In today’s rapidly evolving world, new technology will come and go, with some changing the technical landscape forever – just look at our previous blog about AI and how the growing phenomenon is dominating boardroom conversations. So, whenever a new tech breakthrough happens, we need the skill set within a business that can help deliver “the next big thing” – not an easy challenge to overcome.

Let’s take a look at what these challenges mean for tech teams

Every year or so, tech leaders are challenged to embrace the latest technology to either build new and competitive products or incorporate the new tech trend into the existing offering. This presents a unique headache every time, as with any development roadmap you need to make sure behind every grand idea is a team that can deliver.

The most innovative companies will look to gain a competitive advantage by moving earlier than their competition. The need for speed and quality is essential for building software, with agile software development certainly being the preferred methodology to help make this happen. Compared with other methodologies, this development process has much more fluidity, enabling releases to happen earlier and ultimately gain that crucial first-mover advantage.

So, what’s the plan?

Agile – we’ve agreed is the way forward… but access to new skills and technologies – this is where the challenge lies, and you generally have two options. Do you dive into the UK IT market pool to recruit, one of the most lucrative industries in the UK, or look to upskill internally? Whilst the desire to create and keep ownership of intellectual property is the leading incentive for insourcing, hiring internally can be costly and time-consuming in a very competitive market. Option two is to partner, and that may point you to nearshore. Rather than looking to the UK talent market like many of your competitors, nearshoring with a reputable partner (with effective governance layers) can produce excellent results and remove the headache of recruitment, upskilling, and retention.

But why, and what is Nearshore?

Nearshore refers to working with development teams in neighbouring countries, for the UK this is classified as mainland Europe as opposed to offshore which is classified as further afield. The goal is to capitalise on a quality talent pool, and create collaboration opportunities, local proximity reduces logistical complexities, and similar time zones enhance communication.

A key factor you need to consider when looking at nearshoring is communication and collaboration. This is critical to any partnership and one of the biggest reasons why nearshore agile development works. Time zones are key to enabling effective communication and if we take the daily standup as an example, the team meet each morning, 10am seems to be the norm, this would be much later for offshore locations, who can lose the best part of the day.

By using a nearshore software development partner that works in a time zone that has 1- or 2-hours difference, the team is available for most of the working day and is always available for key meetings including standups, stakeholder engagements, retrospectives etc.  In a study, 65% of all respondents say they will outsource at the same or higher rate in the future, and this availability ensures a truly collaborative working environment and the velocity of the software development effort.

A match made in people

Given that agile is so collaborative, the challenge is ensuring your teams comprise the right technical skill sets and are aligned culturally – these are two critical considerations when scaling whether you are using internal recruits or partnering. This, along with how to govern successful delivery seems to be the most common objection.

The agile nearshore approach can work very successfully however it is important to identify the right partner who not only has the right skills but also the right setup in terms of gearing up the working environment to be a collaborative one. If you speak to a large pool of people, you’ll hear varied stories in nearshore experiences.

The key to a successful partnership is what we at Godel strive to deliver to all our partners; quicker access to talent, ensuring embedded cultures and investment in languages, similar ways of working, offering a UK-managed service, working collaboratively, and ultimately being a nearshore partner that feels like an extension of our partner’s team.

This is only scratching the surface of what a successful nearshore partnership looks like – but the newer technologies that emerge, the more value a partnership like this will bring to your business.

If you would like to find out more about how Godel’s successful nearshore model, get in touch with one of our team today.