Nearshore has become a great solution for companies worldwide, especially in these new times due to covid-19 and remote work. Its increased popularity improved the outsourcing sector, even so, many inaccurate misconceptions continued to spread.
Nearshore has had to deal with several myths, and due to these misunderstandings, many companies don’t see the advantages. It is surprising how many myths still exist about Nearshore. Therefore, we have compiled five of the most common ones, to help you better understand the reality.
1. Offshoring and nearshoring are all the same
Although both have some important key advantages, such as capacity, cost-effectiveness and improved delivery process, nearshore has two unbeatable advantages: enhanced opportunities for collaboration, since resources are located in the same or nearby time zone; and enhanced conveniences due to proximity and cultural alignment.
2. Nearshore is more expensive than other alternatives
Not only are the hourly pay rates for nearshore talents in alignment with other outsourcing alternatives, but the key benefits (travel, communication, on-site management, collaboration and infrastructure) are greatly reduced in the cost of a nearshore scenario. It’s important to remember that the most critical value in nearshore resources lies in talent, delivery processes, and results.
3. Local talent is better and more reliable
Many companies tend to distrust the education system of other countries for the simple reason that it is different from theirs. Therefore, it is normal for them to be sceptical of professionals who have received training elsewhere in the world. For example, in various rankings, Portugal has some of the best universities in the world.
Location does not guarantee the best talent. It can only depend on valuable qualities such as knowledge, ability, and overall commitment to developing the best work. In fact, you may find developers in your city that are more expensive than outsourced nearshore providers.
4. Miscommunication problems
There is a common misconception concerning the language barriers that could possibly come up. Unlike popular belief, nearshore teams are proficient in English. In Portugal, 60% of the population speaks at least one foreign language, so communication is no problem. In addition, Portugal is close to many key European countries, having a great understanding of their cultural structure, enabling a more efficient and less complicated iteration.
The most important thing is that regardless of the consultants’ native language, they are prepared to integrate teams, projects, and customers who speak other languages.
Cultural differences between nations exist and they need to be accounted for. People simply look at the same things differently according to the culture they’ve grown up in. So, the compatibility between cultures is a key factor in the success of any international relationship and something that usually some companies fear.
5. Remote teams slow down the delivery
No matter the business, communications are an integral part. Remote teams are capable of more efficient means of communication than on-premises teams. However, today there’s a lot of new technologies that help to establish contact between the team and the customer. Remote collaboration tools such as Slack, Skype, Microsoft Teams, that allows daily virtual meetings, constant updates on work, progress, and overall feedback, helping them get the work done in time.
This method allows customers to be completely aware of how the project is developing minute-by-minute, thanks to the similar time zones.
Although there are many nearshore myths, we hope that we have cleared the most important misunderstandings and help make it easier to understand what nearshore is all about!
In an increasingly globalized market, the emergence of Nearshore IT as a future job has many benefits for companies and IT engineers: first, they can easily access the world's top talents; second, they have the opportunity to work for the best companies in the world.
In short, choosing Nearshore should be thought of as part of the customer’s internationalization strategy, where we must ensure that the teams are aligned with its organizational culture, favouring fast and assertive communication channels.
Knowing that Portugal is a guarantee of excellent professionals, with good language skills, with a competitive price, we can only maintain the expectation of continuing to be one of the fastest-growing countries in this service.
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