Nearshoring cooperation models

20 October 2021

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Over the recent years, the popularity of IT outsourcing has grown. Constant changes, new systems, and solutions require being up-to-date with market novelties and broadening knowledge which may translate into costs related to training. Outsourcing of IT services allows you to avoid these costs and gain quick access to expert knowledge. First, however, it is worth carefully verifying your needs, determining the areas in which you want to engage an external provider, as well as specifying the tasks that you plan to entrust to them. Nowadays, there are many consulting and development companies providing nearshore software development services that can come in handy.

What is nearshoring?

Nearshoring means outsourcing processes to countries nearby. Cultural proximity also plays an important role here. E.g., on the Polish market, there are many IT specialists ready to work on projects for companies from Germany, the UK, or the Scandinavian countries. Nearshoring cooperation minimizes some of the difficulties, e.g., language barrier, culture gap, and helps overcome challenges related to work organization. Geographical proximity and good communication are relevant too. They facilitate arranging business meetings which are also vital for making strategic decisions during the project.

Methods of cooperation in nearshoring and their benefits

Nearshoring allows you to select from many flexible cooperation models and individually determine costs, responsibilities, and rights (e.g. the size of teams and time of cooperation).

Below are three cooperation models and their advantages:

#1. Dedicated team – this IT outsourcing model is most suitable for companies whose project requires new technological skills. The team is built in such a way as to meet project requirements. The company gets long-term access to competencies. This method works well in projects in which the duration and scope of work may change.

Advantages of a dedicated team model:

Saving time and costs related to talent acquisition and onboarding of new team members.
No additional costs (e.g., associated with holidays, private medical care, IT equipment, and systems).
Effective project management, for example, with the use of Agile methodology. Thanks to this, the team can focus on meeting customer needs and react quickly to changes in the project. In this model, close cooperation between the parties is necessary. Dedicated teams typically use software for remote task management to track the progress of work.
Support of experts who have worked together on a project and thereby have the best working methods in place.

#2. Managed services – a company entrusts an external provider with permanent support for a given process or function, in which specific time and performance conditions should be set, in a continuous mode. Many industries such as manufacturing, HR, industry, banking, willingly take advantage of this model. Managed services are used in particular to maintain, operate and develop applications, databases, and complex business systems.

Advantages of the managed services model:

increased efficiency and better quality of processes while reducing costs.
access to the latest solutions, systems, and technologies, without having to make major changes to your own IT environment,
flexible adaptation to specific organization’s requirements – you can freely scale teams engaging an adequate number of people.

#3. Build Operate Transfermodel (BOT model) – allows clients to set up an operational subsidiary of their company abroad with the support of a local provider. It is a complex approach to project implementation. BOT is a model of cooperation in which the company delegates design, development, and maintenance for a given time to the provider. After setting up a stable strategy for the project maintenance, the in-house team takes over responsibility. This model consists of three separate phases.

“Build” – the provider and headquarters work together, discussing the scope and specifics. Next, the provider implements the strategy worked out earlier on. The process includes employing specialists and preparing the workplace.
“Operate” – The provider creates and implements the improvement strategy.
“Transfer” – The provider handles the completed project and transfers employees, equipment, and documentation. Usually, the time of handover is discussed during the initial negotiations – this way both the provider and the client avoid confusion in the final phase.

Benefits of the BOT model

Saving costs – the company can make savings on the employment and operational costs.
Implementing new technologies and new ideas – cooperation with an experienced provider gives companies owners a new perspective. The team will have access to the provider’s tools and practices.
Reduced workload – thanks to selecting the BOT cooperation type, team managers gain access to talents and developed infrastructure, which allows them to focus on activities relevant in terms of company development.

Which nearshoring model to choose?

It is hard to recommend one of the above cooperation methods as an ideal choice. Each company should individually analyze its needs and requirements in terms of a given project. Of course, you should pay attention to the cost-quality ratio related to nearshoring services in a particular location. It is worthwhile verifying which competencies are in place and specifying the scope of outsourcing support.

Why Poland as an outsourcing partner?

For many years, Poland has been one of the most willingly selected IT outsourcing partners for companies from all over the world. There are many qualified developers on the Polish market. Clients from Europe value cooperation with Polish specialists as there are neither cultural gaps nor communication problems. The central location of our country is also advantageous, for example, flights from the many European countries take about 2-3 hours. The costs of software outsourcing in Poland are lower than in the case of hiring specialists on the local, home market, without compromising the quality of services.

Summary

Deciding on IT nearshoring, you need to bear in mind that this form of cooperation calls for engagement, building business relationships, and openness in the context of searching out-of-box solutions. On the Polish market, there are currently numerous companies that offer the possibility of outsourcing cooperation. One of such companies is JCommerce, which has years of experience in the IT services industry, so it can provide you with professional help to complete key technology projects. With a trusted business partner and a guide to the world of advanced technologies, your company can find new ways to grow and thus become competitive.