Steps to start working with a remote team
In every industry, you see that working remotely is becoming more and more normal. We, in the software industry, have been doing it for decades. It started back in India last century and moved closer to Europe in e.g. Ukraine in the beginning of 2000. Now the 3rd wave has been going on for more than 10 years, where Egypt was nominated as “outsourcing destination 2016”.
If you consider to outsource your IT development to an offshore destination, there are some important things you need to be aware of. Below you can find our recommendation to what you should keep in mind before starting up an IT offshore team.
1. Find the right location – do you have any geographical preferences?
To choose the right location for you remote team is not an easy task, but you have to make a checklist for what is important for you. This could be:
- Time zone – do you need the team to work agile in the same time zone as the rest of your developers or is that not important?
- Education – do the location have the right level and type of education and is the recruitment base big enough, now and in the future? Check up on universities, their level and output each year.
- Culture – Make sure that you chose a culture not too far from your own, and culture where you should not struggle with the understanding of the language, even if you both speak English.
- Cost – The cost of hiring developers in Europe can vary, but it is often more expensive than the popular outsourcing destination, hence pay attention to what the total cost will be.
2. Find the right vendor.
This is very important, and this is where you lay the seeds for your success with outsourcing. Find a vendor who has the same cultural background as yourself, this will make communication on a daily basis much easier.
Make sure that you have access to the management. A management, who comes from the same culture or a culture which is not too far from your own. This will reflect in your Team and make the corporation on a daily basis smoother.
3. Take the full step and not just a test.
Outsourcing should always be a well-considered action, it is important that you actually take the step and dedicate the needed energy – it is like all aspects of life, if you do not do it full you will not succeed. Naturally the benefits increase with the engagements size but IT Offshoring is also for small Teams all the way down to 1 person.
4. Integrate with you own organization.
In order to make it a success, you need to have your organization behind you. You will need an ambassador to share the good stories, this will ensure that your development department understands why you are outsourcing. Make it clear that outsourcing is not at the expense of their jobs, but a prerequisite for these – and it might even resolve in better career paths for you Onshore employees.
5. Focus on communication – find a vendor who also does that.
The frightening scenarios of the early days of outsourcing, where you hear about insufficient internet connections and therefore bad communications is eliminated. Make sure you choose a vendor who has the right connection, who focus on having the right equipment, so communication with a team in e.g. Cairo will be as natural as calling your neighbor on your cellphone.
CrossWorkers has developed an easy to use scorecard, where all the most important things are listed to keep in mind before choosing a location and vendor. You can rate each area and add your own weight to the point in order to make a data-based choice.
If you want to learn more about what CrossWorkers can offer you please do not hesitate to contact us.
How to choose the right IT offshore country
Steps to start working with a remote team
In every industry, you see that working remotely is becoming more and more normal. We, in the software industry, have been doing it for decades. It started back in India last century and moved closer to Europe in e.g. Ukraine in the beginning of 2000. Now the 3rd wave has been going on for more than 10 years, where Egypt was nominated as “outsourcing destination 2016”.
If you consider to outsource your IT development to an offshore destination, there are some important things you need to be aware of. Below you can find our recommendation to what you should keep in mind before starting up an IT offshore team.
1. Find the right location – do you have any geographical preferences?
To choose the right location for you remote team is not an easy task, but you have to make a checklist for what is important for you. This could be:
- Time zone – do you need the team to work agile in the same time zone as the rest of your developers or is that not important?
- Education – do the location have the right level and type of education and is the recruitment base big enough, now and in the future? Check up on universities, their level and output each year.
- Culture – Make sure that you chose a culture not too far from your own, and culture where you should not struggle with the understanding of the language, even if you both speak English.
- Cost – The cost of hiring developers in Europe can vary, but it is often more expensive than the popular outsourcing destination, hence pay attention to what the total cost will be.
2. Find the right vendor.
This is very important, and this is where you lay the seeds for your success with outsourcing. Find a vendor who has the same cultural background as yourself, this will make communication on a daily basis much easier.
Make sure that you have access to the management. A management, who comes from the same culture or a culture which is not too far from your own. This will reflect in your Team and make the corporation on a daily basis smoother.
3. Take the full step and not just a test.
Outsourcing should always be a well-considered action, it is important that you actually take the step and dedicate the needed energy – it is like all aspects of life, if you do not do it full you will not succeed. Naturally the benefits increase with the engagements size but IT Offshoring is also for small Teams all the way down to 1 person.
4. Integrate with you own organization.
In order to make it a success, you need to have your organization behind you. You will need an ambassador to share the good stories, this will ensure that your development department understands why you are outsourcing. Make it clear that outsourcing is not at the expense of their jobs, but a prerequisite for these – and it might even resolve in better career paths for you Onshore employees.
5. Focus on communication – find a vendor who also does that.
The frightening scenarios of the early days of outsourcing, where you hear about insufficient internet connections and therefore bad communications is eliminated. Make sure you choose a vendor who has the right connection, who focus on having the right equipment, so communication with a team in e.g. Cairo will be as natural as calling your neighbor on your cellphone.
CrossWorkers has developed an easy to use scorecard, where all the most important things are listed to keep in mind before choosing a location and vendor. You can rate each area and add your own weight to the point in order to make a data-based choice.
If you want to learn more about what CrossWorkers can offer you please do not hesitate to contact us.
How to choose the right IT offshore country
Phone: (+45) 70 27 20 40 E-mail: info@crossworkers.com
Telefon: (+45) 70 27 20 40
E-mail: info@crossworkers.com
