Imagine conducting a team meeting at the headquarters office while your time is connected online and located 1–3 hours away. That’s how a nearshore software development center works. Nearshore software development centers are set in a nearby country, mostly within the same timezone or in the same timezone. Why do businesses open these offices, and how do they complete this task? Let’s figure this out!

Reasons to Opt for a Nearshore Software Development Center

There are several key reasons why businesses choose nearshore development centers, such as cost-saving, proximity, and talent pool. The nearshore office should be located in a close country or city because it offers a comparable cost of living and an affordable labor rate. Besides, it may shorten the overhead expenses. These include expenses such as office space, utilities, and administrative costs. Usually, these costs are more expensive in the regions where headquarters are registered.

Despite the lower cost of living, nearshore development centers respond to all quality necessities such as education, talent pool, facilities, etc. Many nearshore offices open in Poland, Brazil, Mexico, and other countries, offering a high level of education, infrastructure, and language skills but with lower costs of living. Moreover, with a nearshore team, travel costs for on-site visits are generally lower than offshore or onshore. All this provides a cost-saving balance.

Last but not least, the reason for this is cultural similarities. Geographically closer, countries mostly share similar cultural backgrounds and values.

Challenges and Solutions

While the nearshore center development is beneficial for business owners, there are several challenges they may face but efficiently overcome. Here are some challenges to consider while choosing a nearshore destination:

Communication styles, work ethic and attitudes toward time, decision-making processes, approach to problem-solving and innovation, and attitude toward feedback and conflict. For instance, misconceptions may occur if communication styles are not aligned. In some countries, it is normal to give clear feedback (U.S. or Germany), while in others, people may perceive it as confrontation and not be able to deal with it in a non-emotional way. People in Latin America or some European countries might avoid confrontation and prefer a more diplomatic or nuanced approach.
Time-response. The urgency and time responses may vary in different cultures. Those who avoid conflicts may take time to reflect and reply later than it is expected. Overall, punctuality is another aspect of the work ethic. In countries like the U.S. or Germany, there is a strong discipline on punctuality and meeting deadlines, while others might practice a more flexible approach.
Decision-making processes may also become an issue. In countries like Asia, teams may wait for the senior leader’s final decision, while in other countries, employees may be encouraged to make individually.
Approach to problem-solving and innovation. Teams in cultures like Japan or Germany may prefer a well-planned approach to resolving tasks, while in cultures of the U.S. or Israel, it is more common to think outside the box and be more flexible in one’s approach.

Thus, it may be difficult to manage a remote team and maintain the quality of its efficiency without resolving the abovementioned issues.

To overcome these challenges, businesses may:

Imply cultural awareness and sensitivity training. It is the most effective way to overcome potential communication barriers. The businesses should organize cultural awareness workshops, translating crucial information about cultural norms, traditions, and behaviors of each team. That is a way to build empathy and foster inclusivity within the cross-cultural working environment.
Set clear communication guidelines: clearly outline the goals, establish how often the team should communicate, agree on how quickly team members should respond to messages or emails, etc.
Use collaboration tools such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet provide an effective means for teams to have face-to-face meetings despite being miles apart
Compensate mental health and support expenses.

How Do Businesses Start Nearshore Development?

There is a recommended sequence of steps to set up a new nearshore development center.

First, establish your goals and requirements. Answer the questions like: What is the reason for developing a new center in another country? Define your strategy and outcome expectation. The next question is related to the employee’s skills. Are there any specific knowledge or requirements they must respond to? Analyze your current team and set the key targets of your remote center. For instance, for N-iX, a famous Ukrainian software development company, it takes a few weeks to fill the position abroad.

Select the ideal location for your nearshore development. This step is a milestone in your nearshore business success. There are a few countries that are most suitable for Ukrainian businesses to consider. Thus, Polish employees have a high level of English proficiency; they have skills in Java, Algorithm JavaScript, SQL, Python, C#, and PHP, and the time difference is only 1 hour. Romania shares the same timezone with Ukraine, and the level of English knowledge of the workforce is high, and they are well-skilled in SQL, Java, JavaScript, and Python. The Czech Republic is in the same timezone as Poland, only 1-hour difference from Kyiv, the talent pool has highly developed abilities in English and Mathematics, Security, Python, C#, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.

The next step is the selection of a suitable partner. This means businesses should find a nearshore development company that specializes in establishing centers in their preferred region.

Then, the owners have to provide a new office with the necessary equipment, such as laptops, PC, and software (communication and project management tools). In addition, the efficient security measures are a must. The communication tools for messaging and video-conferencing, such as Slack, Zoom, and MS Teams, should be established.

Having passed all those steps, it is important to build a strong communication strategy. Hence, set up clear channels and guidelines for communication, as we already discussed. Then, ensure that data is protected with security policies, robust authentication, “strong password” rules, etc.

Finally, check if all the members are well-equipped and whether you need more workforce to achieve the goal-set.

Conclusion

Setting up a nearshore software development center offers businesses an effective way to access skilled talent while benefiting from cost savings and geographical proximity. With careful planning and attention to cultural differences, communication strategies, and logistics, nearshore centers can become valuable assets for expanding your development capabilities. By selecting the right location, ensuring clear communication guidelines, and providing the necessary resources. Overcoming the challenges associated with cross-cultural collaboration is crucial. Still, with the right approach, a nearshore development center can be a significant competitive advantage, fostering both growth and success for the company.