearshore the time difference should be no greater than 3-5 hours and in many cases, there will be no timezone difference at all.

An example of nearshore development: would be a startup or large corporation that opens a software development center in a country like Mexico to gain a permanent foothold securing affordable IT talent. Popular nearshore locations for North American companies to outsource software development include Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Argentina.

Interested in working with a dedicated nearshore software development team? Learn more about our managed software development services here.

Onshore software development benefits

Onshore development offers two significant advantages: cultural familiarity and ease of communication. Those are likely the two main components driving the demand for onshore talent. Although this difference may grow less noticeable over time as the number of foreign tech workers in North America grows.

Onshore development also means closer geographic proximity than the other two options. Meaning if you like to meet up with your remote contributors regularly and in-person this could be a cost advantage.

What's the drawback? One of the main drawbacks is, as you might have guessed, the price tag. Hourly rates for freelancers and inexperienced developers based in North America can rival those of an experienced senior developer based nearshore or offshore.

Offshore software development benefits

Offshore software development can be a good option for bootstrapped startups and other small businesses because of its affordable rates. You’re also looking at the largest pool of IT talent in the world, including IT outsourcing powerhouses like China, Pakistan, and India.

What’s the downside? Well, it depends on the country and whether you’re dealing with an agency or a freelancer. For example: if you're outsourcing to a popular outsourcing destination like the Philippines, contacting freelancers or small agencies during monsoon season (June-October) can be especially tricky.

Communication difficulties aren’t just limited to countries with tropical climates either – serious communication challenges and cultural barriers can lead to a project going off the rails or cause you to miss deadlines.

Working with a team that can’t communicate effectively is not an option, especially when they’re located halfway around the world. Generally speaking the farther the location is from your main operation, the larger the logistical challenge will be to get your team set up and running.

Nearshore software development benefits

With nearshore development, you can maintain close control of your projects. Your partner is nearby allowing you to communicate clearly and collaborate in real-time. You can say that with nearshore development you get the best of both worlds. You see significant cost benefits without sacrificing efficiency or compromising on quality.

Interested in working with skilled nearshore development talent? Learn about our nearshore staff augmentation services.

What are the downsides? You’ll need to pay special attention to English proficiency, something that’s probably usually not even on your radar, and with the international demand for skilled developers with fluent English on the rise, don’t expect to be paying the local going rate either.

In summary: nearshore offers better communication and control than offshore, while still providing considerable cost benefits as well as requiring less maintenance. The quality of work is second only to onshore development but at a considerably lower cost. You can learn more about the advantages of nearshore software development here.

Conclusion

1.Outsourcing allows you to outperform larger competitors by accessing untapped talent markets, lowering your operating costs, and allowing you to complete projects faster.
2.Finding the right outsourcing partner is one of the most important aspects of making onshore, nearshore, or offshore development work.
3.Increasing globalization and wider adoption of remote work culture, have lowered the barrier for outsourcing.

Haven't decided which option makes the most sense for your business? Book a free outsourcing strategy call, to find out if nearshore development is right for you.

Top 13 Dev Podcasts for Upgrading your Programming Skills

MaxB-2148 — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 16:37:10 +0000

Best (Tech Agnostic) Software Development Podcasts

Syntax

Hosted by well-respected instructors and Youtubers Wes Bos and Scott Tolinski creators of some of the best web development content online. We recommend Syntax not only for learning but also for entertainment. Follow the inclusive, easy-to-understand technical discussions led by Wes and Scott twice a week covering the latest best practices and advancements in the world of web development.

Syntax is not only a must for any type of web developer it’s especially useful for Javascript developers, as Wes and Bos are two of the very best at explaining things like GraphQL, React, Nodejs, and tooling. You might also recognize Scott as the creator of Level Up Tutorials, an online resource for up-and-coming developers.

This article was originally published at https://www.bluecoding.com/post/top-13-dev-podcasts-for-upgrading-your-programming-skills

The Changelog

Hosted by Adam Stacoviak and Jerod Santo the show is about software development and open source technologies. Jerod and Adam interview the developers, innovators, and tech leaders behind the code that is changing our future. The show is technology-agnostic so no matter what programming language or platform you use you’ll be able to find something useful.

Shoptalk Show

Led by Dave Rupert and Chris Coyier, Shoptalk focuses heavily on front-end UI/UX but also covers other topics related to building websites like responsive design, performance, accessibility, SEO, Javascript, and SASS.

Chris is the co-founder of CodePen and creator of CSS tricks, two resources every developer is likely to be familiar with and Dave is the lead developer at Paravel a web design shop based in Texas. Together they join in discussions with a new guest each week to talk about what’s going on in the world of web development.

Boagworld

Boagworld is an award-winning podcast named after host and founder Paul Boag, an author and consultant who’s been working in digital for over 25 years. He’s a master of the web specializing in user experience, conversion rate optimization, and digital transformation.

The combination of Paul and co-host Mark’s distinctly British humor and deep understanding of digital strategy make for one of the most informative yet fun to listen to podcasts on the list.

Not only is the show fun-to-listen-to it’s also the longest-running podcast on web design, amassing a HUGE library of content over the last 15 years.

The Big Web Show

The Big Web Show is an award-winning podcast hosted by Jefferey Zeldman that talks about everything that matters related to the web. Jeffrey and his guests discuss topics like content strategy, art direction, web publishing, new technologies, and more.

Of all the shows on the list, this show probably has one of the largest audiences. In part, because they don’t just focus on development they also talk extensively about other aspects of the web like content and design.

The Hanselminutes Podcast

Named after host Scott Hanselman, a speaker, author, professor, and Youtuber that has been writing code for more than two decades. The show has been providing the developer community with valuable insight on a wide range of topics including coding, technology, gadgets, entrepreneurship, and above all else the open web.

Fullstack radio

A well-rounded podcast for new and experienced developers alike Fullstack Radio was started by host Adam Wathan in 2014. Adam is an author, developer, and entrepreneur best known for his work on Tailwind CSS. Adam interviews influential figures in the software industry picking their brain through fascinating technical interviews.

The show explores a variety of topics ranging from product design and user experience to unite testing and system administration.

Dev Podcasts (Programming Languages)

Ruby on Rails Podcast

Ruby on Rails Podcast hosted by Brittany Martin a.k.a “Norma Skates” feels like an intimate chat between friends. She invites a new guest on the show each week to discuss topics centered around Ruby on Rails, open-source software, and the programming profession in general. The show is fun to listen to and structured in a way that provides a ton of value.

“Norma Skates” is Brittany’s roller derby alter ego. That’s right, not only is Brittany a programmer but she’s also a fitness advocate and feels passionate about making the software development industry more diverse.

Ruby Rogues

A must for all Ruby on Rails enthusiasts. Ruby Rogues is a weekly discussion featuring leading minds from the RoR community and a rotating panel of hosts including Charles Max Wood, Dave Kimura, John Epperson, and Luke Stutters.

The show touches on a variety of topics including the latest advancements in Ruby on Rails as well as providing career advice for up and coming RoR developers. Whether you’re looking to learn new skills to help advance your career or just want to hear insightful discussions related to your favorite programming language, Ruby Rogues has what you’re looking for!

Javascript Jabber

Javascript Jabbers has been bringing its listeners the latest and greatest from the world of javascript on a weekly basis for nearly a decade. The show features a panel of rotating hosts including Aj O’Neal, Aimee Knight, Charles Max Wood, and Steve Edwards.

They usually interview a new guest each week taking on a plethora of topics including functional programming, coding environments, design patterns, and MUCH more. It doesn’t matter if you’re a frontend developer, backend developer, or a full-stack developer if you’re interested in web development or javascript then you must check out DevChat.tv’s Javascript Jabbers.

.Net Rocks

Launched in 2002 by Carl Franklin, creator of Music to code by, the show is aptly named after two of Carl’s favorite things in life: music and software development. Carl is not only a talented musician but he’s also a regional director at Microsoft with over 20 years of experience in the software industry.

Originally featured as a guest on the show, co-host Richard Campbell formed a lasting friendship with Carl that eventually flourished into a partnership signing on as a co-host in early 2005. Richard is also a regional director at Microsoft and is recognized as a Microsoft MVP in the area of ASP.NET development.

Needless to say, the show focuses on the Microsoft .NET platform covering everything from introductory topics to hardcore geeky stuff. It doesn’t matter if you’re an aspiring .Net developer or an old pro these are the two guys you want to be learning from when it comes to the .NET ecosystem.

Talk python to me

This weekly show immerses you in the cutting-edge world of python development covering the language, the libraries, the ecosystem, and the personalities.

The show features a combination of both panel-style discussions and one on one interviews covering a variety of topics including the latest updates, best practices, and major events in python development. Soon to record their 300th episode the show was started in 2015 by host Michael Kennedy in response to the lack of python oriented podcasts available at the time.

Podcast..init(‘Python’)

The show was started by host Tobias Macey in 2014, Tobias is the leader of the technical operations team at MIT Open Learning. On a weekly basis, Tobias sits down with Python experts to share insight on the latest projects, platforms, and practices you need to know about to advance your career in any python related field.

The show is formatted in a way to provide the most value for your time spent listening. Follow the show to learn about a diverse range of topics including data science, web application development, DevOps, machine learning, open-source sustainability, among many others.

The Only Tech Podcast List You'll Ever Need (2021 Update)

MaxB-2148 — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 18:00:33 +0000

Accidental Tech Podcast

A show hosted by Marco Arment, Casey Liss, and John Siracusa three long time friends, self-proclaimed nerds, and well respected software developers. Once a week the trio discuss the latest news and trends in programming and technology.

They even answer questions from listeners at least once per episode, these guys really know their stuff too—so be sure to send them all your pressing tech questions!

Clockwise

Hosts Dan Moren and Mikah Sargent invite two new guests to the show each week to talk about pressing technology issues, each 30 minute episode features rapid fire discussions covering four relevant tech topics.

Both hosts are established tech writers as well as prolific podcasters. In addition to hosting Clockwise, Mikah also hosts podcasts for the TWIT.tv podcast network, while Dan hosts and appears as a regular panelist on a number of different shows including The Rebound.

Dan was formerly the senior editor at Macworld and is also an accomplished sci-fi writer. The first episode of Clockwise was recorded back in 2013, which featured Lex Friedman (Dan’s co-host on The Rebound) and Serenity Caldwell. This year Clockwise is set to record it’s 400th episode!

A16z

The a16z Podcast explores the topics of technology and innovation.

The show was created by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and does an excellent job of balancing technology-focused topics with broader business points relevant to investors.

A rotating team of hosts takes turns interviewing industry and academic experts from all over the world regarding how technology impacts business, culture, and our future.

Note to self

Described by host Manoush Zomorodi as “a tech show about being human” the podcast is a combination of research with real-life experiences and personal stories. The show focuses on exploring topics relating to how technology affects our lives, including its impact on culture, personal relationships, health, and more.

The only caveat here is the show recently moved to Luminary, meaning you’ll need a premium subscription to unlock all new episodes.😞

ThinkCast by Gartner

Produced by renowned global research and advisory firm Gartner, ThinkCast, hosted by Kasey Panetta and Heather Pemberton, is where business and technology intersect.

Hear from top experts on how to build a more successful organization, team, and career in a digital era.

TWIT.TV

TWIT.TV is a podcast network that helps busy professionals stay up to date on the latest happenings in the world of technology.

TWIT(This Week In Tech) podcasts serve up the latest tech news and feature how-tos and reviews of the latest tech products.

This Week In Tech has an extensive catalog of weekly podcasts talking about all kinds of tech topics including the latest developments in Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac just to name a few.

Standout podcasts include:

TWIT (This Week In Tech)

This is where it all started. This Week In Tech has been running for over 10 years and has amassed a huge following of loyal listeners.

Hosted by Leo Laporte, the show is an unscripted roundtable discussion with leading tech experts regarding the latest trends in the world of technology. Recorded live every sunday this tech podcast covers all the essentials you’ll need to start your week off right.

The Tech Guy

Airing twice a week The Tech Guy with Leo Laporte talks about all the latest gadgets and gizmos, everything from computers and smartphones to home theater systems and digital cameras. Leo talks about all the hottest tech gear while explaining technology, computers, and the Internet along the way. This is one of those tech shows that appeals to the inner geek in all of us.

Security Now

Hosted by Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte, Security Now gives you the scoop on the latest hacks, outages, security breaches and ransomware attacks. The show is not only one of the most informative podcasts on cyber security – it’s also one of the most entertaining.

FLOSS (free, libre, open source software) Weekly

Join Doc Searls and his rotating panel of co-hosts every wednesday as they review the latest developments in open source. Interviewing some of the most interesting figures in the open source and free software community.

This Week In Enterprise Tech

This Week In Enterprise Tech explores the complex, cutting edge world of enterprise technology. The show follows a panel-style format featuring a quintet of rotating hosts and regularly invites other topic experts to the show to weigh in on the ins and outs of enterprise solutions.

This Week in Google

Hosts Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, Stacey Higginbotham, and Ant Pruitt discuss the latest happenings in the world of Google and cloud computing bringing you the latest news, gadgets, and controversies surrounding Google and its competitors.

More than a typical tech podcast

Reply All

Started back in 2014, Reply all is one of the most popular podcasts on the list with approximately 5 million downloads a month. The show is hosted by PJ Vogt, Alex Goldman and Emmanuel Dzotsi and has been nominated for numerous awards including a Webby Award for best podcast.

The show features stories about how people shape the internet, and how the internet shapes people. One of the most popular segments is called "Super Tech Support" where Alex Goldman, a former network administrator helps listeners take on complex or peculiar tech support issues.

The trio isn’t just talking about technology either they mix in all sorts of tales of popular culture. The show features fun segments like “Sports, Sports, Sports” where Alex Blumberg, co-founder of Gimlet Media, explains popular sports Tweets to Alex and PJ or “Yes, Yes, No” where Alex and PJ hilariously explain internet trivia to Blumberg.

Darknet Diaries

Darknet Diaries is unique because of its investigative style format featuring original audio footage and interviews. The podcast will speak to your inner detective featuring tales from the dark side of the internet including true stories about cybercrime, hackers, malware, and more.

The show has received widespread critical acclaim including positive reviews from leading publications like the New York Times.

Lex Fridman Podcast

Lex Fridman is an AI researcher working on autonomous vehicles, human-robot interaction, and machine learning at MIT, and while his show focuses mainly on science and technology Lex also mixes in plenty of his other interests as well including sports, history, and philosophy.

The show has featured a variety of illustrious guests including names like Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, Richard Dawkins, Leonard Susskind, and Noam Chomsky.

This isn’t a conventional technology podcast either – not only will you hear guests talk about robots and autonomous vehicles, but you’ll also hear them open up about less conventional topics like martial arts, psychedelics, aliens, and plenty of other stuff that might surprise you.

Fun fact:

Lex loves the JRE (Joe Rogan Experience) and has been featured on the show 5 times, episodes 1188, 1292, 1422, 1455, and 1537.

We'd love to know what your favorite tech podcasts are in the comments below. Let us know if you think we left any worthy podcasts off the list.🙂

Time Tracking For Remote Teams

MaxB-2148 — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 01:20:58 +0000

We ask every team member to keep accurate time logs of what they are working on and submit them on a weekly basis for approval. Sometimes new team members are concerned about having to register what they're doing on a daily basis, but after a brief explanation of why it’s important, they're usually good to go.

This post is an overview of why we feel time tracking is important and how to use it to help you manage a remote team.

When you first transition to remote work the concept of tracking your time may sound unnecessary or even invasive. The idea of keeping a detailed log of things you do (or don’t do) and that someone else will be checking it sounds uncalled for if you are a productive team member, and downright threatening when you don’t feel secure in your position.

For contractors, it’s often seen as a hassle, but one that more and more clients require.

As remote work becomes more common, the use of time tracking becomes the norm. Tools like Toggl, Harvest, and other time trackers become more popular. Some are simpler, some more invasive (looking at you, Time Doctor), but they all help you do the same general thing: keep track of what each team member is doing during his or her working hours.

So, why in the world would we track our time? Tracking your time brings some accountability and creates trust in a remote working relationship. There are benefits for both managers and individual team members. Let’s look at them separately.

Do you lead a remote team? Then be sure to check out our list of "Must have remote work tools for distributed teams in 2020" including our recommendation on time tracking software.

Benefits of time tracking for managers

Feeling of progress

As a team manager, there are a few things that you don’t have when you work remotely:

1.The ability to look around the office and see your coworkers

2.Asking quick ad hoc questions to your teammates by the watercooler

3.Office wide working schedules

Unless you are having frequent check-ins and receiving regular reports, you could be left with the feeling that you don’t know whether projects are advancing. While receiving regular updates is important, there are just some things that take longer than others, and reporting on them frequently is not productive. Since you can’t “see” people working, you don’t have a sense of whether your team is working hard or slacking off.

While you could argue that you need to trust your team, building trust takes time, and some team members actually do need help getting on track. Time tracking for remote teams helps you fill part of this void.

The ability to look around the office and see people working gives managers a sense that their team is not slacking off having access to time logs and seeing their team’s hours can give managers the same feeling.

Actual supervision

Like it or not, people get “stuck”. They’ll spend hours or days attempting to resolve a problem that with a little help from someone more experienced they could resolve immediately. Sometimes team members are inexperienced and don’t know the best or most efficient way to do a task. As a manager, you want to reduce the amount of “stuck” and “inefficient” time to a minimum. Having access to detailed time logs helps you figure out who needs more accompaniment and helps you better assign your resources.

Legal and financial backup

Having accurate time logs helps a management team resolve many issues across the remote workplace. For account managers, it helps justify work being billed to their clients in the event of a dispute. For HR teams it helps them figure out overtime payments and days off. For the finances team, it helps in finding the cost of hiring and maintaining each team and their profitability.

Benefits of time tracking for remote team members

Time tracking is not only useful for managers but also brings quite a few benefits to the individual contributors logging their time.

Accountability

Slacking off is easy when working remotely. Netflix can be distracting, and so can your chat windows and social media. Tracking time is a great way to keep ourselves accountable and focused.

When you track time you are taking notes of what you spent your time on, and you want to make sure that whatever you invested your time in was productive. I’ve personally experienced increased productivity simply by tracking the time I spend on different activities and reviewing them on a regular basis.

Tracking time also gives you a better sense of your actual workload and the time you are spending on work every day.

Fairness

For contract workers, detailed time logs are an essential tool to ensure that they are billing their clients for the correct amount, as well as a good backup when clients challenge what a contractor is charging them. For employees, detailed time logs can ensure that overtime is respected, that work schedules are followed, and work is assigned fairly.

Trust

Logging your time in a detailed way and then sharing those logs with your manager can create an additional level of trust in the working relationship. Trust needs to be built over time and providing accurate time logs gives your employer or client the feeling that you are focused on what you need to do and are working to achieve it.

Conclusion

People often feel that they are perfectly responsible and efficient, and that how they spend their time at work should not be questioned. When working solo this is not an issue, and there are many productive freelancers and entrepreneurs doing their thing and reporting to no one.

Working solo is not the same as working as part of a team. In a team each member has different responsibilities and needs for information that time tracking can help bridge: HR departments need to know how long and when you are working, managers need to be able to assign work effectively and ensure that progress is being made, financial departments need to track the profitability of various projects and billing departments need to ensure they are charging their clients the correct amounts.

Remote time tracking software also brings tangible benefits to individual contributors by helping them keep themselves accountable and providing important evidence of the good work they’ve been doing. While time tracking does require some extra work and a little mental effort, it is an important tool to bridge part of the gaps that make remote teamwork challenging.

Nearshore, Offshore & Onshore Software Development: What’s the Difference?

MaxB-2148 — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 23:47:29 +0000

An ever-increasing number of businesses are turning to outsourcing in order to free themselves from having to hire, train, and maintain in-house employees. This enables them to save time and money while tapping into a virtually endless stream of experienced and highly trained IT talent.

Here we define what it means to outsource software development onshore, offshore, and nearshore in detail, as well as provide tips to help you decide which choice makes the most sense for your project or business.

The difference between onshore, nearshore, and offshore software development

When it comes to outsourcing software development, there are three location-based variations: onshore, nearshore, and offshore. Each option is inherently different and offers unique strategic advantages.

Let’s start by quickly defining each term in detail, and then breaking down the benefits of each option.

Onshore software development definition

Onshore software development refers to the process of building or maintaining software using a team located in the same country as you.

An example of onshore software development would be a company operating in the Bay Area that hires a remote development firm or a freelancer in Seattle.

A distinction that should be made with onshore development is that it doesn’t require you to hire developers through a third party (outsourcing) – it can also refer to independent contractors or even direct hires.

Offshore software development definition

Offshore software development refers to hiring developers or a development team located outside the country you operate in, usually with a significant time zone difference (generally six hours or more).

In some cases, like with China or the Philippines, the time difference with North America can be as much as 12 hours.

An example of offshore software development would be a software company in New York that has a team in Pakistan that helps manage their software deployments.

With offshoring, we recommend working with an agency or outsourcing partner over an individual developer. Working with a firm tends to be more reliable, given that it’s easier to get in contact with an established organization than an individual.

Nearshore software development definition

Nearshore software development still refers to hiring foreign talent but in countries with timezone parity or at least significant time zone overlap (3 - 6 hours difference).

It’s hard to say exactly when nearshore becomes offshore, but the general rule of thumb for North America is that nearshore would be other countries located in the Americas and the Caribbean. However, we’ve even seen some firms in Eastern Europe and parts of Africa referred to as “nearshore,” despite having a time difference of around six hours with New York.

Large enough companies may even consider opening their own nearshore development center if their need for nearshore development talent is great enough. For example, some large startups and corporations have opened software development centers in countries like Mexico to gain a permanent foothold in securing affordable IT talent.

Onshore software development Benefits

Knowing that nearby markets offer skilled and affordable talent, many businesses decide to expand their talent search outside their city or state to gain an advantage over local competitors by turning to onshore development.

This is the go-to option for many companies because it’s the most familiar and closest to home.

You can also gain significant advantages in terms of access to untapped markets, but the main drawback is, as you might have guessed, the price tag.

While onshore development may be more affordable than hiring locally or directly, the costs will likely be higher than nearshore or offshore development.

Offshore software development benefits

Offshore software development can be a good option for bootstrapped micro startups and other small businesses because of its affordable rates. You’re also looking at the largest pool of IT talent in the world, including IT outsourcing powerhouses like China and India.

So what’s the downside? Well, it really depends on the country you’re outsourcing to and whether you’re dealing with an agency or a freelancer.

If you're outsourcing to a popular outsourcing destination like the Philippines, you might struggle to contact your team regularly during monsoon season (June-October) when the internet is notoriously flaky.

Communication difficulties like this aren’t just limited to countries with tropical climates either – serious language and culture barriers can lead to a project going off track or cause you to miss deadlines.

Working with a team that can’t communicate effectively is not an option, especially if they’re located halfway around the world.

If offshore software development is a big enough part of a company's strategy, they may even set up a software development center locally to gain more oversight and control. However, the farther the location is from your main operation, the larger the logistical challenge to get it set up and running will be.

Nearshore software development benefits

Time zone parity, common culture, and close borders allow you to maintain close control of your development projects. With nearshore development your partner is nearby, allowing you to collaborate in real-time and making communication much smoother.

You could say that with nearshore development you get the best of both worlds: you see significant cost benefits without sacrificing efficiency or compromising on quality.

What are the downsides? There is a high demand for skilled nearshore software developers that speak fluent English.

Don’t expect to be paying someone with that profile the local going rate, as they will likely be in very high demand with North American companies – especially among companies using Agile methodologies, since these require frequent and fluid communication.

You’ll need to pay special attention to English proficiency, something that’s probably not even on your radar with onshore development.

In summary, nearshore software development improves communication while still offering considerable cost savings and requiring less maintenance.

Conclusion

1.Finding the right outsourcing partner is one of the single most important aspects of making onshore, nearshore, or offshore software development work at scale.
2.Outsourcing allows you to outperform your competition by accessing untapped talent markets, lowering your operating costs, and helping you complete projects faster.

3.Increasing globalization and wider adoption of remote work have lowered the barriers for outsourcing options like nearshore and offshore software development.
4.Outsourcing has proven profitable for many companies in all three location-based categories: onshore, offshore, and nearshore.

Haven't decided which outsourcing option makes the most sense for your business? Book a free outsourcing strategy call, to find out if nearshore development is right for you.

Advantages of hiring remote programmers

MaxB-2148 — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 22:50:20 +0000

Many companies found themselves forced to abruptly implement company-wide work from home policies due to the pandemic. While creating the policies and procedures necessary to support a fully remote workforce may seem like a daunting task at first, transitioning to remote work also offers easily quantifiable value like lower overhead costs, better employee retention, and access to a wider pool of talent.

In this article, we’ll examine the benefits of hiring remote software developers as compared to hiring onsite developers.

We’re a fully remote company with ample experience hiring and managing remote development teams, but we’re not basing this article on our own experiences alone. We’ll also link to studies and other helpful sources to help you decide whether remote development is right for you. Let's start out by looking at why developers want to work remotely in the first place.

Reasons people want to work remote

According to Owl Labs, remote workers report that the top four reasons they want to work remotely are: better work-life balance, increased productivity/better focus, less stress, and finally, to avoid having to commute.

Benefits of hiring remote developers

Increase employee retention

Greater productivity

Access to more talent

Lower infrastructure costs

Increase employee retention

Implementing remote work policies can greatly increase retention rates and employee loyalty. If one of your top performers leaves the company, you’ll need to spend significant time, money, and resources to hire and train a replacement.

The will of the workplace is changing. Research finds companies that don’t meet employees’ needs will have trouble competing in the labor market and holding on to their existing employees.

Employee turnover is expensive. One tactic we’ve found that helps us keep our employees happy is letting them work from wherever they want as long as it doesn’t affect their performance.

Recent surveys found:

51% of workers are actively looking for a new job or are open to one

Coincidentally, 51% say they would switch to a job that allows them flextime

55% of remote workers would be likely to look for another job if they were no longer allowed to work remotely

61% of remote workers would expect a pay increase if they were no longer allowed to work remotely

Source: Gallup & Owl Labs

Greater productivity

According to Indeed’s remote work survey, 72% of companies with remote work policies say workers are more productive, while another 22% say remote workers are equally as productive, and only 3% say that remote workers are less productive.

While both remote workers and onsite workers report working over 40 hours a week, it’s often for very different reasons. According to a survey by Owl Labs, onsite workers are working longer weeks because it’s required, while remote workers report doing it primarily because they love what they do.

Interestingly enough, 72% of both remote and on-site workers feel they're working the right amount of hours each week.

Access to more talent

HackerRank asked 7,000 employers what the biggest challenge they face is when hiring talent and 41% said talent shortage.

A number of industries are experiencing an increase in demand for skilled developers. This can make finding experienced developers in your area difficult at times -- especially if you’re looking for developers skilled in a specific tech stack or a niche technology.

Opening up remote software development roles nationally/internationally gives companies access to untapped domestic markets and an endless stream of qualified foreign talent.

Lower Infrastructure costs

Appealing and well-designed workspaces, fitted with the latest technology, and in a convenient location can be very expensive to acquire and maintain. By working remotely you’re saving a lot of the money you would be spending on installing and maintaining technology systems and infrastructure.

The only limitation remote workers have as to where they can work is the need for a reliable internet connection. Other than that, just about anywhere is fair game. You’ll commonly find remote workers set up in coworking spaces, coffee shops, restaurants, and even overlooking a beach on occasion if the internet connection is sound enough.

Not only do you save money on infrastructure and maintenance, but employees enjoy the freedom of choosing their own tech and work environment.

In conclusion

A shortage of IT talent has prompted more and more companies to look nationally or even internationally when hiring for remote positions.

While there will always be considerable benefits to working with someone in person, the advantages of hiring remote programmers is undeniable, offering everything from lower costs to access to better talent.

Ready to hire remotely?

Find the right software development talent for your team. Contact us today and find out how our specialized staffing and recruitment services can help.

Advantages of hiring remote programmers

MaxB-2148 — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 22:46:19 +0000

Many companies found themselves forced to abruptly implement company-wide work from home policies due to the pandemic. While creating the policies and procedures necessary to support a fully remote workforce may seem like a daunting task, transitioning to remote work also offers easily quantifiable value like lower overhead costs, better employee retention, and access to a wider pool of talent.

In this article, we’ll examine the benefits of hiring remote software developers as compared to hiring onsite developers.

What are the reasons people want to work remotely?

Benefits of hiring remote developers

Increase employee retention
Greater productivity
Access to more talent
Lower infrastructure costs

Increase employee retention

The will of the workplace is changing. Research finds companies that don’t meet employees’ needs will have trouble competing in the labor market and holding on to their existing employees.

Employee turnover is expensive. One tactic we’ve found that helps us keep our employees happy is letting them work from wherever they want as long as it doesn’t affect their performance.

Recent surveys found:

51% of workers are actively looking for a new job or are open to one
Coincidentally, 51% say they would switch to a job that allows them flextime
55% of remote workers would be likely to look for another job if they were no longer allowed to work remotely
61% of remote workers would expect a pay increase if they were no longer allowed to work remotely

Source: Gallup & Owl Labs

Greater productivity

Interestingly enough, 72% of both remote and on-site workers feel they're working the right amount of hours each week.

Access to more talent

HackerRank asked 7,000 employers what the biggest challenge they face is when hiring talent and 41% said talent shortage.

Opening up remote software development roles nationally/internationally gives companies access to untapped domestic markets and an endless stream of qualified foreign talent.

Lower Infrastructure costs

Not only do you save money on infrastructure and maintenance, but employees enjoy the freedom of choosing their own tech and work environment.

Conclusion

A shortage of IT talent has prompted more and more companies to look nationally or even internationally when hiring for remote positions.

While there will always be considerable benefits to working with someone in person, the advantages of hiring remote programmers are undeniable, offering everything from lower costs to access to better talent.

Ready to hire remotely?

Find the right software development talent for your team. Contact us today and find out how our specialized staffing and recruitment services can help your organization.

What is staff augmentation?

MaxB-2148 — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 19:41:48 +0000

Staff augmentation is a term that is being thrown around a lot lately and if you’re in IT recruitment you’ve definitely heard the term before.

Let’s start out by clarifying that staff augmentation isn’t a new phenomenon, contingent workforces have been around forever. What’s changing is more and more companies are adopting remote work lowering the barrier for freelancers and outsourcing services like staff augmentation.

In this article we’ll break down the benefits of staff augmentation, compare it to the leading alternatives, and share tips to help your organization be successful with outsourcing.

Defining staff augmentation

You may find yourself asking what exactly is staff augmentation? While most will be able to infer it relates to increasing staff, it still leaves the questions of how and why.

So how do we define staff augmentation? With staff augmentation, we’re referring to bringing in software developers to work alongside your inhouse team. These developers aren’t hired directly, they’re employed through an external agency or are hired as independent contractors.

The software developers work exclusively on your project and you manage them directly, in effect they act as an extension of your inhouse team.

Source: Evans Data

As an outsourcing strategy, staff augmentation has been gaining traction due to the shifts in U.S. immigration policy that have lead to a decrease in the availability of domestic-based foreign talent. This led to an increase in demand for outsourcing services like staff augmentation, that allow companies to source tech talent from anywhere in the world without having to worry about the implications of hiring them directly.

What are the benefits of staff augmentation?

While there are many benefits to staff augmentation, we’ll be focusing on nearshore staff augmentation, which is our area of expertise.

Respond to changing business needs: staff augmentation allows hiring managers to take advantage of new growth opportunities, scale their existing team to meet deadlines, and even scale down without worrying about the associated cost and liabilities you’d have with direct hires.

Closely manage resources: staff augmentation brings the software development process inhouse, as opposed to managed services, where you basically hand off the entire process to an external team. With staff augmentation you’ll be closely overlooking each step of the software delivery process, ensuring you’re always on schedule and giving you more control over the outcome of your project.

Spend less time and money on recruitment: traditional inhouse IT recruitment is notoriously expensive, difficult, and unreliable. This is only exasperated when trying to manage the hiring process across multiple countries (or even continents), with each country having its own unique employment laws and regulations. Staff augmentation on the other hand, offers predictable recruitment costs and minimal burden on your inhouse team.

Quickly & efficiently gain inhouse expertise: staff augmentation allows you to quickly close the skill gap presented by building a project with a new technology or framework. No need to use internal resources training your existing team or trying to recruit a new team, use staff augmentation to hire a team of experts with minimal risk.

No infrastructure investment: you don’t have to worry about trying to account for most of the costs associated with direct hires like equipment, employee benefits, training, office rental, etc..

With staff augmentation, all those costs are either absorbed by your outsourcing partner or included in the hourly rate. Staff augmentation also allows you to try out software developers before committing to hiring them directly.

Easier and more accurate cost planning: one of the complaints with traditional inhouse software recruitment is it’s difficult to accurately predict how much it will cost to fill a position. Recruitment costs tend to vary as well as administrative costs, making it difficult to accurately predict the cost of hiring and maintaining an employee. With staff augmentation, you have a transparent cost structure; all the administrative and organizational expenses are covered by your outsourcing partner and are included in the hourly rate. That means you no longer have to try to plan for fluctuating recruitment and administrative costs.

No geographic limitations: this is a big one, especially for companies struggling to recruit the level of talent they need for their projects. In 2019, the global outsourcing market amounted to 92.5 billion U.S. dollars. Latin America has the second-fastest-growing software developer population in the world, second only to India. Both regions are set to outpace North America and the EMEA region for the fastest growth according to a study by Evans Data Corp.

When to use staff augmentation

Shortage of local talent. If you’re struggling to find developers locally with the skills you need for your project, staff augmentation will give you access to a broader pool of talent allowing you to fill positions quicker.
When you’re already outsourcing part of your product development but want more insight and control, with staff augmentation developers work exclusively on your project allowing you to manage their work directly.

Staff augmentation vs managed services##

Staff augmentation

With staff augmentation, you’re in charge of the selection process and manage the candidates directly. Your outsourcing partner is responsible for all the organizational and administrative burdens allowing you to focus on initiatives that will move your business forward.

Managed Services

Managed services are great especially when your company’s core competencies aren’t tech-related, seeing as many times you won’t have the internal knowledge to effectively manage the entire software delivery process. With managed services, your outsourcing partner will handle everything from selecting the developers for your project to managing the team’s workload.

How to succeed with staff augmentation

Make it a point to incorporate your nearshore team with your in-house team. Making them feel like part of the team helps motivate developers and increase their interest in your project.

Incorporate best practices for remote teams, including using tools that facilitate remote team collaboration and holding virtual team-building events to improve remote work culture.

Outsourcing partners offer varying levels of support. For example at Blue Coding, you’ll receive continued support from our HR department and client management team. If you need more support than what your outsourcing partner offers you’ll need to consider hiring supporting roles like a project manager to work alongside your development team.

Why Augment Your Team with Blue Coding?

Blue Coding has a strong recruitment presence that expands across Latin America, the Caribbean, and beyond. This includes the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Peru, and more.

We offer our clients continued support from our HR department and client management team for the duration of their contract.

You only pay for the developers you hire, it doesn’t matter how many candidates you interview. We understand the importance of finding the best fit for your organization.

Flexible capacity - expand or reduce your team based on changing business needs.

Track record of success: we've been helping North American clients build teams in Latin America since 2014.

If you need help deciding between staff augmentation, managed services, or a hybrid approach, schedule a free outsourcing strategy call today!

Outsourced vs. in-house software development: which is right for you?

MaxB-2148 — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 17:41:35 +0000

When starting a new project, you are faced with the question: how do I transform this idea into reality and how will I put the team together? In this article, we aim to help you make an informed decision as to what makes most sense for your project: in-house development, outsourcing, or a blended approach that combines the two.

This isn’t a comparison of which option is better – that will depend on your strategy, and many companies are finding success with a blended approach. However, we will break down the strengths and weaknesses of both outsourcing and in-house development in detail, plus provide links to useful resources to help you further understand the unique benefits of both.

What is in-house software development?

When we say “in-house software development,” we’re referring to direct hires that were recruited by your internal team.

Having an in-house software development team has many advantages. For example, by managing the entire recruitment process you have the highest level of control over who you’re bringing into your organization.

Let’s look at some of the other advantages of in-house software development, starting with culture fit.

Culture fit

An external agency can easily screen candidates based on technical expertise but assessing culture fit can be a bit more tricky. By carefully overseeing every step of the recruitment process yourself, you know you're bringing in the very best talent for your organization.

Allows you to build internal expertise

Seniority is one of the most important factors for companies when evaluating candidates for a software development role, and with good reason: software developers build up expertise and become more efficient over time.

Hiring developers directly and on long term contracts allows you to benefit from the experience they gain through the completion of each new project.

Reliable communication

In-house developers generally have a better understanding of your company’s expectations and internal processes, leading to better communication and allowing teams to get more done with less back and forth.

Challenges & limitations of in-house development

While having an in-house team offers plenty of advantages it also has it’s disadvantages. Let’s look at some of the most significant disadvantages and limitations of in-house development, starting with high cost.

High cost

The cost of maintaining an in-house employee is higher than with outsourcing. With in-house employees, on top of the hourly rate you’re paying employee benefits, supplying equipment, providing training, bonuses, etc.

With outsourcing, that’s all included in the price tag. This holds especially true when outsourcing to countries outside of North America. Another important factor is the cost of recruitment, whose cost can be unpredictable and difficult to quantify with an in-house team, but is part of the deal when outsourcing. Keep in mind that, when working with a firm, there may be a margin on top of what you might expect to pay an outsourced freelancer – but it will still likely add up to less than an in-house employee all things considered.

It’s a time sink

Having your in-house team develop a process for recruiting software development talent from scratch is an inefficient use of time and resources. Managing the process internally with an inexperienced team often leads to inconsistent or poor results.

Even small teams with experience hiring software developers might choose to outsource the process to save time and allow their in-house team to focus on other initiatives. Without access to a reliable and diverse talent pool, it’s easy to drain lots of time and resources on the recruitment process.

Limited talent pool

There are often limited options for in-house talent, especially for companies looking to hire locally. For example, if you limit your search to the state of New York, you’d be competing for a pool of a little over 200,000 developers. If you were to expand your search nationwide you increase the total to around 1.3M developers. But let’s say you expand your search globally – you're looking at 23.9M developers.

By limiting your search to people who live in your immediate area or are willing to relocate, you are only scratching the surface of the available talent pool. Keep in mind that the cities with the most developers are usually the most competitive.

Lack of versatility

Most in-house software development teams specialize in one area more than others. Bringing developers in-house that specialize in the niches that are most relevant to your business makes sense from an operational perspective, but also presents a challenge when launching a new product powered by an unfamiliar technology.

This leaves you with only a few options:

Make a significant investment in training your existing team on the new technology

Hire freelancers or outsource the project to an outsourcing partner who specializes in the new technology.

Divert internal resources to recruit a new team specializing in the new technology, which makes the most sense if you’re planning to continue to develop the product in the long-term.

What is software development outsourcing?

Outsourcing software development means outsourcing either parts of or the entire process to an external company. Many times, companies turn to outsourcing as a way to save time and money.

There are many variations and models of outsourcing, including staff augmentation, end-to-end software delivery, offshore development, onshore development, nearshore development, hourly pricing, project-based pricing, and more.

To get a better idea of the differences between offshore, onshore, and nearshore development, be sure to check out our article Reasons To Outsource Software Development Nearshore

Advantages of software development outsourcing

Let’s take a quick look at the advantages of outsourcing software development, starting with the ability to scale your team up or down flexibly and on-demand:

Scale up or down on demand — flexibly and reliably

Working with an outsourcing partner allows you to scale your software development team quickly, flexibly, and reliably. Scale your team based on shifting business needs without worrying about legal or financial implications. Outsourcing your temporary software development roles allows you to scale your team up or down without negatively affecting your brand.

Lower costs

If you choose to outsource development nearshore or offshore, you can generally expect to pay lower rates then you would by hiring locally. On top of saving on the hourly rate, you won’t need to pay for equipment, maintenance, training, workspace, or employee benefits. In most cases, outsourcing means you’re only paying for what you need and no extras.

Increased efficiency

Need an expert? Outsourcing gives you immediate access to a large pool of highly qualified candidates. Don’t waste your resources on recruitment and training, hire an expert who can come in and make an impact right away.

Access to more talent

One of our clients put it best: the best talent isn’t always in your city – or even your country. By going remote you’re already gaining access to a bigger pool of talent, and by opening those positions to developers located outside of North America you amplify that even further. Not to mention the significant financial benefit of hiring developers from areas with lower median salaries like Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. In most cases, the software developers from those regions are highly motivated to work with North American clients because they tend to earn more than the national average.

Disadvantages of outsourcing software development

No solution is perfect. If you’re considering outsourcing, here are some factors you should take into account when making your decision.

Potentially unreliable communication

This is usually the first concern that comes to mind when companies think about outsourcing development offshore or nearshore. Not only do you have to consider potential language and cultural barriers, but many companies struggle with the idea of being limited to tools like Slack and email for communication. This is generally less of a concern for internationally distributed teams and teams that are already familiar with tools that facilitate remote work like Zoom, Slack, Jira, and others.

New security concerns

While your level of concern about cybersecurity may vary depending on the nature of your project, it's important to have basic measures in place to protect your company’s interest. For example, nondisclosure agreements and security protocols help ensure your data and company assets are protected from potential cyber threats.

Less control

When working with an outsourcing partner, you have less control over some of the factors that influence employee loyalty, such as the developer’s hourly rates, benefits, and training. However, if you’re really happy with a developer that you’ve been working with, most outsourcing partners offer the option of hiring the developer directly for an established fee.

Need some more help deciding between in-house and outsourcing? Be sure to check out “Hiring Locally vs. Remote: What are the pros and cons of outsourcing?”

What are the differences between onshore, nearshore, and offshore software development?

Onshore software development is when you outsource software development to a partner located in the same country as you.

Offshore software development refers to outsourcing to a partner in another country, many times a country on the other side of the globe like Pakistan or China. In this model, many times you’ll be dealing with a significant time zone difference which in some cases can be as much as 12 hours.

Outsourcing nearshore, or nearshoring, provides a middle ground where you can still see significant cost benefits without sacrificing convenience or efficiency. Outsourcing to a nearby country – especially one in your time zone – allows you to collaborate in real-time, with minimal effort.

Interestingly enough, the benefits and disadvantages of all three are basically the same but to varying degrees.

For example, the farther away your outsourcing partner is geographically, the lower the rates tend to be and the same goes for challenges like language/cultural barriers. The farther away your outsourcing partner is geographical, the more pronounced the barriers tend to be. It’s important to note that this isn’t always the case – for example, we’ve heard of situations where the level of English and cultural affinity of countries like the Philippines can even rival countries in the Western Hemisphere – but it is a general rule of thumb to keep in mind.

Want to learn more about outsourcing to Latin America? Be sure to check out “Companies outsourcing to Latin America” & “Thinking about outsourcing to LATAM? Here are the pros and cons”

If you’ve weighed your options and are considering outsourcing, here is some advice to get you started.

Best practices for outsourcing software development

If you’ve weighed your options and are considering outsourcing, here is some advice to get you started.

Find the right outsourcing partner

Finding the right partner can be really tricky, especially if you don’t have a lot of experience. Not all outsourcing partners are created equal; you'll need to pay special attention to experience, level of transparency, and communication style, among other things.

From there we recommend you look at reviews through third party websites like Clutch, GoodFirms, etc. Just keep in mind that third-party doesn’t always mean impartial; we always recommend looking at reviews on multiple sources.

Figure out which type of outsourcing is right for you

The first thing you’ll need to decide is which service offering is going to best help you accomplish your outsourcing goals. To do that, you have to understand what options are available, since outsourcing comes in many different flavors.

You’ll need to start out by deciding which pricing model makes sense: hourly or project-based. Next, decide whether you need full-cycle custom development or staff augmentation, nearshore, onshore or offshore development. As you can see, there are many variables to consider when making your decision.

Be sure to check out the Outsourcing Oasis Podcast if you want practical, actionable advice on how to achieve outsourcing success.

Make good use of project management tools

Whether you’re fully remote or have some of your employees working out of a central office, you’ll need to have a good command of project management tools to get the most out of your outsourcing experience.

You have plenty of tools to choose from, including Trello, Jira, and Asana. The efficient use of project management tools will help you keep your projects on track. Learn more about tools that facilitate remote team collaboration here:“Must Have Remote Work Tools For Distributed Teams In 2020.”

Set clear expectations from the start and communicate regularly
This is a point that cannot be stressed enough, as it’s the single most common failing point for outsourcing projects!

You need to make it clear from the start what your preferred channel is for communication and what the communication schedule looks like. Be sure to stay consistent even if things are going well. We know it’s tempting to start skipping check-ins when everything is marching along as expected, but tight control leads to better results.

Summary: Final thoughts on in-house development vs. software development outsourcing

It’s easy to understand why the outsourcing industry is growing at such a rapid pace. It’s an effective and reliable cost-saving measure that allows you to produce results almost immediately.

New software and wider adoption of remote team culture have gone a long way towards reducing the traditional challenges of outsourcing. While companies are chomping at the bit at the opportunity of accessing a larger pool of talent, there is still a lot to be said for in-house development.

There is no denying the benefit that in-person meetings and impromptu hallway and watercooler conversations have. This has been notoriously difficult to recreate with a remote team.

The tradeoff lies between more talent at lower rates or increased loyalty and oversight. Which one you choose really depends on your goals and what growth stage you’re in. As with many things, you don’t necessarily need to choose between one or the other – many teams have found success using a blended approach to gain the best of both worlds.

Finally, don’t look at this as a comparison of which is better. It’s more about gaining a detailed understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each. Apply that knowledge to your recruitment strategy, and if you’re successful you’ll gain a competitive edge over your competitors.

If you need a hand deciding which outsourcing option best fits your organization, schedule a free outsourcing strategy discovery call with us today!

What Is An API And How Does It Work?

MaxB-2148 — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 19:58:23 +0000

APIs have become commonplace in today’s world, so much so that even those who are not part of the software development community have heard of them and probably use them on an everyday basis.

So what is an API and how is it used? An API (Application Programming Interface) allows applications to access the features or data of other applications, OS, or services. Another way of saying it is that an API allows multiple pieces of software to talk to each other and defines how they interact.

Let’s look at a common example of how the average person uses APIs.

With each website hosted on a server, the internet can be described as a massive network of connected servers. When you click on a link or type a URL into a browser, a request is sent to the server of the website you're visiting. The server then sends a response containing HTML and other related content to your browser, which interprets it to display the page.

So what does the API do? Well, the API isn’t the server, but it is what allows the server to receive the request and send a response. So each time you visit a website, you’re interacting with the website server’s API. However, that’s only one of the many ways APIs are being used.

Different types of APIs and how they’re used

On an ownership level, there are four main types of APIs.

Open APIs are publicly available for all developers to access without restrictions.

Partner APIs are similar to open APIs on a technical level but do have restrictions in terms of who can access them and how they’re accessed. Partner APIs are often monetized. An example of a partner API would be a payment processing platform that allows you to process payments on your eCommerce site through their API and charges you a percentage of the transactions. Generally, these APIs are accessible through an API developer portal and are accessed by following a specific validation workflow.

Internal or Private APIs are not accessible by external users. They work as an interface that grants access to parts of an organization’s backend data and application functionality. These are used by organizations to help speed up the app development process.

The interface can be used by in-house developers and contractors to improve its products or services. Private APIs help reduce the time and resources needed to integrate IT systems and build customer-facing apps.

Another way of creating efficient APIs

Composite APIs allow developers to access multiple endpoints in a single call, which is useful when you need information from several services to perform a single task. For example, completing an order through a payment API might require access to multiple endpoints like “accept payment,” “send an invoice,” etc.

Web Service APIs

Web service APIs are applications that use URLs to provide services. In a Web service, technologies like HTTP are used for transferring machine-readable file formats.

Here are some of the more popular types of web service APIs:

REST (Representational State Transfer)

The term was introduced and defined in 2000 by Roy Fielding in his doctoral dissertation. For an API to be considered RESTful it must follow six guiding principles.

Client-Server—the system must be made up of clients and servers. The server takes care of the back-end and the client handles the front-end.

Stateless—the communication between the client and server must be stateless. Meaning all the information about the client’s session is kept on the client-side. Each request must contain all the required information to perform the request seeing as no browser cookies or session variables are stored to provide further context.

Uniform Interface— describes the interface between clients and servers. The uniform interface constraint simplifies and decouples the architecture, enabling each part to evolve independently. In order to get a consistent interface, multiple architectural constraints are needed to guide the behavior of components.

Cache—responses must be defined as either cacheable or non-cacheable. The reasoning behind marking a response as non-cacheable is to prevent clients from providing old data in response to future requests. Caching responses will eliminate some client-server interactions, improving scalability and performance.

Layered—The API should support a layered architecture, with each layer contributing to a transparent hierarchy. Each layer should be loosely coupled and allow for encapsulation.

SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)

SOAP is the successor to XML RPC and was originally designed for Microsoft back in 1998. SOAP was the first to standardize the way applications use network connections to manage services.

Despite the S in SOAP standing for simple SOAP is considered more complex than REST due to the level of security and the way messages are sent.

While REST is easier to use, leading to it’s increasing popularity, it isn’t always the right choice.

SOAP offers comprehensive security and is ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) compliant making it the preferred solution for enterprise applications dealing with banking transactions.

Reasons for the growing popularity of APIs

One reason APIs are so widely used is the fact that they’re a reliable means of adding functionality to an application without needing to write all the code yourself. An example would be when you embed a map on your website showing your store’s physical location. You don’t need to know anything about how Google Maps’ code works. All you need to know is how to request the information through Google Maps API, making the process of showing a map on your website easy and vastly more efficient.

APIs also allow developers to access data from other applications. For example, if you want to display the number of likes your page has on Facebook, you can pull the data using Facebook’s Graph API.

In conclusion, APIs are the lifeblood of the digital economy fueling our need for rapid innovation and continuous technological advancement.