The Nearshore Advantage
Developing software is not an easy task. Teamwork, effective communication, and ownership are critical success factors. Software development is a collaborative process that can be difficult enough without time zone differences that extend workdays into the night and reduce direct communication to a few hours Managing an outsource development team across large time differences is difficult and frequently results in delays, setbacks and decreased visibility into projects.
Operating in a similar time zone allows us to share work hours with our clients as a single team and be more productive. Real time interactions throughout the day between teams are crucial for the success of any project and essential for Agile development. The AssureSoft team is aligned with your team, available to talk throughout the entire day via phone, IM, or video conference.
Time Zone
Nearshore software development (also known as “Nearshoring”) is the practice of outsourcing to a nearby geographic region and time zone, not separated by an ocean (offshore). Nearshoring is a popular model for companies that don’t want to deal with the cultural, language or time zone differences involved in offshoring. It can reduce risk, complexity, and cost, and facilitate closer collaboration, and easier, more effective communication.
Communication
Poor communication caused by language barriers or cultural differences can cause loss of valuable project development time and a mismatch of expectations and deliverables. For example, in America and Latin America, “yes” confirms agreement with what was spoken, while in many offshore locations, “yes” is often used to confirm an understanding of what the speaker said, but not necessarily agreement with the statement itself and its point or assertions. Accents, intonations and cultural differences can all impact the understanding of not just the words, but their underlying meaning and intent.
Further complicating the situation are cultural mindsets to never say "No" to a customer without at least trying once, and because the "Client is God", feeling compelled to accommodate an unreasonable delivery schedule or difficult task. Also, rather than expressing an inability to understand because it can be considered rude to question a client, there can be a tendency to for some offshore teams to solve problems amongst themselves, which can put delivery schedules at risk.
All AssureSoft staff is not just proficient in English, but culturally aligned allowing our clients to communicate their needs without concern about misunderstandings. “Yes” doesn’t just mean “I understand what you just said”, it also means “I agree and commit to what you said.” And we are not afraid to politely say "No" when the need arises. In addition, our US office provides local staff that oversees all engagements and has direct responsibility for customer relationships and the success of the project.
Culture
Software development means collaboration and increasingly this collaboration must cross boundaries of organizational and national culture. The effect of different cultures involves countless challenges, from collaboration, to existing project planning and management, and even simple communication.
Our similar and warm Latin American culture facilitates communication in a respectful but straightforward way. Our regular working day, food, entertainment, customs, education, ethics and values are very similar to North America. Our people are nice, very enthusiast, and passionate about what they do. That’s why our clients like to work with us, to visit us and truly make us part of their team.
Distance
Face-to-face interaction is an important ingredient for most outsourcing engagements to build chemistry, trust and effective relationships. Our geographic proximity to US makes travel easier and less expensive thus facilitating face-to-face interaction.
Attrition and Retention
Large companies like Google, Microsoft, and others have development centers in outsourcing countries like India, China, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. Instead of being good news for the local outsourcing business, big companies are taking the majority of good engineers leaving other outsourcing companies with inexperienced resources and high attribution rates. Companies outsourcing to Asia have always had the challenge of “training good resources for others” adding significant risk and overhead to their projects. If you need a large team of 50+ developers, you will most certainly receive the attention and talent of well-established, top tier outsourcing companies. However, for smaller teams or just a few engineers, you are relegated for lower tier companies with high attrition and a shortage of talent.
As a new outsourcing spot, Bolivia has the advantage of not having large technology companies competing for its high quality technical resources, resulting in a loyal employee base with minimal turnover.