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Nearshore Staff Augmentation and the new way of working
In a global economy characterized by technology that’s constantly changing, how can businesses reduce costs without sabotaging quality? How can businesses adapt to new tech advancements and a more demanding workforce without falling behind?
Nearshore staff augmentation solves these pain points by directly allowing companies to maintain a similar quality of production, reduce operational costs, and source the talent they need when they need it most. Nearshore staff augmentation has become increasingly popular amongst small and medium-sized businesses, competing with bigger names that are struggling to attract top talent. Other businesses may not have a qualified recruitment team skilled in vetting the right candidates, so nearshore staff augmentation becomes a more convenient route to take. Nearshore also solves the common problem of a local talent shortage. Businesses that can’t afford the long wait to find the right talent look to nearshore staff augmentation providers to assist with providing them with the right talent on the go.
Nearshore staff augmentation boasts a lot of benefits for businesses wishing to reduce costs, maintain high-quality standards and tap into the best talent out there. These are the top 4 benefits nearshore staff augmentation is providing thousands of companies around the world today.
Saving money is one of the biggest advantages of nearshore staff augmentation for software development today. Being able to source the best engineering talent outside of your country’s borders gives you the ability to find the right talent at a convenient cost.
On average, 90% of cost savings result from companies investing in nearshore software development every year. For example, the cost of hiring full-time software developers in the US is much higher than it would be to outsource the same experienced talent in nearshore countries, such as Mexico. The average annual salary for software developers in the US is around $94,000. By hiring the same talent in Latin America you can cut that number in half. At this salary rate, Latin American developers are still earning above the average national salary, so it really is a financial win-win for everybody.
Another option for nearshoring is to implement a hybrid approach. Leveraging an onshore senior staff member combined with nearshore talent establishes a blended rate that significantly reduces overall engagement costs. As mentioned, relying 100% on onshore teams is much more expensive. Hybrid teams offer an alternative and deliver much the same quality at 60-70% of the cost, depending on the team make-up and size.
Of course, the cheapest option isn’t always the smartest option. We recommend you do your research well and get in touch with an experienced and recommended nearshore staff augmentation company for software development to make sure quality is at the core of any project you decide to invest in.
One of the main reasons nearshore talent augmentation for software development has become so popular over the established offshore model - especially since Covid-19 forced people to adjust to the way they were working, is the convenience of working in the same time zone. Unlike offshore development, where companies hire teams that may be as far away as another continent, nearshore boasts the opportunity for teams in different countries to be working in the same, or a very similar time zone during the business day altogether. Being able to work in the same time zones is another advantage of nearshore software development that drives efficiency in processes and project management.
Why is this the best way of working across borders? Well, simply put, work gets done faster, and as people start and end their day at similar times, the probability of something urgent being left until the next day drastically decreases. In offshore software development projects, one of the biggest challenges for international teams is the huge gap between time zones. For example, the US is around 7-9 hours behind India. That means that when Americans are preparing to start their day, teams in India are just about to clock out. This causes long waiting times for something to get done or for someone to get back to you and, in turn, projects may find themselves on ‘’hold’’ as different parties, in distant time zones, struggle to be in sync.
Because nearshore staff augmentation is all about diverse teams in different countries being able to work in easy-to-collaborate time zones, work gets done faster, with fewer roadblocks and more efficiency.
Cultural and language barriers can be extremely challenging for effective team collaboration and they are usually difficult to overcome in the long run. These barriers result in frequent communication issues, project delays, and misunderstandings between team members.
Working with a team with a similar culture, time zone, and language makes it possible for the nearshore team to integrate with your team seamlessly. Communication and collaboration also end up being more fluid, making the transfer of knowledge easier. The nearshore staff augmentation team will be able to adapt to your processes and requirements in a faster space because fewer barriers are involved.
When building products and working with engineering teams, communication should never be a problem, as it is one of the most essential ingredients to doing successful business. Unlike offshoring, nearshoring brings more clarity to the communication process between you and your nearshore team.
When you go the nearshore route and hire a team in an adjacent country, you broaden your pool of talent by finding more capable and skilled talent to work on your projects.
Latin America is an emerging leader when it comes to what it can offer talent-wise and many companies considering nearshore software development are already investing in hiring experienced software engineers in the region.
According to numerous sources a staggering number of around 1 million graphic developers in Latin America are currently working as software developers. Just Brazil and Mexico combined boast over 700,000 skilled developers! Many of them are currently working nearshore for companies outside their home countries. This also means that Latin America is home to the software engineering expertise that people and companies should seriously consider for nearshore software development projects now, and in the future.
An advantage of nearshore software development is that companies are now no longer restricted to finding top talent within their own borders.
About Icalia Labs
Icalia Labs is a world-class nearshore software product firm enabling businesses to translate their digital strategies into tangible value. With a customer-centric design and an engineering culture, the firm guides its clients through an agile framework to acquire new digital capabilities and fortify their innovation-to-market mindset.
Icalia Labs delivers value through a frictionless software environment, assembling the right people, products, and processes into the mix. We have grown our team all across the Americas, leveraging economies of scale to achieve more in less time while providing better solutions.
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