U.S. Based vs Overseas Developers and The AppIt Advantage

U.S. Based vs Overseas Development

When searching for a software development partner, you’ll find that there are two main camps: those that employ in-house developers and those that contract overseas developers. While a difference in price is undoubtedly the first thing that comes to mind, there are also a variety of other factors to consider when deciding which sort of arrangement is a better fit for you.

• Price: As mentioned, this is probably the most obvious difference between the two. U.S. based developers are, often exponentially, more expensive than overseas developers. Whether or not you’re actually getting a higher quality product depends entirely on the developers themselves – the higher price is not necessarily indicative of a better job, period.
• Accessibility: U.S. based developers tend to be more accessible than overseas developers. Their working hours are generally more aligned with your own, and you’re less likely to encounter potentially problematic language barriers. With overseas developers, you may find that it is hard to find a time to connect and that you’re having to do most of your communicating via emails that cannot be answered right away. You may also find that the nuances of what you’re trying to create are getting lost in translation, even when the developers speak your language. There can be a cultural component that makes those small, but not insignificant, things a bit of a challenge to convey.
• Perspective: Working with a team that can bring a well-rounded perspective to your project is critical to its success, and we’ve seen clients suffer in the past from limited perspective, disengagement, or lack of understanding in a project.  Whether US based or offshore, it’s imperative to find a team that can bring a fresh perspective to your project, and one that compliments your vision. With the right team, you may benefit from fresh ideas or concerns that you hadn’t considered before because they don’t pertain to your initial vision, but they may pertain to many of your future users. We have heard concerns voiced by clients about overseas partners being disengaged – declining to ask thought provoking questions or be upfront about limitations on the project. To be honest, we find this practice is just as common with US-based development teams as it is with offshore development teams.  Just as price isn’t always a true indicator of quality, location isn’t always a true indicator of engagement with client projects. Disengagement and lack of understanding can happen with U.S. based and overseas developers in equal measure and is simply an indicator of the personality, not necessarily the location, of the company you’ve hired.
• Prioritization: One of the challenges in working with a contracted offshore team is ensuring prioritization of your projects.  When companies contract developers, they don’t always have visibility into or control over how projects are prioritized. They are at the mercy of the developer to accommodate any changes in schedule or scope that might pop up, and there are always competing interests at play. In-house developers have the same priorities as the rest of the delivery team and this helps keep things running smoothly, even when unforeseen challenges arise. Additionally, there is nothing to be done about the quality of work or personnel that a contractor offers – it is a take it or leave it situation. With in-house employees, a company can manage resources as needed to ensure that the quality of output meets its expectations.

The AppIt Advantage

The AppIt Hybrid Model ( In-house and Overseas Development )

Here at AppIt Ventures, we intentionally built our business around providing world-class customer service, reducing project risk, and delivering quality code at a reasonable price.  To execute on these initiatives, we created a hybrid between US-based and overseas development that effectively eliminates many of the pitfalls of going with one over the other. We leverage our US-based tech consultants, architects and project managers to design a solution in a way that minimizes risk for our clients, while providing world-class service and the availability of a local resource.  The bulk of our development is done by our team based in Hyderabad so that we can offer our clients the best possible price for their project. We are proud of how our devoted teams collaborate to deliver quality code on time for every project.

Exclusively Employees

Our entire team, spanning both Hyderabad and Denver, is comprised exclusively of AppIt employees. All of our project managers, technical consultants, architects, and account executives are here in Denver, Colorado and will draw upon their extensive experience to help you clearly define the outcome you’re driving toward, make a plan to bring it to life with technology, and effectively convey that vision to our development team.

While the bulk of our developers are in Hyderabad, we also have app developers in our Denver office in case your project requires a certain security clearance that someone working overseas is unable to obtain or to jump in on an urgent matter that needs immediate attention. These are your primary points of contact and they’re available when you are.

By employing rather than contracting our developers in Hyderabad, we are able to make sure that we maintain consistency throughout our organization. We all undergo the same technology and company culture training, we uphold all of the same values, including transparency and accountability, and we use the same tool sets and communication methods to bring us together as a cohesive unit, allowing us to work seamlessly as a team. We share the same priorities, and can effectively shift around resources to help accommodate any unexpected hurdles that may arise because there aren’t any competing interests within our company. Our autonomy affords us flexibility that can be passed down to our clients.

World Class Collaboration

At AppIt, we fervently believe that diverse teams are the strongest teams. Varied viewpoints, all brought to the table and discussed amongst the team, enable us to examine and present the very best ideas. Daily, our teams exchange ideas and teach each other the latest coding conventions and new skills that they’ve picked up. Best practices rise to the top, allowing us to do better work for our clients across the board.

Finally, our Hyderabad office works shifted hours so that the end of their workday overlaps with the beginning of ours. This gives us time to collaborate and discuss ongoing projects, while also giving the development team precious, uninterrupted stretches to do the bulk of their work. Additionally, it provides our clients with an opportunity to speak directly to the Hyderabad-based development team lead assigned to their project if they so desire.

Our #1 Goal

Bringing a compelling return on investment to our clients is our number one goal, and to do that we have to carefully manage cost. Our unique business structure ensures that we don’t have to sacrifice quality to get you there. We reduce risk to our clients by leveraging the accessibility and familiarity of a local delivery team along with the reduced costs of an expert Hyderabad development squad. The outcome is a world-class application at a fraction of the typical cost. THAT is the AppIt advantage!