IT is a fundamental part of the business strategies of companies that seek to improve their results and the quality in the delivery of its products and services. If there once were doubts about the relevance of the IT area in business, after the pandemic in 2020 they are not there anymore.
Research by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) points out that 83% of industries will need more innovation to grow or even survive in the post-pandemic world, especially on their production line.
Possessing innovative and strong tools to distinguish yourself in the market and meet all of the new consumer demands is paramount for any company. But that is nothing new, right?
IT outsourcing is a service provision modality that has gained more and more space in the market, as it offers cost reduction, quality results, increased productivity and speed in hiring.
But in order for that to happen, it is essential to have a deep understanding of how IT outsourcing works. We have compiled a list of the main types of this service and its advantages for companies. Check it out bellow:
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IT Outsourcing: what is it?
Outsourcing comes from the English language and it is a service provided by companies that offer their own team to carry out the management and operation of some other companies. In IT outsourcing, services involve the management of a company’s technology and they contribute to save money when acquiring and maintaining IT solutions.
Types of IT Outsourcing
- Offshore
In offshore IT outsourcing, the company will have an associate located in another country to carry out its software development and support activities.
This format offers hiring qualified professionals for a low cost. However, the organization must be aware of linguistic and cultural differences so that there is no negative impact on services.
- Onshore
The professionals who will provide the services are located in the same country as the contracting company. Therefore, there are no cultural and/or language barriers, this guarantees a more agile and secure integration.
- Nearshore
Nearshore is a format of IT outsourcing when the services are provided in nearby countries. As a result, it is possible to obtain time zone proximity, cultural affinity and ease of doing business. Within IT area, nearshore contracting is commonly done for software development, technical support and call center services.
Should I hire an IT outsourcing?
Businesses were required to accelerate in order to become more competitive, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Large and small companies have found in IT Outsourcing a way to be competitive in the market in which they operate and in this way they have modified and adapted their internal structures to this new reality.
In an interview with Isto É Magazine, the general manager of LATAM, Edenize Maron stated that “that digital transformation project that was expected to be carried out in 2 or 3 years, will now have to be done in months for the sake of survival […] Making the necessary decisions and getting things done quickly will be key to not putting the business at risk.”
IT outsourcing allows internal teams to focus on what they do best and pass on other needs to allocated professionals, from common activities such as unburdening the IT backlog, to maintaining legacy systems, delivering projects that will support areas like commercial, logistics, production, quality, among others.
While developing a project in-house can take weeks or months as it requires hiring the best people, putting together a team for the project and the necessary support. Through IT Outsourcing, it is possible to provide intelligence, experience and all the needed resources to start anew projects immediately, without the need for large investments to hire a highly specialized team.
In fact, IT Outsourcing improves the company’s performance, brings years of experience to the business and guarantees the service level agreement that your projects need.
How to hire an IT outsourcing provider
1. Choose a suitable partner
Many companies have an understandable concern about the talent pool of the supplier company and the individuals who will work on their projects.
Listed bellow are some essential questions to help your analysis when hiring a supplier:
- IT Knowledge and experience
- Outsourcing experience
- Technologies already worked with
- Market time
- Employees pool – reminder: it is important to have multidisciplinary training and familiarity with the technologies used in the company
- Cases of success
- Recommendations
2. Set goals
Define your goals from the beginning, meaning, focus on concrete tasks, which can be performed and measured. Generalized expectations like “improving our profits” or “creating something new that our customers will love” does not usually produce the expected results.
Keep in mind that the company you are going to hire needs guidance and direction for the success of the process, and no one knows your business better than your in-house team.
3. Communication is key
Communication and exchange between the company, the team and the manager are of paramount importance. A communication which is aligned, transparent and that guarantees everyone’s visibility is the key to success.
A good communication channel ensures a constant connection with the process. Continuous updates and a well-defined communication hierarchy keep the entire team up to date with developments.
4. Ready the managers
The IT managers and/or stakeholders of your company need to be prepared to manage the resources they will absorb, since depending on the contract format, it will be essential that the tasks are all aligned with the teams involved.
Developer profiles for IT allocation
There is a wide variety of technology profiles, and, when informing the development professional needed, it is essential to describe the basic, desirable, differential requirements so that the allocation provider can offer the resource with the highest level of match for the opportunity.
Informing the level of complexity, the adjunct stacks, the diversity of software involved as well as the basis of development and/or maintenance is essential for successful allocation.
Listed bellow are the developer profiles that are among the most requested in the allocation when a company is seeking support to develop a software project or to fill an IT vacancy in a prompt way.
Frontend Developer
It is a software developer specializing in web technologies, specifically those that are on the side of the client. A frontend masters the technologies that run in web browsers, such as HTML, CSS, and JS.
Likewise, there are development professionals who master one or more frameworks and/or libraries that allow them to create scalable web applications. Among the most popular, according to the 2020 StackOverflow report, were React.js, jQuery, Express, Angular, and Vue.js.
Backend Developer
It is a software developer specialized in developing and building software that runs on the server, which might or might not be in some cloud infrastructure.
A backend has knowledge about the operating system works and how to configure it for the correct functioning of the application that it will develop. This means they master one or more programming languages that work on certain operating systems such as .NET C#, Java, Ruby, Python, among others.
Mobile Developer
It is a software developer with experience building native and hybrid mobile apps for today’s most popular operating systems being available at Google, Apple and Huawei stores.
A mobile developer masters native languages like Swift and/or Kotlin, in addition to that, they have the ability to use frameworks and technologies that can be highly productive in in prototyping in a short time, such as Ionic, React Native and Flutter.
UI Designer – User Interface Designer
It is a designer specializing in web and mobile interface design with a solid knowledge of the standards and specifications that apply to what platforms need.
The UI Designer professional masters several digital design tools that complement each other to create wireframes and mockups. The latter will eventually be the main resource for software developers in the process of building views or layouts.
UX Designer – User Experience Designer
This is a professional who is specialized in defining interactions between users and products or services in order to deliver a great end-user experience. A UX designer knows the aspects of the business, market research, design, and technology needed to question and validate designs and interactions.
Product Manager
A professional with experience in managing technological projects under agile methodology. This person also has the ability to lead a team made up of various roles like programmers, designers, testators, among others. A product manager requires solid engineering and project management knowledge.
Product Designer
A professional specialized in the creation and maintenance of digital products. A Product Designer doesn’t only lead the design team, but is also involved in defining product objectives, market validation, and target audience identification.
What are the benefits of hiring an IT outsourcing
Regardless of your goal with IT outsourcing, the practice has many benefits, and without a doubt, the main one is the reduction of development costs.
Control of costs
Outsourcing converts fixed IT costs into variable costs and allows you to plan your budget effectively. In other words, pay only for what you use, when you need it.
Reduced labor costs
Hiring and training IT staff can be very expensive and temporary employees do not always live up to your expectations. Outsourcing allows you to focus your human resources where you need them most.
Whether for a specific project or continuous IT operation, Outsourcing guarantees the presence of highly qualified, experienced, certified and constantly evolving professionals.
Analytical Performance
IT Outsourcing is an excellent way to relieve your IT department of operational routines, as, now more than ever, IT needs to think strategically. This makes up more time for the internal team to look for innovative solutions.
Greater Efficiency and Competitiveness
Organizations which are trying to do all IT services in-house will need time for research, development and implementation. By outsourcing, they can focus on their core business and define strategic objectives for the supplier to deliver world-class resources, services and tools.
Rapid Implementation of New Technologies
A third-party IT services organization will have the resources to start new projects immediately. Handling the same project internally can take weeks or months to hire the right people, train them and provide the necessary support. For most implementations, quality IT companies will bring with them years of experience, which saves time and money.
Reduction of risks
Every business investment carries a certain risk. Markets, competition, government regulations, financial conditions and technologies, all change very quickly.
The IT Outsourcing supplier company assumes and manages a large part of this risk, as it has the industry-specific knowledge, particularly on security and compliance issues.
Compliance and Security
By outsourcing to a qualified company, you can rest assured that your business minimizes the risks associated with data maintenance: from customer registration information to credit card numbers, confidential information and more.
Guaranteed Experience
As an outsourcing company specialized in the area of software and technology development, the trajectory of the company and the portfolio of clients it manages is a guarantee of the quality of the developers it works with.
In this sense, one of the reasons why software companies decide to outsource the development of their projects is to have access to knowledge and experience that their current team cannot provide.
In addition, some companies have access to decentralized talent, that is, you can count on talents from different parts of the country in your project, without physical, time or language barriers. Therefore, the use of outside knowledge and access to the best technology resources will guide your project to success.
How Lyncas can help your IT department
More than 20 years of experience with IT projects, in the most different sectors, brought experience and maturity in leading the team. Lyncas has, nowadays, more than 100 professionals on the team working in more than 15 technologies, among the most popular backend technologies are Java, .NET C#, Node and Ruby, in frontend languages React, Angular and VueJS stand out.
In our portfolio there are more than 35 thousand hours of work completed and around 30 active clients. We were born with the “remote first” philosophy, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, this way we manage the team using the practices of agile methodologies, with fast and incremental deliveries, we regularly hold alignment meetings with the client to ensure quality and the expected result.
Present your project and count on the Lyncas team to get it off the ground.
