Outsourcing development is an accustomed practice, but as development has transitioned from a waterfall model to agile practices, some of the drawbacks of working with teams half a world away have become glaringly obvious. Nearshore resources offer some unique benefits over more far-flung options. Here are five reasons why agile nearshore teams will provide you with better outcomes than you’re getting now.
- Shared Culture: When outsourcing, it’s important to understand the culture you’re interacting with and how it relates to the collaborative process. Because some regions’ cultures are deeply grounded in respect for authority, offering feedback is sometimes perceived as insubordinate and disrespectful, which means that you don’t fully benefit from the expertise of the people you’ve hired. Nearby countries offer more shared social norms, so when there’s an interesting possibility to consider, you hear about it. And the more cultural overlap you have, the easier it is for Agile teams to develop rapport.
- True Agility: Communication is so much easier when you can do it in real-time, as evidenced by the popularity of apps like Slack. And agile teams, by their very nature, communicate often. When half your team is on the other side of the globe, that process can get derailed despite everyone’s best intentions. Working with countries in this hemisphere cuts the chronological space between you by almost half a day, ensuring that you can scrum with the best of them. Keep in mind that agile teams run optimally when they’ve been together long enough to develop relationships and effective workflows. That’s another reason time zones matter! Many companies bridge a big time zone gap by expecting overseas developers to work graveyard shifts. As you might imagine, this leads to a high level of employee attrition. If your team is perpetually starting over with new members, everyone is at a disadvantage.
- Easier Updates: If you’re implementing a highly iterative development process, like DevOps, that’s another reason that time differences are a real hassle. If your development team is 12 hours ahead of you, it creates a disconnect between when bugs are detected and when you’re able to actually sign off on changes. Your updates just plain won’t be as fluid as those of your competitors who use nearshore resources.
- LATAM is a Target Market: Latin American countries like Argentina, Mexico and Brazil lead the world in time spent on mobile devices. They’re power users who account for double the number of mobile devices currently used in the United States. Doesn’t it make sense to leverage agile teams from countries who are likely to be using your software?
- SMB-Friendly: An increasing number of nearshore developers are focusing on small and medium-sized businesses, and as nearshoring models become more normalized pricing models have become more feasible. So, if you’ve been thinking of nearshoring as something only large organizations can implement, think again!
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