In today's fast-paced tech scene, businesses expecting to stay ahead of the curve should quickly adapt to shifting customer needs, market needs, and emerging technologies. That’s where nearshoring comes in. It’s an efficient and cost-effective way for businesses to access top tech talent from neighboring countries to scale their technologies. However, operating efficiently and effectively with a nearshore team requires a learning curve. Also, the traditional hierarchical structures may not be effective when working with a nearshore team.
However, the Agile approach may be more effective for achieving high-quality results with a distributed team. This flexible and iterative approach to software development prioritizes communication, collaboration, quick prototyping, and continuous improvement. So, blending both techniques, also known as nearshore agile software development, can help increase flexibility and control, improve communication, and produce superior quality software products, honing your business’s competitive edge in the long run. Learn more about agile nearshoring, its benefits, and the best practices and tips for implementation.
What's inside:
The Agile Approach to Nearshoring
Businesses are ditching the traditional hierarchical approaches and implementing the agile approach to nearshoring, a cheaper and more efficient way to develop software while maintaining high quality. These complementary approaches- nearshoring and agile software development- have gained immense popularity recently, owing to their numerous benefits for businesses. Nearshore Agile software development merges the best aspects of onshore and offshore software development while minimizing the downsides of each. Here’s more on what it can do for your business.
What is Nearshoring?
Nearshoring refers to outsourcing some or all of your IT functions, including software development, to remote teams in neighboring countries with similar cultures and time zones (time difference of not more than 4 hours). For example, a U.S.- or Canadian-based tech startup can outsource software development to a team based in Argentina or Mexico.
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The nearshore outsourcing model offers your business many benefits, including:
What is Agile Software Development?
Agile is a modern approach in software development focusing on constant communication while allowing teams to develop software gradually through short-time development cycles, including such important stages as development, testing, and results analysis. The approach also features regular assessments of plans and goals, which allows the team to pivot fast, producing higher-quality products in a shorter period. So, the Agile approach facilitates communication, effective management, transparency, efficiency, and control over project progress, enabling a seamless collaborative environment for software development.
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The benefits of the agile methodology to software development include:
The Synergy Between Nearshoring & Agile Development
The benefits of nearshore software development and agile methodologies usually overlap in most cases. Both support higher collaboration, communication, and teamwork, complementing each other. So, combining nearshoring and agile software development can be a game-changer for businesses looking to achieve greater efficiency, speed, cost-effectiveness, and high-quality software in their development processes.
Here’s a rundown of why your business needs to adopt agile nearshoring:
- Quality assurance- Working with a team of remote, talented developers via agile development, which allows for new features to be constantly tested and uses feedback to enhance the software, ensures that you develop high-quality software.
- Cost-effectiveness- Agile nearshoring saves your business money since it combines the cheaper nearshore developer rates with the high efficiency of the Agile methodology, which features time-fixed sprints making project costs more predictable.
- Predictability- An agile nearshore team maintains communication and monitors the project regularly, preventing members from getting blindsided. So, team heads know what to expect at the next meeting since they’ve already discussed concerns with the relevant team members.
- Hands-on approach- Agile nearshore development allows for you to be personally invested every step of the way, from creating the nearshore team to guiding the development process. So, you can adjust your workflow and implement changes instantly, unlike other development models. This is especially critical in the tech industry, which is characterized by rapid changes.
- Prioritization- Agile nearshoring allows your business to direct its efforts and resources toward your priorities, which enables your nearshore team to work on functional business-supporting tasks.
- Easy scaling- Agile development and nearshoring both feature flexibility, letting you scale your team up or down depending on your current needs.
Book a call with TECLA today to learn what nearshore agile software development can do for your business.
How to Implement Nearshore Agile Software Development Successfully
Here are some of the best practices and tips for the successful implementation of nearshore agile software development:
- Choose a reliable and experienced nearshore partner that shares your vision, values, and goals- The nearshoring partner you choose is instrumental in successfully implementing agile software development. So, evaluate the potential nearshoring partners at your disposal to see how many projects they’ve executed, their technology expertise, types of clients, their reviews, and more. More importantly, choose a vendor that shares your vision, value, and goals and is committed to your project’s success.
- Establish clear goals and expectations with your nearshore partner and align them with your business objectives and customer needs- Your project manager needs to set clear goals and expectations with the company and nearshore team from the start. For example, a company’s goal may be to improve its app performance by optimizing client-server interaction. Inform all parties what is expected of them and the deliverables to help keep everybody on track and avoid misunderstandings along the way.
- Have an elaborate project plan- The success of nearshore agile software development depends on a detailed project plan, which includes all the tasks to be handled, milestones, and deadlines. This ensures everyone knows their responsibilities and due dates while helping the project manager stay organized and on track.
- Use effective tools and platforms for communication and project management that facilitate transparency, feedback, and collaboration- When working with a nearshore team, it’s important to set transparent and efficient communication from the start to ensure that everybody is on the same page and to avoid surprises. You can use channels like Confluence, email, Microsoft Teams, and Slack regularly for meetings, to share progress, solve blockers, and more. The more effective the communication, the higher the chances for your software development project to be delivered timely and successfully, with the set outcomes.
- Adopt a culture of trust and transparency with your nearshore partner and empower them to make decisions and take ownership of their work- A culture of trust and transparency can create a positive work environment where everyone feels valued and motivated to contribute to the project’s success. Also, avoid regular check-ups and micromanagement, as these may be road blockers. Trust and empower your nearshore team to do what they do best and let them take credit for their work.
- Encourage continuous improvement and learning with your nearshore partner and celebrate successes and learn from failures- You should celebrate your project’s successes and embrace and learn from the failures. This enables you to continuously improve your working practices and company culture and ultimately increase your project outcomes.
Choose TECLA today for agile nearshore software development services.