Peterson&Co

Overseas vs Local Web Development – what’s best?

When we choose between a local or overseas web developer there is a long list of pros and cons we consider. From cost, innovation and revenue to time and cultural differences and how well we’re going to liaise with a team behind something so vital to our clients business. What is ultimately best for the project will depend entirely on our clients specific needs and budget. Over the years we have built great relationships and had great results with local and overseas web developers. It’s worth noting our fees are based on our design expertise and management plus our web developers – we don’t look to contract our work at a cheaper rate to make a quick profit, we are thoroughly involved in and enjoy the process.

We’ve outlined the best (and worst) aspects of both local and overseas developers to make things a little simpler.

The benefits of outsourcing to overseas web developers:

The more advanced web developers are overseas. According to the SkillValue 2019 Report, based on 550+ technical assessments, the top 5 countries with the best developers in the world are: Slovakia, Mexico, Poland, Hungary and the Ukraine (Australia ranked 28). These countries have more development companies and certified specialists than in Australia. Fast and cheap internet, modern tools, technologies and practices, fluent English and cultural similarities with western countries all help to establish a reliable and successful working relationship. Labour is cheaper overseas and when you compare paying a local web developer 4x the amount, those figures are hard to ignore. Going offshore means you can budget for additional developers and time to the project at the same cost – that’s a hard pro to look past. If you are working with a larger team, you’ll have additional ideas and skills that your local developers may not be able to offer.

The downfalls of working with overseas web developers:

No matter how good the offshore team, we will still need to dedicate extra time and effort to managing the project. This can often be done out of our normal business hours due to time differences and add extra costs to our clients.

Synchronising from the other side of the world can be hard work and managing and preparing an offshore project isn’t as simple as a quick face-to-face with a local developer. Time zone differences coupled with waiting for replies to emails and Zoom calls all need to be factored into the cost of a website project. Coupled with potential barriers and issues pertaining to language, things can get lost in translation, it can get frustrating and parts of the project might need to be reworked multiple times. Project essentials like quality and professionalism can slip and in turn eliminate cost savings.

The benefits of working with local web developers:

When we are looking to work closely with a web development team, then a local team is a great choice. Being on the same time schedule and zone makes communication easy. Having a local web developer will likely lead to face-to-face meetings and phone calls, highly advantageous for fine-tuning specifics. Communication advantages and cultural similarities also allow local developers to be more readily able to make design decisions on our behalf to create the most suitable software solution, without you having to spell out detail in task lists. Its an important factor when working on more complicated projects. Its also great to support the local economy!

The downfalls of working with local web developers:

Local developers are a great option, but one of the biggest downfalls is the higher cost. Labour costs are much higher in Australia and with that, prices increase for our clients.

Additionally onshore developers may not have the exact people you need available immediately, because it’s not cost effective to maintain any unoccupied workers. So when we hire an onshore company, we need take into account the time the company requires to hire and train the talent we need, especially for rare skill sets in the market. As mentioned earlier Australia is not a world leader in web development and there are technically more advanced teams available overseas.

Local developers are often very busy. It can be hard to find reliable people for smaller tasks that do not require always high level of technical expertise.

Get in touch with us today to discuss your latest web project.

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