The modern workplace has been and is evolving rapidly especially when it comes to software development.
Agile methodology has gone beyond a buzzphrase and is now more popular than ever especially when developing products or creating solutions to complex problems,
Nearshore agile software development uses this methodology to enhance productivity and value creation via product and software development to provide these solutions.
When it comes to software development, there are a lot of advantages to using an agile methodology instead of traditional waterfall project management.
Also, remote work is a lot more popular as many businesses are now more focused on value creation and delivery. The past years and the COVID period have shown that people can work remotely as efficiently as working from the office.
Since 2009, the number of people working from home has increased by 159% according to Pumble, and up to 70% of the tech workforce work remotely according to Statista.
Remote work has its benefits as well as challenges, and it is important to maximize the benefits while mitigating the effects of the challenges.
What is the Agile Development Methodology?
Before going into nearshore agile software development, we need to, first of all, understand the concept of the agile development methodology.
The agile development methodology originates from the Agile Manifesto published in 2001. Since it was published, it has revolutionized project management and product development.
Despite being a recent methodology, the Agile movement has gained popularity relatively quickly with lots of organizations and professionals opting to use the methodology for processes and product development.
The concept of the Agile development methodology is centered around rapid feedback, response to change, and enhancing predictability while minimizing project risks.
The agile methodology uses short-length iterations or sprints to develop products. The high-level project requirements are prioritized and worked on in iterations.
Unlike the traditional project management or waterfall approach that relies on testing at the end of development, Agile tests and reviews products at the end of each iteration or sprint, and adapts before starting a new sprint.
For the waterfall approach, testing at the end of the product development increases the time of delivering a functional product, and discovering variances or mistakes then is much more expensive to correct in terms of cost and effort. This is pretty risky when the stakes are high.
So when it comes to managing projects and developing software products, the agile methodology offers lots of advantages over the waterfall methodology, and according to a study by PwC, projects managed using agile methodology are 28% more successful than traditional project management.
What is Nearshore Agile Software Development?
Nearshore Agile software development is a model that uses an outsourced dedicated development team located in a geographical location within proximity of your country and with a similar timezone to create and deliver business value using Agile Project Management.
With this outsourcing model, there is a minimal time difference between the nearshore development team and you, as well as minimal physical distance.
Ideally, the timezone difference between you and the development team should be around 1 to 3 hours. This way, there is less scheduling inconvenience.
Nearshore agile software development seeks to combine nearshore software development and agile methodology. This development team may work remotely or in collocation depending on the best fit.
This outsourcing model ensures minimal time difference between you and the development team and fewer communication barriers.
For outsourcing, the alternatives could be onshore or offshore. For onshore outsourcing, the development team is situated in the same country as you. While for offshore outsourcing, the team is situated in another country.
Benefits of Nearshore Agile Software Development
Now that you have a grasp of the concept of nearshore Agile software development, it is essential to know the benefits it can have for your business and how this can help your projects.
There are lots of benefits to using a nearshore Agile software development model or team and below is a non-conclusive list.
1. High-Quality Software
In this model, every project is broken down into smaller, easier-to-manage activities and delivered in short-length sprints to facilitate collaborative testing and programming.
Testing and debugging are provided throughout each iteration or sprint, assisting in the early detection and elimination of any faults.
This way, preventive and corrective actions are performed as soon as possible which results in a higher quality of developed software.
2. Maximized Business Value
By combining the advantages of agile methodology and nearshoring, you will significantly improve project efficiency, reduce costs, shorten time to market, and boost ROI.
Work with an agile team to maximize the benefits of the agile methodology while drastically minimizing any potential downsides.
3. Faster Recruitment
By using nearshoring, you can hire fresh specialists much more quickly while spending less money on recruitment.
If you have trusted nearshore Agile development teams that you can rely on, they can quickly provide you with the exact number of professionals you need to move your project forward.
If you partner with a vendor who has a strong skill pool, this procedure might just take a few weeks as you have a wider pool to consider within a similar timezone.
4. Cost Effectiveness
Cost-effectiveness is a key factor when making business decisions which is a major reason why companies choose to outsource.
With nearshore Agile software development, you have a high probability of getting reliable cost-effective solutions to your business needs.
Projects using the nearshore Agile software development rather than the traditional waterfall methodology are more cost-effective as you can cut the project costs while avoiding the price of failing the project.
5. Scalable Teams
The nearshore Agile software development model enables you to scale your teams as fast as possible. At any given time, you can get as many development experts required for your project.
It thus becomes easier to expand the team from your vendor talent pool based on the project’s needs and complexity.
6. Culture and Work Ethics Similarity
Other advantages, such as cultural proximity and work ethics, are sometimes overlooked while seeking a nearshore Agile software development partner.
It is typically much simpler to understand a neighboring culture and much more comfortable to work with those that share your ideals.
This fact relates to work ethics because it is much simpler to collaborate with people you have a good understanding of.
You can create the ideal team of professionals to provide nearshore Agile software development services by combining language competency, a short time zone difference, and highly qualified professionals.
7. Flexibility
Using nearshore Agile software development methodology to manage your project, however, does not imply that it will go without a hitch as any project will inevitably face risks which include project failure among others.
One of the key objectives of the agile methodology is to deal with such obstacles as they arise without delaying the development process altogether by inspection, rapid feedback, and immediate adaptation.
Making appropriate process iterations to accommodate incoming difficulties while still being able to make incremental progress is the central tenet of nearshore Agile software development.
Throughout the development process, the development team maintains its adaptability and readiness to respond to any alarms.
They are then able to provide clients with failure-proof Agile nearshore software development services that are tailored to their requirements.
8. Closer Collaboration
Having a short distance between yourself and your development team is one benefit of nearshore Agile software development that comes in handy.
While technology has made the world a relatively small global village, and a lot of communication and problem-solving can be done without needing physical presence, there are times when your physical presence may be required.
With close proximity, physical collaboration is less of a burden as you only need to travel a short distance to meet your development team.
Conclusion
When building products or managing projects, you have to decide the methodology or approach that best fits you before initiating the project.
Nearshore Agile software has lots of benefits that can help create business value from high-quality products at cost-effective rates using self-organizing collaborative development teams.
