High Score Labs News   •   Jan 19, 2020

Often in today’s busy world, it is often required to leverage small teams against a lot of work. This can cause issues with timelines as well as quality. In some other cases, it can be that you cannot find specific, experienced talent to work on a more niched part of a project. Instead of dwelling on the issues, what are some potential options? One method is using nearshore/offshore teams. Here are our 3 things to consider, when making the decision whether to go this route.

Reduced Cost. It is true that most places in the world will offer resources at reduced rates, especially when compared to the average rates in the US and western Europe. This is due to the lower cost of living in these countries, which can make it advantageous to make use of such teams. However, the cheapest option doesn’t make it necessarily the best option. One way to analyze, is take several options from different countries and compare them before making the final choice. Look for items along the lines of:
– How many projects, of what size have they done in the past?
– Any case studies on these projects?
– What does their online presence look like?
– Do they have even a small office in my country, or is it 100% offshore?
– Although the entire team may be impractical, is their management or lead developers willing to travel to meet face to face from time to time?

Casting a Wide Net. Often times, when looking for a very niche skill set, increasing your search pool can certainly help. This will often involve looking into other countries. Do your research to see which countries tend to have the type of resources you are looking for and then focus your attention there. Sometimes it makes sense for an organization to create their own team in a foreign country, simply so that they can directly manage the resources and not have to worry about working through an intermediary to get to the development team. Also consider making partnerships with organizations in those countries that help find the right talent when you need it.

Learning from Someone Else. One strategy is to focus on finding one person that is at an SME level (Subject Matter Expert) in the niche skill. This way they can work with your team for a fixed amount of time to help them learn. While going this route, it is very important for your team to document what they learn as much as possible. It is also highly recommended that you appoint a PoC from your side that is able to learn new skills quickly, to take the lead in this process. After a few months, your team will begin to become more self-sufficient and better able to handle more of the work.

At High Score Lab, we have a big team of experts in both the US and Ukraine, that focus in different technologies; from Episerver, WordPress, Sitecore, Machine Learning and .net development, we look forward to the opportunity to help you with your goals!

Contact us today!