In a fully globalized and connected world, many companies choose to work geographically separated but united in development. IT outsourcing is a common practice, and Uruguay is one of the favorite supplier markets for several reasons.
Nearshore outsourcing offers outstanding benefits for companies, such as greater scalability, access to new technologies, and being aligned with the agile paradigm.
Choosing this option usually results in a strategic decision that generates outstanding results. Let’s see in detail what it is when it is convenient to outsource services and why Uruguay is the ideal place.
What is nearshore outsourcing?
The term nearshore outsourcing defines the outsourcing of services of any kind to locations close to one’s own country. It consists of delegating tasks (the most popular are software and app development and business processes) to companies in neighboring countries.
Since they are close to each other, teams from different countries can work almost simultaneously due to the similar time zone (which is not the case with offshoring), and they tend to share a more significant cultural affinity. This combination brings with it the benefit of a shorter time-to-market.
How do nearshore companies operate?
Nearshore companies provide services to organizations located outside their home country. The working relationship with these companies is straightforward and one hundred percent optimized with remote connections that facilitate the work dynamic without needing face-to-face meetings.
They are usually made up of highly skilled teams in remote work (a fact that the pandemic has accentuated even more) and have high-level technical staff for developing solutions.
At ThinkUp, we are a nearshore company that provides mobile application and software development services for digital products from Uruguay to the rest of the world, including iOS App Development, Android App Development, Flutter App Development, Product Design and UX/UI Design, Agile Management, Quality Assurance, among others.
Nearshore companies adapt to the needs of what the client requires to be developed, and they can establish open, active, and dynamic communication channels that guarantee the fluidity of the work process. The permanent and transparent exchange of information is key to the project’s success. So are the supplier’s technology and the supplier’s experience.
Therefore, cultural proximity, language proficiency, and market knowledge are essential when choosing the outsourcing company to work with.
The outsourcing of services usually contemplates:
- Dedicated and scalable work team.
- Implementation of agile methodologies.
- Provision of the necessary infrastructure for the project.
- Specialized support.
Advantages of a nearshore strategy
Companies that opt for a nearshore strategy know that outsourcing services’ advantages are wide and varied.
These are the main and most outstanding ones:
- Similar time zone: it allows to work at times convenient for all participants by not requiring meetings at inconvenient times or working after hours.
- Low employee turnover levels: due to the better working conditions generated by the similar time zone. It, in turn, optimizes the stability and consistency of deliveries.
- Improved response times: waiting until the next day to get a response is unnecessary because of the shared schedule.
- Greater cultural affinity: Knowing the counterpart’s idiosyncrasies facilitates relations and promotes innovation. At the same time, it facilitates knowledge and understanding of the client’s business rules and regulations.
- Promotes agile development: allowing team members to participate in daily meetings and perform their functions remotely during regular working hours facilitates faster and more optimized launches. The existence of closer, more fluid, and collaborative relationships makes it possible to take advantage of methodologies such as scrum and others with an iterative approach.
- Geographic proximity: facilitates corporate travel in terms of time, cost, and communication.
- Lower costs: In general, the outsourcing contract is usually more profitable due to lower labor rates and reduced team management costs.
- Broadens access to great talents: by having a highly qualified supplier, the client has access to the work of great professionals with little effort and at favorable costs.
Why outsource the development of your apps?
Outsourcing the development of their applications represents excellent benefits for companies, both in terms of costs and results.
Having a dedicated external team ensures the quality of compliance without the need to incorporate new stable staff members permanently. This way, control over the project development flow is maintained with an optimized budget and the work of recognized qualified experts. In turn, reaction times are faster.
Consequently, outsourcing contracts are of great value for outsourcing parts of large projects (not only for complete projects), developing and programming hybrid applications, or iOS/Android apps.
These are a way to expand the internal team on a temporary and long-term basis, which adds flexibility and innovation capacity to the processes.
Why Uruguay?
The choice of the nearshore supplier to work with is strategic, and Latin America appears today with a preponderant role.
Within the region, Uruguay’s technological ecosystem stands out and is very attractive to North Americans because of the opportunities and benefits it presents:
- Convenient time zone: GMT-3 or EST+2.
- English language proficiency.
- Expertise: it is the largest software exporter per capita in South America, and 70% is destined for the United States.
- Tax exemptions: the export of software and its related services are tax-free.
- Attractive rate: the average rate is estimated at half the U.S. rate.
- Promotion of IT development at a national level: organizations such as Uruguay XXI, CUTI, AGESIC, and LATU encourage and support the development of the local technological environment.
- Open and stable economy that promotes business development.
- International standards: Uruguayan companies work with the most demanding international markets.
- Human capital: local talent stands out for its high competitiveness.
They are highly trained and flexible, with a great capacity to adapt to work in new markets.
Uruguay is a country with 3.5 million people and is one of the leading software exporters per capita. It has more than a thousand software development companies, and most of the export of these services is destined for the United States.
As a result of the enormous investments made, the country stands out in the fields such as Information and Communication Technologies.
Uruguay is part of the D9 along with Canada, South Korea, Estonia, Israel, New Zealand, Portugal, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. The objective of D9 is to promote connectivity, digital citizenship, encryption for children, open government, and open-source governance with a focus on people.
At the same time, surveys by Clutch – an independent platform that collects customer feedback on the quality of IT providers’ work in different industries (Clutch. co) – show that the rates most mentioned about companies in Uruguay are: understanding, commitment, involvement, reliability, and quality.
Final Words
Suppose your idea is to move forward with nearshore outsourcing. In that case, you will obtain quality service at very competitive costs, and, at the same time, you will incorporate highly qualified talent into your team to make your IT projects a reality.
Outsourcing is the simplest way to achieve scalability and competitiveness in demanding environments.
Are you looking to develop an app for your business?
At ThinkUp, we are a digital product development company obsessed with quality and specializing in mobile apps and unique user experiences.
We create world-class digital products for startups and enterprises to transform and empower businesses.
