In this post, we will describe when you should consider setting up your offshore development center for business in India, the security checklist to tick off before setting up one, the difference between the software development center and in-house development team, and some tips to know before you set up and manage your ODC in India.

Without further ado, let’s get started:

When to Consider Setting Up Your Own Development Center for your Business in India?

The foremost reason for considering your offshore development center in India is to satisfy the ‘need of high-skilled developers.’ Secondly, you don’t want to be tied to hiring strictly from a local pool of candidates. Hence, the need to choose the best from the rest generates the need to set up your Offshore Development Center

Let’s suppose you don’t have a huge budget; relying on an offshore development center will probably save you in saving huge costs while giving access to a pool of talent. In addition, you can quickly access developers who can understand your business culture, work ethics, and business objectives.

Moreover, depending on your offshore development center in India is ideal when you don’t wish to use office space for more employees. That’s when finding remote means comes in handy, as you barely have to think about accommodating people, magnifying offices, or stress about the equipment.

With an offshore development center, you are getting exposure to the worldwide talent and marketplace. You can add more employees to the team who are aptly skilled to your project’s needs and possess adequate knowledge of the target market.

By having your offshore development center, you always save time and energy on managing your development team, focus on business development, and dedicate yourself entirely to the success of your business. A team manager will be assigned to take care of everything else.

Security Checklist when Setting Up Your Offshore Development Center in India

Just when you are thinking of getting your offshore development center ready, it is equally important to think about overall security. So, here are some points, which you need to tick off before finally getting started with your offshore development center in India.

IP (Intellectual Property) Theft

The security of your IP is essential. You must communicate to the offshore development team what you exactly are looking for from them. It would be better to create explicit contracts, like NDA, to stay protected throughout. You also need to understand their expectations and act accordingly.

Enterprise-Grade Firewalls

Ask your offshore development center a few questions regarding measures they put in place to keep their customers secure. Relying on an offshore development center means your data will be over the web. Hence, network security should be your priority. Enterprise-grade firewalls can prevent attacks from occurring to the data that is transferred on the web. In addition, network monitoring tools can further protect the network more robustly.

Security of the Final Software Product

Along with the networks, the security of the final software product also matters. Once the final product is ready, it should thoroughly go through the security checks to protect the users and their data in the future. It is essential to discuss the security concerns with the developers in advance to avoid any issues later. In case the security issues prevail, you can always contact your offshore development team for help.

Physical Security of the Data

The physical security of the data is essential to keep up the security of the entire final product as a whole. Therefore, you can easily avoid data breaches by just being aware of the physical safety of the data offered by the offshore development center. In addition, you can ask specific questions to your offshore developers like:
Do their employees follow the data security and protection training?

Is password-encryption a part of their organization?
What practices do developers follow to secure their applications?

Data Access

Be aware of who all can access your data to keep your business entirely safe. Since you are not physically available to keep a check on everything, it is crucial to know in advance how it will be kept secure with the offshore development team in India. For that, you will mainly need to figure out a team that you can rely on entirely. Build trust with the offshore team, and you will know how secure your data is. A background check of the offshore team can also help.

Software Development Center vs. in-House Team

Now, you must know the difference between a software development center and an in-house team. For this, it is essential to read the difference between both these terms. Some significant differences are as follows:

Communication Management

Believe it or not, everything relies on how well you communicate with your offshore development team. Therefore, it is essential to be precise about everything when you are communicating with them. Also, don’t forget to focus on their facial expressions, gestures, and body language when interacting with them online.

Time Zones

The offshore development centers are situated in different countries; hence keeping time zones in mind is essential. Therefore, it is crucial to discuss the work timings and schedules when working with an offshore team. Almost every offshore company will help you plan to schedule. However, it is your responsibility to take care of time zones and plan accordingly with your offshore team.

Scalability

It is easy to scale a remote team, for which you will need to contact your account manager or the recruiting manager to share the project’s requirements and expectations. Be sure to be in touch with new employees before the requirements are given to the offshore team.

Don’t Make Them Feel Secondary

Since you are hiring a new team for your organization, the chances are that they could feel secondary, especially in the presence of your existing team. You must ensure that your new team doesn't feel secondary but equally important as your current team of developers. Don’t forget to introduce both the teams, as soon as you are sure about them.

Valuable Tips to Set Up and Manage ODC in India

Since knowing the difference between the software development center vs. in-house team is crucial, it is time to get some insights into some valuable tips, which can help you set up and manage your ODC or offshore development center in India.

Make sure you choose what you trust. You should only be hiring someone whom you can trust and rely on.

It is essential to do a background check of the organization, for which you can check their track records, reviews, and references.

You can ask their customers about the experience they had with this organization.

Share all your expectations, organizational structure, and duties with your new team for smooth organizational working.

Pay attention to the members of the team and even their qualifications, skills, and experience.

It is essential to talk about the overall security of your organization and data.

Pick the methodology and outline of what and how your offshore team must communicate with you.

Introduce both your existing and new offshore teams for smooth communication.

Share the responsibility of every team member in advance to avoid any misunderstanding and hindrance in the development process.

The Crux

Setting up an offshore development team is an essential step for any organization. Therefore, it is vital to abide by some essentials to be safe and secure while relying on one. So, go through the security checklist and these valuable tips when setting up or managing your offshore team efficiently.

Author's Bio: 

Amit is the Founder of Signity Solutions, Co-Founder of ValueAppz and Your Team in India – Technology-oriented companies with the vision of delivering high quality, scalable, and highly reliable solutions/services in the space of digital enablement, spanning across mobile apps, web & social media presence along with enterprise productivity solutions/integration. A tech-evangelist, he has an uncanny ability to synergize and build associations, thriving teams, and reputable clients. His vision to grow his decade-old company as per global standards, and his deep analytical skills to foresee market trends, as well as global challenges, has enabled his company to come up with products and services best suited not only for local, but global markets as well. His sharp skills and first-class business acumen have helped him in building successful sales and product management teams to ensure increased brand awareness and demand generation.