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Outsourcing is an effective cost-saving strategy when you contract with another company (usually foreign) or person to do a particular function. There are many benefits from outsourcing, for example it lets organizations hire the employees for performing certain tasks and pay only for them. There is no need to hire and train permanent staff. Outsourcing pays off because you can choose from experienced and reliable specialists worldwide. Besides transferring external staff helps to handle the peak loads easily.
The software industry is one of the most quickly developing and growing areas, that is why companies feel the need for hiring qualified staff. That explains why more and more companies (such giants as Motorola, Oracle, and Microsoft) are taking advantage of outsourcing nowadays.
Certainly, there is the other side of the coin. The success of business depends heavily on the country chosen for outsourcing. Many companies in the USA and Europe prefer to transfer software development job to Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and India. This article covers the pros and cons of software outsourcing in Belarus.
Advantages of software development outsourcing in Belarus
Human resources
Historically in Belarus there are many universities and institutes that provide free higher education. Therefore many young people have an opportunity to get it. But the applicants have to go through very strict selection procedure and then make the best efforts to have the highest results. Therefore the traditional education is on a very high level and the students become really high-level professionals.
Also there are many new private institutes. Their education program is more flexible and can quickly react to any requirements of the market. Nowadays they make the main emphasis on IT-specializations like developers, designers, testers, analysts, etc.
It is important to realize that higher education in Belarus means not only deep knowledge in the chosen specialization but also lateral thinking and capabilities to solve complicated and intensive tasks. That is why the Belorussian developers are known as the experts with broad-based knowledge who are able to provide top-quality products.
Rates
What is the most important thing for the customer? Without a doubt, the goal is to get the highest quality product at a low price. The cost of software products made in Belarus is much less than the one in the USA or in Western Europe. Firstly, the average rate per hour is much less here; secondly, the Belorussian developers can perform many types of qualified work – one person can be a developer, a business analyst and a manager at the same time. Also personal responsibility is very high here so the customer is absolutely sure that his/her money won’t be wasted.
Geographic location
Belarus is situated exactly in the center of Europe. The neighboring countries are Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine and Russia. The country has good transport connections with many European capitals and there is no problem to reach almost any point of Europe in two or three hours. As for more distant countries, one can be there in a couple of hours if he takes a connecting flight in Moscow.
The approximate flight time from Minsk (the capital of Belarus) to Moscow is 1 hour and 30 minutes, to Vilnius is 40 minutes, to Paris is 3 hours, to Prague is 1 hour and 45 minutes, to Berlin is 1 hour and 50 minutes.
Therefore such favorable location of Belarus allows having private meetings with the team in different countries when required.
Time zone
Belarus has the same time zone with many European countries. Belarus is in the Eastern European Standard time zone. EET is only 3 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time It allows to be constantly in touch and to resolve all working problems online.
The time difference between Belarus and USA is 7-11 hours. And this difference is very favorable to the American customers as it allows them to give the task before the night and receive the work done in the morning. As they say, you sleep but the work goes on! Under such conditions the work is performed even faster and more efficiently than it could be done in one time zone.
Mentality
There’s no secret that good communication and sympathy are the key to success. Misunderstanding and cultural gap are the problems which often arise in an international team. The difference of mentality and the language barrier can destroy any great idea.
Belarusians are known for their intelligence and politeness. They live just in the heart of Europe and have European mentality. Also good English skills are one of the most important parts of higher education here. Choosing outsourcing in Belarus, the customer can be sure that he/she will have no problems with communication with the team.
Disadvantages of software development outsourcing in Belarus
In fact, Belarus does not have any specific disadvantages of software development outsourcing, but one can come across some general problems. Such as:
- Doing business with an inexperienced partner
Although there are many stories with a happy end in software outsourcing, some new start-up companies don’t understand the specific aspects of this process and fail to meet the deadline. As a result, a customer doesn’t get the quality product on time.
- Loss of confidentiality
Since business secrets and other proprietary information can make or break the success of your company, you shouldn’t leave their protection to chance. Unhappily, it is very difficult to protect the secrets from leaving the company in outsourcing business. The customer should not take the employee discretion for granted and choose a reliable outsourcing company.
Thus, one of the most important criteria for choosing a partner company for outsourcing should be an assessment of the company’s reliability, experience and good reference from other customers.
To minimize the risks, the good solution is to organize the pilot project with the potential software development outsourcing company. It helps to understand if a large-scale project might work in practice. Only when you have success with the pilot project, you can trust the company to implement your ideas.
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Source by Alex Turchak