S3Corp. Tech Blog

OFFSHORE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT MODEL BY SERVICES

One more aspect that is obligatory to be mentioned in when speaking of the offshore outsourcing is the classification of the service models. The choice of the service model depends on the volume of the project, but also has its influence. The service model chosen will indicate the part of work shared between in-house and offshore teams.

• Staff Augmentation
• Offshore Development Center
• Project-based

STAFF AUGMENTATION

This is relatively simple offshore software development model when compared with the others. Staff augmentation enables companies to empower the in-house staff with offshore developers as they are fully fledged part of the team. The main advantage of the staff augmentation is the ability to engage with the occasionally needed developers only when the customer actually needs them and avoid wasting budget for the people “on bench”. Although it requires the client to manage augmented staff directly. Routine development or testing, for example, can be performed by the offshore or nearshore development resources provided by an outsourcing software development company, while the technical leadership and management of the project remain client’s responsibility. Obviously, outsourcing services provider won’t be able to bring innovations or his expertise in this case. In fact, the lower responsibility for the final result and lack of the involvement in the project steering committee, prevent outsourcing software company from influencing the project for better or worse.

With the staff augmentation offshore software development model, the list of outsourcing contractor’s responsibilities is usually quite short. Usually, it includes routines technical stuff like the implementation and sometimes prototyping part. The vision of the product and decision scope of the members of the augmented development resources team are limited and don’t encourage them to improvise. It is essential to pre-define realistic expectations and responsibilities for both client and outsourcing contractor. For example, define who is in charge of the product development lifecycle, which usually belongs to the client in staff augmentation model. It helps the outsourcing services provider and the customer to work like a single unit and secure flawless development process.

Check our comparison of the Staff Augmentation and Managed Services with the detailed look at the advantages of each model.

OFFSHORE DEVELOPMENT CENTER

Offshore Development Center is an outsourcing model which shines in the long-term projects with the big scope of work. This model is used by all the companies who need to decrease the cost without sacrificing the quality and without lowering the available development resources. To achieve this goal, the customer chooses the offshore or nearshore software development company to pick up and form a team of experienced dedicated offshore developers from the contractor’s stuff pull. These developers are guaranteed to be engaged only in one project at a time and be fully managed by the customer. This framework allows the customer to make sure that the team will meet project requirements and will be capable of accomplishing required functionality in a timely manner. One more pretty simple but not so obvious advice is that when running a complex long-term project, it is not advised to change developers.

Consequently, the agreement usually starting with the point that the team is reserved by the particular client. The main client’s goal is to give the planned outcome in terms of the code and features. As for the engagement cost, it depends on the technologies used, level, the number of involved software development engineers. The offshore development center model is a good choice for the clients who are familiar with the intricacy and drawbacks of their project development, ready to overcome these challenges by investing in long-term business relations. The dedicated development team as the representative of all technologies, architecture, experience, and knowledge is the guaranty for the quality of the project.

PROJECT BASED

An offshore software development model used for the projects with defined timeframes often used for projects with well-defined requirements that are most likely won’t change during the development process. This remote development model is well-known for such advantages as the cost reduction and shorter time to market. Industry experts achieve this via selecting a software outsourcing service provider with the expertise in the technologies used in the project and experience in the business vertical accordingly. However, if you feel like your needs may experience some shifts during the development or you’re operating on the quickly evolving market like payment processing it is highly recommended to use other strategic outsourcing models like dedicated development team. Also, if your engagement scope is bigger than one-time project – this model is worth your consideration too. The project-based approach is considered the most appropriate option for companies with irregular, one-off, and pilot projects of low to medium complexity with well-defined requirements and deliverables. Many of these projects turn into mutually beneficial and long-lasting relationships in the form of a dedicated development center, for instance.