Thinking about moving your development overseas? You’re not alone—and you’re not wrong.
Companies that switch to offshore software development can cut costs by 30–70%, depending on the region and setup. It’s also the fastest way to scale up, tap into global talent, and bring products to market faster—without overloading internal teams.
Still, making the leap from in-house to offshore isn’t a plug-and-play move. It affects how your team works, how fast you ship, and how well your product holds up. It takes planning, clear goals, and the right partner.
In this guide, we’ll walk through how to get it right.
Why Companies Transition to Offshore Software Development
There are several reasons to move from in-house to offshore software development:
- You need to scale quickly but can’t find enough talent locally.
- Your costs are too high for in-house hiring and infrastructure.
- You want to focus internal teams on strategy, not hands-on tasks.
- You need access to niche skills or 24/7 delivery cycles.
Many companies choose to transition to this this model. In fact, here are some numbers by Statista:
Many leading companies have already made this move—with strong results. Here are some most famous examples:
- Apple, Microsoft, and Google use outsourcing for parts of their IT, infrastructure, and app development needs to focus internal teams on innovation.
- IBM set up delivery centers in India and Latin America, combining remote and onshore teams to scale development fast.
- Cognizant and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) each support hundreds of thousands of developers worldwide, delivering software development and consulting services to global clients—including Fortune 500 companies.
- Infosys, another other major Indian firm delivers IT services and full R&D and cloud platforms for enterprises across sectors to clients like Microsoft, bp, Bank of America etc.
These global outsourcing giants exist for a reason: to support some of the world’s largest and most successful companies. Behind many industry leaders are skilled overseas development teams that help them scale.
What to Plan Before You Start Offshore Outsourcing
Transitioning to offshore development starts with careful planning. Rushing in can lead to delays, cost overruns, or teams working at cross purposes. A well-prepared transition process is a solid foundation for productive collaboration.
Here’s your checklist with what to focus on before making the move:
☐ Set clear goals and define success early.
Think beyond just reducing cost. Are you aiming to shorten time to market? Do you need rare technical skills your local team lacks? Are you trying to build a 24/7 delivery pipeline? Outline your goals and define how you’ll measure progress—this might include speed of delivery, number of bugs, cycle time, team velocity, and satisfaction from stakeholders.
☐ Choose the right region for your business.
Different outsourcing regions offer different advantages. Eastern Europe is known for strong engineering quality, excellent English proficiency, and cultural alignment with EU and UK companies. India is often selected for its deep talent pool and lower costs. LATAM is a great fit for North American businesses that want time zone overlap and fast, real-time communication. Each region has trade-offs, so align your priorities before choosing.
☐ Evaluate offshore partners thoroughly.
Find a software development company with experience in your industry. Look at their portfolio—have they worked with companies like yours? Ask about their development process, tech stack, and how they handle security. Check their communication habits: do they proactively ask questions, flag risks, and share ideas? Strong communication and business understanding are as important as coding skills.
☐ Talk to their current and past clients.
Ask for references. What was the experience like? Did the team meet deadlines? How was the quality of the code? Did the relationship feel like a partnership or a vendor-client dynamic? References will often tell you more than case studies alone.
☐ Review their delivery model.
Do they offer dedicated teams? Can you scale up or down if needed? How do they handle time zones, daily standups, sprint planning, or releases? A partner that adapts to your way of working—and brings their own experience to improve it—is more valuable than one that only executes tasks.
☐ Prepare solid onboarding documentation.
Document everything the offshore team will need to succeed: your system architecture, business logic, current workflows, key dependencies, known issues, coding standards, and tools. Include diagrams, past sprint summaries, or decision logs. Walk the team through your product as a user, not just from a technical angle. The more context they have, the faster they’ll ramp up.
☐ Create a clear onboarding plan.
Think of the first 2–4 weeks as a structured ramp-up period. Assign mentors or leads on your side. Plan for shadowing sessions, walkthroughs, and regular Q&A. If the team feels set up for success from the start, you’ll avoid rework and friction later.
☐ Align on tools and expectations.
Set up the tech stack and collaboration tools early—Git, Slack, Jira, Confluence, CI/CD pipelines, test frameworks. Agree on coding standards, documentation rules, review processes, and deployment flows. This creates consistency across in-house and offshore teams.
How to Build an Offshore Software Development Team That Works
Now, after you have chosen your partner, here is what you need to do to ensure smooth transition:
Make Knowledge Transfer a Priority
Start with a structured onboarding. Walk through the codebase. Schedule shadowing with in-house developers. Share product roadmaps and explain the business logic behind features.
Use collaborative tools like Jira, Confluence, and GitHub to create one source of truth for tasks and documentation.
Create a Shared Development Process
Align your offshore and in-house teams under one project structure. Use Agile Scrum or Kanban, depending on your workflows. Assign clear roles—who owns the architecture, who leads sprints, who reviews the code.
Daily standups and sprint planning meetings help keep everyone in sync. Async updates can work too, especially with time zone differences.
We covered more nuance in this article:
How to Communicate and Collaborate with Offshore Development Teams
Communication is the foundation of any successful offshore setup.
- Use tools like Slack, Zoom, Jira, and Notion to stay connected.
- Write everything down—requirements, feedback, bugs. This prevents misalignment and speeds up onboarding for new team members.
- Share context, not just tasks. Explain why something matters.
- Track team performance and review regularly. Don’t just look at task completion—ask for feedback from both sides.
You can start small with one team and expand as trust and results grow.
What to Avoid When Transitioning to Offshore Teams
Here are a few mistakes companies often make—and how to avoid them:
1. Lack of clear ownership. Without clear roles, tasks get duplicated or missed. Assign responsibilities from day one.
2. Too much focus on cost. Choosing the cheapest option often leads to delays and poor quality. Focus on value and proven experience.
3. Cultural misalignment. Take time to understand how your offshore team works. Respect time zones, communication styles, and work culture.
4. Ignoring security. Use NDAs, secure code access, and regular audits. Make sure your partner follows GDPR, PCI, or other relevant standards.
In Short
Start with a focused project. Choose a team that fits your industry and tech stack. Build trust through transparency, structure, and shared goals.
And if you’re looking for a partner who’s done this across sectors and scales—let’s talk.
At UniRidge, we’ve helped companies around the world build, scale, and optimize offshore development teams. One of our clients, a NYC-based real estate agency, had a massive legacy system with over a million lines of code. We assembled a full-stack team in 42 days, rebuilt their platform in .NET Core and React, and cut their infrastructure costs by half.
Today, we continue to support clients in fintech, real estate, healthcare, telecom, energy and others. We work with professional, motivated people who deliver outstanding results across the globe.
