What Does Choosing An Offshore Partner Really Mean?
Google, Microsoft, SAP Labs, Yahoo — These are just some of the many companies that have built dedicated development teams by going offshore to countries like India.
When you hear of IT giants like these and even your own competitors tapping into the offshore talent pool, it isn’t uncommon to be curious about what offshoring is all about. After a bit of Google research, you might think that you can go offshore on your own. After all, it’s just hiring a few developers and renting an office space in a foreign country– right? Wrong.
Sure, it’s not rocket science. It isn’t impossible to do it all on your own, but should you? When taking your software development offshore, it’s crucial to work with an offshore partner; the guys who know the industry, know the culture and have built it all before. Why? What can an offshore partner do that you can’t?
In this blog post, we answer just that! We’ll delve into the specifics, what an offshore partner is all about, and how engaging with one can help you build your remote team without all the unnecessary hassle. If you want to know more about offshoring in detail and how it can benefit your business, download our ebook guide to offshoring!
Why do you need an offshore partner?
Two reasons. One, because it’s a lot of work. Imagine sitting in your office in London, trying to set up an office space in India, recruit the best engineers, and handle all the administrative duties, apart from your daily tasks. Does that sound like a challenge? Well, it is.
Your offshore partner, on the other hand, takes care of all that for you. They’ll have an entire team on the ground, that will dedicatedly work on building your remote workforce.
The other reason is that extending a company into another country, with a totally different social and work culture, takes expertise. It requires the skill set of a team that understands the talent pool of that country and your specific requirements to tailor a recruitment process that can work for your business. For instance, our founder Emilien worked in India for years before truly understanding how to bridge Western and Eastern workforces.
What does an offshore development partner do?
Now that we’ve gotten the WHY out of the way, what exactly does an offshore partner do? What are their roles and responsibilities? The answer to that question, in a nutshell, is everything!
They take care of –
- the recruitment process
- payroll
- taxation
- local registrations
- legalities
- acquiring a dedicated office space
- onboarding the employees
- employing dedicated HRs
- hiring of the administrative staff to take care of the day-to-day duties
Does that mean your offshore partner is simply a recruitment or HR company?
Your offshore partner is definitely more than just a recruitment or HR company — if you pick the right partner. Unfortunately, there are plenty of businesses that call themselves “offshore development specialists” but in fact, offer outsourcing. The key is to understand the difference between the two.
Offshoring is when you build a dedicated software development team (complete with office space, administration, and management) in another country. You own the team entirely, and they’re fully integrated into your business, but your offshore development partner manages the administration and operations. On the other hand, outsourcing is hiring contract engineers or freelancers that are called in when required, to cover a lack of capacity temporarily. Outsourcing is typically done by recruitment agencies or HR companies while offshoring isn’t.
What does the right offshoring partner look like?
Firstly, the right offshore partner will ****start by identifying your needs and requirements — what do you want to gain from offshoring? What are the specific goals, metrics, and growth targets that you wish to achieve? Once they’ve understood this, they would then go over the finer details — the team size you’re looking for, skills, and other information that you think are relevant. The company will then proceed to draft a proposal outlining the next steps.
#Protip: Always ask the company for a portfolio of the teams that they’ve built over the years. If the company cannot showcase their successful history of building offshore teams, then they’re probably not the right fit for your business.
Discussing their recruitment process, how they source candidates, and the parameters they look for can throw light on their screening process. It’ll also answer the most important question — do they value quality above all? Because you’re 10,000 miles away, your offshore development partner is your trusted advisor on the ground. So during your meeting with a potential offshore partner, if they cannot offer you all this and more, then it’s time to look elsewhere.
Source: https://thescalers.com/choosing-an-offshore-partner/
