What is onsite and offshore model? Hybrid delivery models

A project delivery model is a term that is widely used within the IT industry. It is a way of project delivery based on the location of labor resources. The choice of a delivery model can affect the success of the entire project.

Our article is all about how the software engagement models work and how they can operate more efficiently. Let’s figure out the relationship between project success and practices and understand the pain points of Project Managers. We will answer the question “What is an onsite and offshore delivery model?” and compare onsite, offshore, and hybrid cooperation with outsourcing vendors, as well. Besides, you will learn what suits your needs best, an onsite software development team or an offshore software development model.

You may find it useful: How to set up a dedicated team for your project?

What is an onsite model?

The onsite delivery model, often called the onshore model, is a way of software development and delivery in which vendors send their qualified employees to the client’s office.

The vendor’s team continually interacts with the customer’s team members. Together, they collect information and develop, implement, maintain, and support the project. One distinctive feature of the onsite model is that the tasks assigned by a customer are completed by the outside employees.

This type of engagement model is perfect for short-term projects. Customers choose the onsite delivery model mainly for re-engineering projects with a repetitive scope of work. The other case is when customers have unclear requirements for the project.  

The onsite model is most effective when continuous interaction between the customer’s team and outside experts is required. Then, outside employees can approve the client’s requirements at every step of the SDLC.

More about engagement models in the IT industry.

The key benefits of an onsite model

Customers use the onsite delivery model when they need to migrate to the new technology or modify their legacy systems. The popularity of this model is explained by a certain number of the following advantages:

1. On-hand information. Both a vendor and a customer can learn about current work progress firsthand from their employees.
2. Face to face communication enables on-time detection of emerging issues and efficient problem-solving.
3. Effective collaboration. As there is no time and distance gap between both sites, there is almost no misunderstanding within a team.
4. Time effectiveness. Clients often offer changes at the latest stages of the software development lifecycle. When a team uses an on-site delivery model, there is no chance of late changes. Everything is done on time.
5. Enhanced time to market. The product is delivered faster due to the above-mentioned advantages.

What is an offshore model?

The offshore development model is a popular delivery model based on the vendor’s site. An offshore model is also known as outsourcing. Customers order software development from developers in different countries. The client has no face-to-face interaction with the vendor. However, a customer can communicate with the offshore developers via video calls, emails, chats, etc. This way of software development is good for well-structured and planned projects that have clear SRS documentation. Offshore development centers are quite popular nowadays.

Are you going to outsource software development? Check out a list of the 10 best countries for IT outsourcing.

The key benefits of outsourcing

Clients choose this way of cooperating with developers when their projects are expected to last long. The major advantages of outsourcing include the following pros:

• Low costs. It’s cheaper to outsource IT projects to countries with low labor costs.
• High-quality outcomes. The quality of the developed projects is no worse than those developed by in-house engineers.
• There are no hidden prices. A client can get an accurate estimation according to the payment models offered by an outsourcing company.
• Round-the-clock support. Offshore developers typically offer 24/7 support services, which means you needn’t be pegged to time differences.

Since there are many advantages of an offshore delivery model, clients must be aware of the risks related to this type of partnership. Make sure you know about these risks.

Learn more about offshore teams.

What is the difference between onsite and offshore?

What is an onsite and offshore model? Hybrid model

What is an onsite and offshore model? A hybrid model (offshore onsite model as it is also often called) is a mixed type of onsite and offshore cooperation. This project delivery model is one of the most successful models used by lots of companies. The work is distributed between onsite and offshore teams. Typically, 20-30% of tasks are completed by the onsite employees, and the rest is done by the offshore team members.

Let’s find out what assignments onsite workers do.

• Initial requirements capture
• Project planning
• Executing the project
• Dealing with the client and managing partnerships

Below are assignments offshore employees complete usually:

• Discussing requirements
• Business analysis, design, development, testing
• Monitoring that the final results match the initial requirements
• Continuous interaction and support

The key benefits of hybrid model teams

The hybrid delivery model outsourcing is good for sophisticated product development, and complicated and long-term IT projects. While enjoying the benefits of outsourcing, the client still gets an onsite team to address any queries or issues without the burden of managing a large-scale onsite team. Here is an example of the responsibilities distribution:

People often choose the hybrid delivery model because of the cost savings of utilizing offshore resources while reducing the total infrastructure cost (for the onsite team). Among the pros of an onsite-offshore model are the following benefits:

• Direct communication
• High productivity
• Highly skilled resources
• Cost-effectiveness
• Best practices in resource management

The management and administration costs involved in maintaining both the onsite and offshore employees may inhibit many service providers from going for the onsite-offshore model. Also, cultural differences between the onsite employees and offsite team members need to be managed effectively to gain the best results.

Are you looking for developers? Check out our staff augmentation options.

How to get maximum productivity from the offshore team

Today, many companies are offshoring their information technology to countries with lower wages. Offshore teaming is usually perceived as cost reduction, entering a large labor pool, increasing international opportunities, increasing the quality of service, and exploiting around-the-clock development. However, often, almost all of these goals of offshoring are not or partly met.

Let’s analyze why certain offshore projects are unsuccessful and how they should be set up in order to meet the predetermined goals. How do coordinate an offshore software development project to increase the chance of success?

Before proceeding to the question above, we should answer one more question “What is a successful project?”

Project success

A short time ago, costs, time, and savings were the most important factors determining success. A project should not cost more than it was budgeted, it should be completed on time, and the results of the work should lead to benefits that are higher than the project’s costs. These are the main factors ensuring success, although recently, extra elements of success were added.

So, let’s define a successful software development project as one in which the delivered product meets the scope, has at least the expected quality, is completed on time, and does not exceed its total budgeted costs and communication.

We adhere to these principles in our company. The teamwork of business analysts, tech leads, and project managers assures accurate estimations. They select the right people and bring a team together according to a customer’s project requirements.

Our senior managers and business analysts are mostly former developers with a strong background in software engineering. Thus, they follow all the steps of the software development life cycle and understand how important each of the stages is. These people select the right candidates having all the necessary skills to complete a particular project.

Before bringing a team together, every single member of the team takes a special test to define how psychologically compatible he/she is with other members of the team. Professional recruiters develop these tests, and the latter provide accurate results.

Learn more about DICEUS.

Onsite offshore model: How to communicate with offshore teams

According to the technical report “Improving offshore communication by choosing the right coordination strategy” written by Matthias Fabriek, Mischa van den Brand, Sjaak Brinkkemper, Frank Harmsen, and Remko Helms, poor quality of communication leads to less knowledge exchange. Less knowledge exchange leads to lower success. Lower perceived success influences communication negatively.

Here are some onsite-offshore communication model tips:

Tip 1. Focus on communication and coordination

Communication is the key instrument to overcome distances between onsite and offshore employees and a client.

Tip 2. Coordinate and control communication

Control is adhering to goals, policies, standards, and quality levels. Coordination means managing activities that influence the project and, thus, communication.

If coordination is not sufficient, team performance and the final result will also be inadequate. This is one of the main reasons offshore projects fail: project management is not adapting to the new offshore situation, which is different from a distributed situation in the home country.

Tip 3. Measure coordination

The following coordination areas need attention: organizational structure, risk management, infrastructure, process, conflict management, team structure, and team organization. Here are five main categories:  

• Standards: Standards include all methodologies, rules, dictionaries, procedures, etc. They are focused on delivering the right product (scope) with the right quality.  
• Plans: This category includes all schedules, milestones, and other plans. They all are focused on delivering the product on time and within the budget.  
• Formal mutual adjustment is all about coordinating formal communication. This category includes the creation of hierarchies, the planning of formal meetings, etc. Delegation is also an important aspect that affects team performance over distance: people have certain responsibilities in the project or the process.  
• Informal mutual adjustment: Some small measures can be taken to increase the chance of informal communication between people.
• Team selection: The knowledge and experience of all team members together influence the success of the project. Three dimensions define the team’s maturity: team technical competency, team motivation, and distributed teamwork skills (the ability to cooperate in a distributed environment).

The five previously mentioned categories of coordination measures meet onsite offshore support model challenges and aim at improving communication and knowledge exchange.

Who is a project coordinator? Onsite offshore coordinator responsibilities

To provide proper coordination of projects developed according to the onsite offshore delivery model, companies often hire coordinators. They may help you coordinate the work of different teams in various projects, for example, in onsite offshore testing model.

Our project managers and coordinators are professional business analysts with excellent knowledge of how to grow your startup or business with the proper software solution. They delve deeply into your business processes and generate the best ideas for your project according to your needs and requirements.

Conclusion

To sum it up, offshore projects are a wide notion, and the project’s success depends on a great number of factors. Whatever delivery model you choose, you should consider these factors before starting a project.

Let’s sum up the advantages of the three models under this review:

Offshore model

• High-cost savings
• A single point of contact
• A minimum 4-hour overlap with the on-site team
• Clear, responsive communications

Onsite model

• Face-to-face communication with team members
• Maximum control and coordination of time and effectiveness
• A negligible communication gap
• Reduced recruitment costs

Hybrid model

• Transparent project status and clear communication at all levels
• An in-depth understanding of each other’s working styles leads to long-term benefits
• Optimized resources, quality, project, and process management
• Cost advantages of having offshore software developers

Besides, a client should consider the five categories of coordination measures while working with offshore employees: standards, plans, teams, and formal and informal mutual adjustment.

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