In a globalized world like the one we live in, outsourcing has become an increasingly common practice for a lot of companies. Simply put, outsourcing is the business practice of contracting with an outside party to take care of certain tasks instead of hiring new employees or assigning them to your existing staff. On that note, by doing it right, outsourcing can be a fantastic way for businesses to improve efficiencies and increase their company’s bottom line, and this applies to services such as web development. Let us tell you why:
- It’s Cost-effective: As simple as that, hiring freelance web developers will definitely be cheaper than hiring your own development team. Depending on where you are based, this could mean saving anywhere from 20% to 70% of your budget.
- Top talent at the tip of your fingers: As you might know, some web development projects require strong technical expertise and there’s no reason to limit yourself to your local area. Web outsourcing allows you access to a pool of tech talents around the world, so you can select the best website developers for your project.
- Focus on your company: Outsourcing with a reliable team will give you peace of mind as your tasks are being handled expertly without you having to worry about the management of the project. Your role will be centered around giving back feedback and approvals, allowing you to spend your time and resources on key important tasks such as marketing and sales efforts.
It all sounds great, don’t you think? But first, we need to answer the golden ticket question: Where to outsource web development?
When it comes to outsourcing, companies may choose to do it onshore (within their own country), nearshore (to a neighboring country or one in the same time zone), or offshore (to a more distant country). While onshore is always a good option, the best way to outsource web development is nearshore and offshore.
But what is the best place to outsource web development? Countries such as Canada, Mexico, India, China, and Poland are regional leaders when it comes to web development outsourcing but, why?
- Foreign Languages: As crucial as the English language is in our modern world, it’s not the only language that matters. Having a bilingual (or multilingual) available pool of talent to outsource will make the difference when it comes to business and reaching new markets.
- Location: A good location is everything, and being in a timezone that works for the hiring company and enabling real-time collaboration might be the key. But it’s more than geography, a stable social environment and the prospects of economic and political development are also decisive factors to become an outsourcing leader.
- Working culture: Besides its language and location, the work culture of a country is a crucial factor to become an outsourcing destination. Companies will focus on how dedicated and hard-working people are to meet expectations within a country.
- Young Workforce: A country with a young population attracts the attention of many companies in need of web developers and IT services as young people bring fresh perspectives, enthusiasm, and energy. Plus, they are by excellence tech-savvy. Remember a young workforce is the best option when a company needs to get young customers.
Having said that, let’s get to the main issue here: Which are the best countries to outsource web development nowadays?
Canada
When talking about outsourcing, Canada might not be the first country to come to mind, however, the Maple nation has a lot to offer while talking about outsourcing software development. Canada has a strong educational infrastructure with a dedicated focus on technology: from 2010 to 2018, the number of STEM graduates grew from 82,089 to 123,708, a 51 percent increase. Canada’s mature tech industry makes it a great candidate to find a healthy stock of back-end developers, front-end developers, full-stack developers, and web developers.
Also, outsourcing to Canada offers many other benefits to companies, especially to US-based ones. As Canada is right next door, language and cultural proximity to the U.S. couldn’t be greater, and sharing a similar time zone with the major US cities allows easy communication with the US clients.
Outsourcing in Canada, however, is more expensive than in the other countries on this list. The average software developer salary in Canada is $76,110 (60,866 USD) per year or 31.00 USD per hour.
Mexico
The Aztec country has slowly risen as an outsourcing destination when it comes to Information Technology (IT) and Human Resources (HR) and similar to Canada, its strong IT education has become one of the best assets the country has when it comes to outsourcing web developers. Mexican universities are nearly producing as many computer sciences graduates as American ones, making Mexico a good pool of highly qualified and very experienced web app developers at the reach of companies’ hands.
Plus, similar to Canada, language and cultural proximity with the U.S. makes it a great choice for American companies looking to hire nearshore freelancers. The U.S. is home to more than 41 million native Spanish speakers, plus over 12 million bilingual Spanish speakers, while English is the second most spoken foreign language in Mexico, with around 10% of the population speaking it, compared to the English literacy rate in China that hovers around 1%.
Also, the number of consumer and cultural exports from countries like Mexico to the U.S. helps to build familiarity and solidarity between the two countries, which can only help advance to a healthy relationship within the company.
Finally, the salaries in Mexico make it extremely cost-efficient, as the average salary of a Software Developer in Mexico goes around 322,807 pesos per year (15,823 USD).
Mexican developers, however, tend to have a different communication style compared to the U.S. The U.S. is pretty big on immediate results. Everything must be taken care of immediately. On the other side, the lifestyle of the country south of the border is much more laid back, so it’s normal for Mexican businesses to take more time to deliver.
Ukraine
When exploring skilled web developers to outsource project development, Ukraine outplays some top outsourcing countries. According to HackerRank Ukraine developers had an average score of 88.7% across all HackerRank challenges and is home to the largest number of C++ programmers globally.
Even though Ukraine is not the first to come to mind when thinking about language similarities to the U.S, around 80% of their IT community speaks English, so communication barriers are a minimal issue if you are planning to outsource web development services. Other benefits of outsourcing to Ukraine include its time zone that partially overlaps with the U.S. and a similar working culture that prizes competition and fast results.
Again, prices in Ukraine might not be on your side. According to Glassdoor the average salary of a Software Developer in Ukraine is 3,000 USD per month. Plus, the hidden cost of development in Ukraine can fluctuate the entire cost of your projects while outsourcing.
India
When you hear the term “outsourcing”, or “IT” probably the first country to come to mind in India, and with good reason. India’s education system focuses heavily on mathematics and produces as many as 2.6 million STEM graduates in a single year. It’s not by chance that 59% of companies around the world outsource to India.
Also, India hosts great hubs of skilled web developers and the outsourcing industry has transformed into an innovative and cost-effective value-creation model, making it the best outsourcing country to outsource web development services.
Finally, India is the second-largest English speaking country in the world, plus is cost-effective as according to PayScale, the average annual salary for a software developer in India is 517,058 Rs (6,925 USD) per year, making it perfect for U.S. employers interested in outsourcing
Due to highly competitive outsourcing agencies, a lot of companies are engaged in the process. There may be a possibility of unreliable agencies, so you need to pay attention before hiring.
Poland
Yes, you read it right! Even if not being the first country to come to mind when you think of outsourcing web development, with the fastest growing economy in the European Union, Poland has quickly reached economic stability and is one of the highest-ranked outsourcing destinations in the world for software development outsourcing. According to the statistics, Poland ranks third for highly skilled programmers all around the world, and Polish web developers are great with project management skills, making it easy for countries to find experienced-level developers.
Also, 30% of the Polish population speaks English as a second language, making communication simple. Finally, the average salary of a software developer in Poland is 24,968 USD per year, almost a third of what Canada pays to its developers.
Since Poland is a young emerging market, innovation and creativity are still in the growth stages. So you can expect some issues regarding quality, speed of delivery, language barriers, regulations, and speed of development.
From wherever you look at it, from developing a simple single static page of plain text to complex web application, outsourcing web development can bring your company many advantages such as lower costs, increased efficiency, wider access to specialized skills, resources, and top talent from all over the world. Now it’s time for you to decide the best country to outsource web development according to your business needs. Don’t know where to start? Talk to our experts! At Intersog we have been delivering success across industries for over 15 years, developing web applications customized to each client’s specific requirements by leveraging our extensive expertise and deep technology capabilities.