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Offshore development offers various benefits such as cost reduction and securing excellent IT talent. On the other hand, it is not uncommon to face different concerns and challenges during the course of a project.
"I want to know the common concerns in offshore development."
"I want to learn how to avoid failures in offshore development."
Many people may have these kinds of questions. To succeed in offshore development, it is important to understand potential problems and their solutions in advance.
In this article, we will explain in detail the common concerns in offshore development and their solutions, as well as how to choose a reliable development company. If you are considering offshore development, be sure to read to the end.
Japanese PMs Handle Communication
Looking for an Offshore Development Company
For such individuals, we recommend Solashi’s Vietnam offshore development
What is Offshore Development?
Offshore development is a method of outsourcing your system or application development to companies overseas. Countries such as Vietnam, China, and India, which have low labor costs and an abundance of engineers, are attracting attention. By utilizing offshore development, you can enjoy benefits such as reducing development costs and solving human resource shortages.
However, there are also challenges such as language and cultural differences and difficulties in communication. To overcome these, proper management systems and choosing reliable partners are crucial.
Benefits of Offshore Development
Using offshore development offers the following advantages:
- Cost Reduction: Outsourcing to countries with lower labor costs can significantly reduce development expenses.
- Access to Skilled Talent: You can hire highly skilled engineers from countries rich in IT talent.
- Building a Dedicated Development Team: You can have a dedicated development team overseas.
- Shortening Development Time: By securing a talented development team at low cost, you can expect faster project completion.
Thanks to these advantages, offshore development is becoming an attractive option for many companies.
Related article: 8 Reasons Why Vietnam is the Best for Offshore Development and How to Choose a Reliable Company - Solashi
5 Common Challenges in Offshore Development
Here are five common challenges in offshore development:
- Difficulty in smooth communication
- Delays in adhering to the project schedule
- Frequent changes in development team members
- Unexpected cost overruns
- Low awareness of security and intellectual property
Let’s take a closer look at each of these challenges.
1. Difficulty in smooth communication
In offshore development, language and cultural differences with overseas development companies often create communication barriers. This is not just inconvenient—it can impact the overall success of a project.
For example, when explaining specifications or design, your intentions may not be accurately conveyed. Such misunderstandings can lead to missing features or improper implementations, resulting in major rework.
This can ultimately lead to increased development costs and project delays.
2. Delays in adhering to the project schedule
Some overseas companies may not be as strict with deadlines as Japanese companies, leading to potential schedule delays.
Differences in how work and deadlines are perceived can also hinder project progress. For instance, variations in holidays, working hours, and interpretations of “urgent tasks” may cause unforeseen delays.
Without understanding these differences in advance, you may end up setting unrealistic project schedules.
3. Frequent changes in development team members
In some countries, the workforce is more fluid than in Japan, resulting in high turnover rates among engineers. This makes it difficult to establish a stable development team and can disrupt project progress.
When turnover is high, new team members must repeatedly be brought up to speed on system specifications and job details, which can be a heavy burden on the team. If handovers are insufficient, this may lead to decreased development quality and inconsistency.
In long-term projects, this issue can significantly affect the final deliverable's quality.
4. Unexpected cost overruns
Even though the goal of offshore development is to reduce costs, it may sometimes lead to increased expenses. Factors contributing to cost overruns include:
- Low-quality deliverables requiring extended revisions
- Delays in delivery increasing labor costs
- Need for additional staff such as interpreters
Choosing the wrong engineers or development company or insufficient preparation can cause these unexpected costs.
5. Low awareness of security and intellectual property
One major concern in offshore development is the difference in awareness regarding security and intellectual property protection. Some offshore development companies may not prioritize these as much as Japanese firms.
This difference can lead to serious risks, such as source code leaks or confidential information breaches.
To avoid these issues, it is essential to find a trustworthy offshore development company with robust security measures in place.
How to Solve Common Offshore Development Issues
Here are solutions to the issues mentioned above. Each challenge can be addressed as follows:
- Utilize a Bridge SE
- Choose a development company with Japanese staff
- Strive for clear communication
- Understand cultural differences
- Create a buffer in the project schedule
- Opt for a dedicated (lab-type) development model
- Estimate costs thoroughly in advance
- Choose companies with security certifications
1. Utilize a Bridge SE
Bridge SEs, who act as a bridge between Japan and offshore countries, are a reliable ally in offshore development. Since Bridge SEs are well-versed in the challenges of offshore development, they minimize misunderstandings caused by language and cultural differences and promote smooth communication.
By relying on a Bridge SE, you can solve offshore development issues and lead your project to success.
If you want to learn more about Bridge SEs, please check out the article below.
Related article: What is a Bridge SE Essential to Offshore Development? Explanation of Importance and Responsibilities - Solashi
2. Choose a development company with Japanese staff
To address communication challenges, choosing a company with Japanese staff is the most effective. Japanese staff can accurately convey the needs and expectations from the Japanese side to the local team, and appropriately report local situations and issues back to Japan. This facilitates smooth project progress and makes quality control easier. Also, since they understand Japanese business customs, there is less likelihood of misunderstandings regarding contracts and deadlines.
At our company, Solashi Co., Ltd , we have many experienced Japanese staff. They carefully listen to your needs and can propose the optimal system. Even if you are worried about communication in offshore development, you can use our services with confidence. Please feel free to contact us.
Japanese PMs Handle Communication
Looking for an Offshore Development Company
For such individuals, we recommend Solashi’s Vietnam offshore development
3. Strive for clear communication
In offshore development, always aim for clear communication. Avoid vague or indirect expressions, and use specific and direct language. Particularly when conveying specifications and requirements, be extremely cautious to leave no room for misunderstandings.
Also, be sure to document and share all important decisions and agreements with all stakeholders. This will help prevent future misunderstandings or confusion.
4. Understand cultural differences
Understanding and respecting cultural differences is essential in offshore development.
In particular, perceptions around holidays and working hours can vary greatly from country to country. For example, some countries prioritize family or don’t often work overtime. If you schedule work without understanding such cultural norms or expect them to work like in Japan, it could lead to unexpected trouble.
By studying local culture in advance, you can reduce the risk of trouble and also build strong relationships of trust.
5. Create a schedule with buffer time
When you are not yet familiar with offshore development, be sure to create a schedule with plenty of buffer time. Even with sufficient preparation, it’s not uncommon for things not to go as planned in the beginning due to unexpected events.
Add appropriate buffers to each task and make the overall schedule flexible to reduce the risk of delivery delays. Also, it’s important to review the schedule regularly and adjust it as needed.
6. Choose a lab-type development model
By using a lab-type development model, you can secure a dedicated development team. The benefits of lab-type development include the following:
- Secure IT talent with specialized knowledge for the long term
- Improve familiarity with the project over time, boosting productivity and quality
- Easier to adopt your company’s development culture and methodologies, allowing better control
- Flexibly adjust team size and maintain the optimal setup according to project progress
- Adapt more easily to specification changes or function modifications
- Highly compatible with agile development models, allowing progress even with unclear requirements
Moreover, fixing the team helps make managing confidential information easier, which also reduces security risks.
Related article: What is Lab-Type Development? Advantages, Disadvantages, and How It Differs from Contract-Based Development
7. Identify costs in advance
To reduce costs, it is crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of all expenses. In addition to labor costs, there are various incidental costs such as implementation fees for communication tools, travel expenses, communication fees, and consulting fees for legal and tax matters.
Additional costs associated with quality control and rework should also be taken into account. By identifying these costs in advance and creating a detailed budget plan, unexpected expenses can be avoided, and the overall financial health of the project can be managed appropriately.
Related article: Offshore Development Costs｜Unit Price by Country and Cost-Saving Methods
8. Choose a Company with Security Certifications
The acquisition of security certifications serves as an objective indicator for evaluating an offshore company's security measures.
In particular, ISO/IEC 27001 certification is highly regarded as an international standard for information security management systems. Companies that have obtained this certification are considered to have comprehensive security management systems in place.
When selecting an offshore development company, we recommend considering the acquisition status of security certifications as one of the important selection criteria.
Related article: What Are Offshore Development Security Risks? Measures and How to Choose a Company
Key Points for Choosing a Reliable Offshore Development Company
To choose a reliable offshore development company, it is important to consider the following key points:
- Development Track Record
- Presence of a Bridge SE
- Ease of Communication
- Proposal Capability
- Security Measures
Let’s go through each of these points in detail.
Development Track Record
When selecting an offshore development company, it is important to check their past project achievements. This helps you understand the company's experience and expertise. If they have experience with projects similar to your development goals, smoother progress can be expected. You can also assess whether they have the necessary tech stack and industry-specific knowledge.
Check the case studies and portfolios published on the development company’s website in detail. Evaluate whether the deliverables meet your expectations in terms of quality, complexity, and scale. If possible, refer to client feedback or reviews from previous projects. A company with many positive evaluations is more likely to be a trustworthy partner.
Choosing a company with a proven track record increases the likelihood of project success.
Presence of a Bridge SE
The presence of a Bridge SE is essential for successful offshore development. A Bridge SE plays a crucial role in facilitating communication between the Japanese side and the overseas development team. They possess technical knowledge, Japanese language skills, and project management abilities, and can clearly communicate technical information while understanding language and cultural differences.
A skilled Bridge SE enables accurate requirement transmission, appropriate progress reporting, and quick response in case of issues.
For example, at our company Solashi Co., Ltd, Bridge SEs participate in projects to act as intermediaries between clients and development teams. In addition to Bridge SEs, we also have many Japanese staff members familiar with the business, which is a strength that allows us to propose solutions tailored to our clients’ needs.
If you are interested, please feel free to contact us.
Ease of Communication
In offshore development, smooth communication is essential for project success. When choosing a development company, focus on the following points:
- Is the content of emails clear and easy to understand?
- Are responses to questions specific and accurate?
- Do the proposals match your company’s needs?
- Can they clearly explain technical matters?
Also, check in advance whether the communication tools to be used (chat, video conferencing, project management tools, etc.) are suitable for your company’s operations. Whether Japanese communication is possible and how they deal with time zone differences are also important points.
Evaluate these factors comprehensively and choose a reliable partner who can smoothly advance your project.
Proposal Capability
A development company with excellent proposal capability not only meets client requirements but also proactively offers better solutions and efficient development methods. Such proactive proposals can greatly contribute to improving project quality, reducing costs, and optimizing the schedule.
Companies that can make proposals based on technology trends and the latest industry information may suggest improvements or new approaches that your team might not have noticed.
When choosing an offshore development company, it is important to evaluate their proposal capability and find a partner who can share your company’s vision and goals.
Security Measures
Check the security measures of the development company.
First, check whether they have obtained internationally recognized security certifications such as ISO/IEC 27001. This certification is an important indicator that systematic security management is being implemented.
Next, ask about the specific security measures they can implement. We recommend confirming the following three points:
- Specific measures in past projects
- Security services currently provided as standard
- Additional measures that can be added upon client request
This will help you evaluate the company’s attitude and flexibility regarding security, and determine whether they can meet the required security level for your project.
It is important to thoroughly discuss with the development company to determine the optimal security measures for your project.
Let “Solashi” Solve Your Offshore Development Challenges!
This article explained common challenges in offshore development, their solutions, and how to choose a development company. To succeed in offshore development, it is important to be prepared for common issues. Among these, experienced Bridge SEs are a very reliable asset.
Our company Solashi Co., Ltd is an offshore development company based in Vietnam. With the following features, we lead your project to success:
- Optimal development process based on your business: We understand your business goals and propose development plans accordingly.
- Japanese PMs proficient in technology: Our Japanese project managers deeply understand technical requirements and are capable of advanced technical discussions.
- Flexible development system: With lab-type contracts, we flexibly accommodate feature additions and collaboration with other companies during the project.
- Step-by-step development approach: We progress development in stages—Short Project, MVP Development, and Main Development—minimizing risks.
- Comprehensive support by Bridge SEs: Experienced Bridge SEs act as liaisons and ensure smooth project execution.
If you have any concerns about offshore development, please feel free to consult with Solashi Co., Ltd. We will provide the optimal IT development solution to ensure the success of your business.
Akira Shimazoe
Representative of Solashi Japan LLC. Born in April 1989 in Fukuoka Prefecture. Graduated from the Graduate School of Information and Mathematical Sciences at Osaka Prefecture University. Joined Suntory System Technology Co., Ltd., an IT subsidiary of Suntory Holdings, in 2014. Broadly responsible for the development, operation, and implementation of vending machine delivery management, efficiency improvements, and sales management systems. Founded Yper Inc. in 2017, serving as CTO and CPO. Contributed to the launch and growth of the app-linked delivery bag "OKIPPA." Selected for Toyo Keizai's prestigious "Amazing Venture 100" and Forbes' "Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2019."
