Offshore development is usually defined as the outsourcing the work in areas like software or other IT works, such as project analysis, design, coding, testing, and maintenance from companies in developed countries to software companies in low wage areas. For most companies, the advantages of offshore development are unquestionable. Wide availability of specialized skill sets, established quality standards and significant cost savings are driving most new and existing customers to broaden the scope of their offshore IT activities. Nearly all of the Fortune 500 companies are using offshore development services or have their own offshore centers set up. Major hardware and software giants like Microsoft, IBM, Apple, Novell, Sun and Siemens have extensive offshore operations. Many of the world's famous software applications are developed offshore, either partially or completely.
Benefits of Offshore Outsourcing:
Technical Expertise Availability: Top IT professionals are available offshore which can deliver the quality as per the desired levels of the companies in the developed nations.
Quality Benefits: Customers are assured of the quality and on time delivery of their projects which is very vital for them.
Cost Benefits: The companies have the advantage of cost cutting by a sizeable amount if the work is outsourced from a low wage country like India, China etc. This saves them huge escalating initial costs.
Start-up Time Benefits: It is usually much easier and faster to start up a project offshore than in-house. Besides, offshore companies are always prepared to take up projects at any stage.
Protection Benefits: All intellectual property rights will belong to the original company. Financial protection is also guaranteed as payments are made only when specific milestones have been achieved. In addition, it is quite usual now for offshore companies to offer fixed price solutions on guaranteed dead-lines.
Note:
For the companies' seeking extensive offshore talent pool it is important that it must be accompanied by project management expertise, efficient processes and transparent tracking systems in order to ensure quality and on time deliveries of their projects.
