Most of the companies from UK, USA, Australia, and other locations prefer to partner with an offshore software development company in Ukraine. But how to find the best way to reach the one that suits you best among 1,500+ vendors of various shapes and sizes? What criteria are the foremost critical ones? And where is the way to form your partner selection process smooth and safe?
In first, we should clarify an answer to the question “What is the difference between “onshore” and “offshore” development?”. In most cases, “onshore” refers to locations within the region, including business activities, IT outsourcing services or manufacturing. Offshore refers to areas outside of the country or state. Those words have become more popular since the project development abroad became popular. Talking about an offshore software development company, you should be prepared to have its headquarters located somewhere in Eastern Europe or Asia. These are the most popular outsourcing destinations with the lowest market rates and a highly qualified workforce. You may consider a variant of onshore and nearshore outsourcing if you don’t want to cooperate with a company located so far away. So when trying to find offshore development services in Ukraine, confirm that your potential vendor offers you the most effective cooperation model that suits your business needs.
To help you navigate through the varied vendor landscape and make an informed decision, we’ve prepared a step-by-step guide to make your journey much more comfortable.
1. CREATE AN EXTENDED LIST OF OFFSHORE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT COMPANIES
Whether you’re a CTO, PM, or a purchase manager trying to find an inventory of companies which will assist you solve your business problems, the route is just about equivalent.
CHECK VENDOR DIRECTORIES.
Another reliable source of the information on offshore development companies in Ukraine is devoted vendor listings like Clutch, GoodFirms, Extract, etc., which base their rankings on meticulous research and an outlined set of criteria. Such lists will assist you find the businesses that provide offshore development services in Ukraine and around the world. you’ll filter them by the scale of the project, the quantity of employees, industry focus, also take into account size of their clients. For your convenience the largest directories, like Clutch, present verified clients’ references, which pay attention to different aspects of partnerships, from the power to gather a team promptly to project management skills.
BROWSE COMPANIES’ WEBSITES.
- a company overview page with the essential information about them;
- the company’s offices and their locations;
- services, technologies, and expertise they need, also as their portfolio;
- check their blog (updates and topics they cover);
- job opening and careers section, etc.
While browsing the vendors’ websites, you’ll be able to check their domain and tech expertise, sorts of services they provide (e.g dedicated development team, team extension), their portfolios. Besides that, concentrate to their size as small companies might not have enough capacity to enhance your project and really large ones might not care enough about your business problems. So, in most cases, it’s better to cooperate with small-size companies. Besides, these companies are more likely to supply you a much more personalized service then middle size and large companies.
2. SHORTLIST THE INITIAL POOL OF OFFSHORE COMPANIES
Now, it’s time to narrow down the list of offshore software development companies in Ukraine. There are some simple steps to shortlist potential vendors:
SEND OUT RFIS.
Knowing what inquiries to ask your potential vendor is critical. Сoncentrate to those aspects of a possible partnership with an offshore software development company in Ukraine:
- what pricing and cooperation models they provide ( because it may affect the last word cost of your project);
- what professional development services the firm offers;
- how they ensure effective Agile processes;
- do they have a strong knowledge transfer plan;
- what they are doing for attracting, training, and retaining the talent;
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3. ASSESS THEIR COMMUNICATION LEVEL
First interactions with a possible vendor matter the most. If you see that it takes them ages to reply, they show small/or no interest in your company, or they don’t seem addicted to working with you, it’d be better to avoid an organization like that.
However, if you would like a replay ASAP, confirm to incorporate important details to cut back the time required to process your request. It’s going to include your business needs, your domain, size of the team you’ll need, and therefore the technical stack you’ll require. this may help an offshore development company in Ukraine (or anywhere for that matter) to know whether or not they can assist you with the services you need.
Remember, that no experience, portfolio, or expertise can structure for the shortage of communication and customer approach. If they ignore you at the start , what causes you to think they’re going to change it later?
4. DISCUSS THE PRICING MODEL
Here we got three typical engagement models:
- fixed price
- dedicated development team
- time & material model
The fixed price model is good for small and medium projects with clearly determined requirements. it’s the less flexible model since any deviation from the initial plan will cause significant changes in either price or schedule. that’s why you would like to debate the project scope, requirements, budget, and deadlines before signing the contract.
Another model may be a dedicated development team – a superb solution for long-term projects with changing requirements. It’s suitable in many cases, e.g. once you got to develop a product or extend your development capabilities. It allows you to possess full control over the team or delegate it to the seller . This model is very flexible and adaptable to changes.
The T&M model is employed to attract an expert on a short-term basis for needs of the project. It allows you to engage necessary experts effectively and pay just for their work using the hourly rate. This ensures cost-efficiency, transparency delivery of the tasks right in time.
5. CLARIFY LEGAL DETAILS
Contract signing is that the culmination within the vendor selection. However, any promising cooperation may become a disaster if the businesses run into legal obstacles.
While shortlisting the pool of potential vendors, confirm to debate legal aspects like liability, property ownership, timeframes of partnership, and other clauses. this may help both you and your potential vendor steel oneself against drafting a contract. And while the ultimate contract always differs from the primary draft; it’s important to know whether the cooperation is feasible at all.
6. TRY TO MEET YOUR OFFSHORE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS
Sometimes a personal “connection” between partners is much more important the agreement. We recommend you to visit your partners personally to “shake their hands” and to do the next things:
- meet the project team and share your project vision
- understand the level of team’s motivation
- to see in person if the company has an established process in general (recruitment, financial liability, project management)
6. KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER AND COMMUNICATION.
Knowledge transfer is about mutual effort. search for a vendor that gives a strong knowledge transfer plan and has a longtime culture of knowledge-sharing. confirm to cover the fundamentals and appoint stakeholders that your team can contact just in case of further questions.
Also, fixing the efficient communication are often the key to tackling geographical zone difference. Clarify to schedule meetings, status checks, or reviews during the overlapping hours.
