Offshore Software Development

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Be ahead with the latest technology or else perish is the latest mantra to succeed in today’s world. And if you are smart, get it done in a smart way. That’s what offshore software development (i.e. outsourcing software development into any country different from your own) is all about which is being preferred by most of the IT companies today. Offshore Software Development has emerged as one of the most successful business strategies in today’s world. Offshore Software Development, being a significant part of Offshore IT Outsourcing market facilitates the companies to focus on their core activities while at the same time providing them with a means of fulfilling their business requirements and that too in a cost effective manner. It has thus, become a necessary strategic tool for companies to gain the competitive advantage by staying ahead in their own market in ways different than their competitors.

Many Offshore Service Providers through their Offshore Development Centers(ODCs) spread out across the earth are engaged in providing outsourcing services like offshore software development services to emerging and established companies located all around the globe. Some of the important and essential outsourcing services include development of mission critical applications and products.

In today’s rapidly changing scenario, no company can survive in a stand-alone manner. Each company whether big or small has one or more of its services, especially those related to software development, outsourced (benefits of outsourcing) so that it can concentrate more on its core activities in a much better way. There are a number of ways in which a company can go for software development outsourcing. The six types of software delivery models through which service providers provide software development outsourcing services to companies are:

1. Onsite Model wherein the service provider completes the outsourced work at the client’s premises.
2. Offsite Model wherein the service provider will be located near to the client’s premises.
3. Offshore Model wherein the service provider is located in a country different from that of the client.
4. Onsite/Offshore (also called Hybrid) Model wherein the client’s task will be distributed between an onsite team working at the client’s premises and an offshore team working in a different country.
5. Offsite/Offshore Model wherein the client’s task will be accomplished by an offsite team working near to the client’s premises and an offshore team working abroad.
6. Global Delivery Model wherein the client’s work will be completed by a team working in close conjunction with the client and a group of offshore teams working from different parts of the world.

Some of the factors that decide the type of software delivery model adopted are:

• Type of work to be outsourced.
• Amount of involvement required especially on the part of client.
• Type of interaction required between the two concerned parties.
• Amount of cost savings desired.
• Suitability to the client.

Advantages of Offshore Software Development:

• Access to Global expertise: Companies have the option of choosing from a wide range of global expertise spread out across the globe



• Reduced Costs: Companies can get the work done at lower costs by saving out on expensive programs and equipment required for the completion of a particular task, thereby giving them an opportunity to control their IT budget and resources as these will be taken care off by the Offshore Development Center of the Offshore Service Provider.



• Achieve business goals faster: 24/7 productivity is possible by taking advantage of the time-zone differences. Companies are thus able to get their job done at a faster rate,thus helping them to achieve their business goals speedily.



• High quality results: Companies will get high quality work, as the service provider’s skilled staff will be focused on the particular task concerned.



• Benefit of focused employees: The client’s team will be able to focus more on their core business, as their other needs will be taken care of by the Offshore development center.



• Competitive Advantage: Helps companies to be ahead of their competitors.



• No additional hiring required: Companies don’t have to worry about hiring new employees for the specific task at hand.



• Sole Software Ownership: Companies are the sole owners of software and its source code once the task is completed by service providers.

In the following pages on this site, we have made an attempt to explain each of the above delivery models to the best of our knowledge.