When working with IT teams, there are several options you can select depending on your needs. When choosing if you want to work with an offshore or onshore team, several factors should be considered. Onshore IT teams are one of the most cost-effective options when choosing a vendor for your IT needs. Onshore teams bring several strategic advantages when it comes to completing projects. The main benefits and drawbacks of working with an onshore IT team include:
Benefits:
Locality: One of the best benefits of working with an onshore team is their proximity to your business. This alone has many tertiary benefits that speed up projects and improve productivity. With physical proximity, onshore IT teams can collaborate with your team daily. This means that they can come visit your headquarters, work in the same time zone as you and facilitate quicker communication. This is vastly different from offshore teams that might take hours or a day to get back to you on a specific inquiry.
Cultural fit: This is a vastly underestimated benefit when working with onshore teams. Onshore teams live in the same area as your business; this means you observe the same holidays, speak the same language and more. It can be a disaster to work with an offshore team that you have no cultural awareness of. This can lead to miscommunication and frustrations that will result in the delay of projects.
Real-time communication: Onshore teams are familiar with the communication methods you utilize and are generally very easy to reach via phone, email or any other medium. With real-time communication with your onshore team, you can alert them of any important project updates or news. This allows you to be agile and respond quickly to the needs of your projects.
Retainment: If you enjoyed working with an onshore IT team or developer, it’s likely that you will have the opportunity to hire them on a contract or full time employment basis. This is very advantageous for your business because it allows you to trial their work prior to hiring. This will show if they are competent and a good cultural fit for your team.
Drawbacks:
Cost: Cost is generally the most apparent drawback of working with an onshore IT development team. The cost structure of working with IT teams is not always straightforward. If you choose to work with an offshore team, there are hidden costs that are not apparent when working with an onshore team. For example, the quality of software by offshore developers is generally not as good as onshore developers. The amount of reiterations in your software is often a hidden cost when working with offshore teams. Considering that onshore teams are local, finish projects quicker and work in the same time zone as you, the cost is not much higher than alternative options.
More management: When working with onshore teams, sometimes this includes onboarding them onto your company’s systems. Since onshore teams can come to work in your offices, your HR team might need to onboard them for security reasons. This would likely mean you’ll have to do some basic training for the protocols of your company. During the period that the onshore team is working with your business, you’ll have to partially manage the onshore team.
