Being a strategic technology partners to a number of businesses in the region, we are often asked two questions, what is the best country to outsource or offshore technology to, and how do I pick a company once I’ve chosen the country or city? Today, we’ll be tackling the first question.
The short answer is, it depends! But you probably already know this. The skills and talents needed to develop a mobile app are far different from building an offshore HR team. First, you’d need to know exactly what your project requirements are, and assign priorities to different qualities like time of delivery, ethical behavior, cultural compatibility, and much more. Here are four of the top destinations for outsourcing technology for a quick comparison.
India:
You’re not surprised, are you! You often hear of outsourcing companies in India being the cheapest, however, in fact, they are not. What India does very well, is people. India is a country with half a billion in its workforce, that’s more than the entire population of the USA, this makes it easy for recruitment there and for companies such as call centers to succeed.
The downsides include the cultural incompatibility between Indians and the rest of the world, partly due to language barriers, the vicious –and unethical at times- competition between companies, and lastly, the subpar quality, for the majority of companies. If you’re hiring in India, make sure you keep a plan B at hand for if and when things go wrong.
The Philippines:
Something about the Philippine makes it a fertile ground for talent. In a way, you can think of it as an India V2.0. If you’re in the market for an Indian alternative with better talent, more skills, and no language barriers, then the Philippines is probably the country for you.
However, due to their limited resources, finding and recruiting good talent is not an easy task there, you would probably need to hire head hunters and take multiple trips there to meet your team face to face, so, if you have the time and energy, it could be worth it, if not, let's keep looking.
Poland:
You didn’t see this one coming, did you! The once communist nation is currently one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, partly due to being an outsourcing destination. Teams here are talented, culturally suitable, highly educated and ethical, and even fun to work with.
Do not expect any discounts though, if you’re outsourcing to Poland, expect price cards that are very close to the ones you’d get from US based companies. It is worth it, however, if you don’t mind spending a little more on your technology.
Jordan:
Yes, I realize this sounds somehow biased, however, let's look at the facts, Jordan is one of the top countries in the world when it comes to talent, literacy, and price competitiveness, it also happens to be an entrepreneurial hub in the Middle East (Alongside Dubai), hence, there is no shortage of talent here. So, you can rest assured that Jordan is a safe option for most technology outsourcing needs, in fact, it is ranked #6 in the "Top Rated Outsourcing Countries" index.
Other notable mentions go to countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, China, and Estonia. Next, we would be discussing specific tactics you could use to spot whether a company is worthy of your work or not.