Every business needs its web application these days and developing one isn’t cheap. So more and more companies every day decide to outsource this process offshore. One of the most popular destinations for this is Latin America and for a good reason. If you decide to look for tech talent there, you will need this guide to find the best way to outsource your app’s development.
Why choose Latin America
When you start the development process you will need to look at all possible outsourcing destinations. Eastern European and Asian countries are among the more popular and established options with an impressive amount of developers and low rates, but Latin America has its own undeniable advantages.
First of all, there is great IT infrastructure and professional education for software engineers in the region. The overall quality of the workforce is more consistent and reliable than in some other destinations. LATAM developers have great English proficiency and if your company is located in the United States, you will have no problem communicating with your employees due to geographical proximity and similar time zones. All of this is sometimes worth paying 5-10 dollars more per hour. Now let’s have a look at your hiring options.
Freelance sites
The cheapest but probably the most difficult way to hire an offshore development team is through special sites for freelancers. You will have to look through hundreds of applicants with different levels of education and expertise and finding the right one can be fairly difficult. Maintaining a working relationship with freelancers also can be challenging due to a lack of control and possible lack of self-discipline and work ethic on the coders’ end. Of course, if you have some tech background, don’t mind serving as a project manager controlling a freelancer, and need some short-term work done quickly and cheaply, this option can suit you, but it’s proven to not be for everyone.
Job boards
Another way to find software development from Latin America all by yourself is through job boards, for example, Linkedin. There you can either scroll through hundreds and hundreds of developers’ profiles or post your project requirements and job descriptions and wait for applicants to respond. This option is more reliable than freelance, but still, you will need to interview candidates yourself, which can be not easy without a tech background, and control the development process the whole time.
Social media and conferences
You can try and find a software developer through social media or by attending special conferences for tech specialists, offline or online. This hiring option is somewhat outdated but still can be pretty successful. Another good way to search for tech talent is through various coders’ competitions. You can scroll through the winners’ list and contact developers from there.
Outsourcing agencies
The most popular way to hire offshore developers today is through an outsourcing agency. With this hiring option, you will have to pay more compared to hiring directly, but a lot of companies still prefer this way. You just need to describe what you are looking for and the company’s employees will take care of everything else. Outsourcing agency has a big database of top tech talents in every region and they will help you to find the right one according to project requirements and your budget. Not only will an agency take care of the interviewing process, but sometimes they can even serve as project managers, controlling the whole development process, and helping you navigate all legalities. In South America, it is even more important, because some of the countries have pretty complex tax laws and to work with local professionals you will need all the help you can get. If you have a big application with a complex structure and long-term development, an agency can help you assemble a whole tech team or get you in touch with an established one. No need to say that with the ever-growing IT sector in Latin America you will have dozens of options to choose from. Overall, this hiring option has proven to be among the best ways of LATAM software development outsourcing.
Staffing and recruitment agencies
If you don’t want to search for software developers yourself, but can’t afford an outsourcing agency, this option may be for you. Staffing agencies basically serve as recruiters, collecting data about top tech talents and getting you in touch with them for a relatively modest price. You will still have to control the development process, communicate with coders and keep track of all complex tax laws, but the hardest part of it all, finding the right professional with the necessary level of experience and expertise, will be done for you. If you already have some kind of in-house development team, you can use еру services of IT staff augmentation, so the agency can analyze your team’s structure and find a specialist to match project requirements.
Local software development companies
There are hundreds of software development companies in Latin America and a lot of them offer their employees’ services to foreign clients. You can hire a single specialist or a dedicated team for your project needs without paying full price for company services. This option is relatively budget-friendly and can save you a lot of time and stress.
Conclusion
Latin America offers a great variety of IT professionals, from inexperienced beginners, looking for a job through freelance sites and ready to work for a very low price, to experienced professionals with dozens of successful projects in their portfolio. Of course, a lot of people still choose to work with Eastern European or South Asian developers due to lower costs, political instability in some parts of South America, and other factors, but LATAM quickly takes its place among the most popular outsourcing destinations. With a great deal of dedication or with help from an outsourcing agency, you can find the right developer for your application and establish successful working relationships with professionals from one of the fast-growing and most exciting markets today.