The Difficulties of Hiring an Offshore Software or App Development Firm
There is no doubt that app development has grown in popularity recently, and demand is higher than ever. In today’s competitive market, there are numerous business ventures jumping on the application bandwagon. Because of the increased adoption of mobile apps across industries, businesses must adapt to this technology in order to remain competitive.
Today, we’ll talk about the challenges and hidden costs that are frequently associated with offshore app development, as well as the things you should think about before hiring a team from another country.
Before we go any further, we’d like to share some important statistics about app development and its impact on the modern world.
- The app development industry is expected to become a trillion-dollar phenomenon by 2023.
- The pandemic has created a massive demand for apps, with over 218 billion downloads in 2020.
- Mobile users spend an average of 4 hours each day using applications.
- At least 60% of smartphone users have used contact buttons for business inquiries within applications.
The popularity of the web and mobile app development has skyrocketed in recent years, necessitating anyone’s consideration of investing in a mobile or web application. Having said that, you must ensure that you are assembling the best team possible for this investment.
Let us now look at the difficulties that come with offshore app development.
Issues with the final product’s quality
High-quality work is available all over the world, but the definition of quality varies from place to place due to a variety of factors. When working with offshore developers, you may encounter a team that measures quality based on their local standards or requirements.
The main issue here is that most discrepancies will arise as a result of different expectations between the parties, and the process of fine-tuning the final product to increase its quality to meet your expectations is extremely time-consuming, resulting in lost time and additional costs. Keep this in mind when selecting your development partner, as it will be critical for you to achieve the best results.
Legal issues
The possibility of encountering a legal issue is a scenario that most people fail to anticipate, but there are numerous scenarios in which people could end up in a legal battle with the development firm.
It is always a good idea to familiarize yourself with the laws of the country in which your offshore development team is based. This research process may take valuable time away from your project schedule, but it is necessary to prepare for the worst-case scenario in case you end up in a squabble with your offshore development team.
Communication challenges
Most of the time, people hire offshore developers who do not speak English well. When working on a project like an app development, this can be a serious issue because it involves several rounds of discussions and iterations, making it difficult to convey ideas, thoughts, or features. One of the most common reasons why offshore development can become complicated is this.
This is why you should find out how fluent the developers are in the language of your choice. Perhaps a quick video conference call would be a good way to reveal this and see if communication between you and their team is smooth.
Deficits in infrastructure
It is entirely possible that an offshore team will handle your project with obsolete equipment. This could lead to a slew of problems and setbacks that could be avoided if you hiring a team that can show you the type of hardware and work environment they will be using while developing your project.
One of the major issues that can cause a project to be delaying is a lack of quality hardware for development and testing. As a result, it is important to work with a team that has updated hardware, but this may come at a higher cost than expected.
Travel expenses
Some projects may be too large to handle solely through video conferencing. When dealing with a significant investment, you will discover that travel expenses are also including in the course. This could entail several trips to meet with the developers, which could cost thousands of dollars more.
There may be times when video conferences and online meetings are sufficient. Nonetheless, most large projects would necessitate face-to-face meetings to finalize and conclude the work. There may be details and conversations that cannot be expressing or conveying via online conferences.
Additional costs and complications with updates and upgrades
Even the most experienced development teams would have to go through several rounds of bug finding and fixing to ensure a smooth user experience. When an app is releasing, there may be several bugs in the code (new updates on iOS/Android versions, updates/upgrades from third-party vendors, different screen resolutions, etc.) that require immediate attention, and it is expecting that the development team will resolve the bugs as soon as possible and release frequent patches/ updates to ensure a seamless experience for your customers/users.
Working with an offshore app development agency will make this process more difficult than working with a more accessible team. This is yet another consideration when considering hiring a development team in a different country or continent.
One of the most important considerations is that offshore developers will not provide the same level of clarity, engagement, communication, and workflow as a domestic mobile app development company.
As a result, it is advising that you take your time with this process in order to get the most out of your investment. Keep these difficulties in mind as you look for the right team for your project.
