It is possible that you already know the difference between onshore and offshore services. But have you ever heard about nearshoring? If you don’t, it may be the time to understand better what it means and consider it as an option. Basically, the nearshore services gathers offshore characteristics with some regional and operational particularities.
Nowadays there are plenty of companies operating in this market that may fit your necessities. Due to this diversity, comprehending how nearshore works must be a priority when you think about outsourcing IT services. Besides the capacity of choosing the most suitable company, this knowledge will help your own business on finding the better outsourcing method.
Nearshore Services: What is It?
The nearshore outsourcing is, first of all, a way of reducing operational costs, without decreasing quality. It happens when you hire an enterprise which is not located in your country, but somewhere that hold geographic and cultural characteristics. Similarities like language proximity and time zone are some of the aspects that nearshore services brings with it.
Since this kind of service is very related to IT demands, almost always the physical contact won’t be necessary. A particularity that opens up a lot of possibilities. If your company is looking for software developers, for example, working remotely is not supposed to be a problem. Once the nearshore implies on less language and schedule obstacles, working with a foreign enterprise should not be a problem.
The main difference in relation to the offshore services is this proximity. While in an offshore outsourcing you may work with companies based on the other side of the globe, the nearshore service will always imply, at least, in one proximity aspect. There are, of course, a lot of offshore relations where both enterprises have some common characteristics, like language. American companies outsourcing some services in India, for instance.
Even some asian countries are usually the first idea when we talk about IT outsourcing, they are not alone. Some Latin American and Eastern European nations are becoming references in the IT market. Brazil, Peru, Ukraine, Latvia and Estonia are some of them. This variety of options makes the nearshore each time more attractive.
The Benefits of Nearshore Services
Communication
Nearshoring tends to reduce the communicational issues. Language proximity is probably the central aspect when we think about this benefit. However, there are some other details that facilitate the communication process — time zone, for example. Once both companies share the same (or close) time zone, problems can be easily solved during business hours, as well as meetings.
Budget
Decreasing expenses has a huge influence on the decision of nearshoring. Actually, that’s probably the most attractive aspect for the companies. That happens specially because of economic particularities. Usually, the hired enterprise act in a country where the currency is not as valued compared to the contractor’s. Because of that, the salaries almost always are lower in relation to the country of the hirer.
Geographical proximity
Besides the time-related aspects of being geographically close to the hired company, there is a logistic benefit. Nearshoring turns almost all the programing work remote, yet extraordinary situations can always happens. For instance, cases when a collaborator must exceptionally visit the IT company head office. Once both hirer and hired company take place relatively close, this situation are facilitated.
Business Size Compatibility
Plenty of times, the demand for outsourcing services comes from small and medium-sized enterprises. Companies which, sometimes, are based on small buildings and don’t have much money to invest. This scenario results in a difficulty to hire new collaborators. That’s why outsourcing services are, sometime, the only option for an skilled IT service.
Time to Nearshore Services
Knowing that nearshore outsourcing exists and how it works increases the variety of options when you think about the adoption of IT services. It doesn’t mean that this service is the only solution. Just as every decision made by a company, choosing for an outsourced service also demands study and preparation. There are pros and cons for all decisions, and nearshoring is not an exception.
That said, we can’t deny that nearshore companies improves everyday. The successful cases are many and they just show an effective dynamic output. Now you know its benefits, the nearshore should be taken as a real possibility of outsourcing IT services.
