Software R&D - Offshore Software Development

In the last ten to fifteen years, companies have found that going offshore for software development has been extremely cost effective. Where individuals charge upwards of two hundred dollars an hour in America, the same services can be found for a fraction of the price in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and India. In fact, most of the micro-job sites were originally started as communities to bring together freelance programmers and companies or individuals who needed some form of coding done. As payment processors continued to facilitate the interaction between American companies and offshore residents, software R&D and offshore software development become the norm.

Software R&D (research and development) can be completed from anywhere in the world. There is no real need to employ in-house staff or even to find potential freelancers within the same region or geographical boundaries. Today, with broadband internet, overnight couriers, email and instant messaging, companies can communicate with individuals or full teams of developers with literally the stroke of a button. Even obstacles such as language and time zones can be overcome to effectively complete intricate and complicated applications or programs. Offshore software development is an extension of many business organizations, today.

One of the issues about which companies worried in the beginning was privacy. In order to contract an individual or company to undertake software R&D - offshore software development, there needed to be considerable trust, since the company would be disclosing trade secrets and proprietary information. For the most, however, that concern was quickly dismissed, as most offshore people just want paying jobs. They are not interested in the high costs of promoting the application and bringing it to market. Plus, they cannot wait years to see the return on their investments. They need a pay check now to feed their families and cover their bills. And, while contracts may not be enforceable if it came down to legal action, the thought of what might be done is a deterrent for most people regardless of where they reside.

In addition to the cost reductions, another benefit of seeking qualified programmers offshore, is the fact that they may have worked on many projects making them experts in the field. Continual software R&D - offshore software development allows the programmers to learn time saving techniques in order to complete the projects more efficiently. Typically, the economies of scale are greater than having in-house staff who are brought on solely to write and develop one program. Offshore developers can avoid pitfalls that might hinder the project, since they have worked around the issues on previous applications.

Finally, software R&D - offshore software development can actually provide a level of security not evident when using in-house staff. Often, rival companies try to steal employees from their competitors. By offering them more than the company for whom they work, the employees end up leaving with secrets and information that can be used by others regardless of non-compete and non-disclosure statements. Indeed, it is much more difficult to find out the identities of offshore freelance individuals, which means that privacy can be protected more effectively.