Offshore development is as American as apple pie
Apple pie is as quintessentially American as it gets. Spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, packed with the goodness of fresh apples, and served in a delicious crust, this humble dessert is at the heart of so many great memories.
But, where does apple pie come from? Is it even really (gasp) from America?
Diverse roots, American branches
First of all, apples are not native to North America. The Malus domestica as scientists call it, originated in central Asia and was brought to North America by some of the earliest European settlers in the 17th century.
As for apple pie, the earliest recipes we have, date back to England in the 14th century. The thick crust was originally intended just as a vessel for the pie but soon became a part of the dish. With the influx of immigrants from Europe into North America, apple pies would soon emerge as a common dish.
The association of apple pies with Americana seems to have been firmly in place by the early 20th century when it began showing up in advertisements. The idiom “as American as apple pie” was further ingrained by the time of second world war, with soldiers marching off to fight ‘for mom and apple pie’.
As American as…outsourcing?
Despite the far-off origins of both apples and the pie, there’s something especially American about this story. America is a place where homegrown ingenuity merges with the best inputs and resources from across the globe to make something consummately American.
For another example of what we mean, fast-forward to the 19th century.
North America’s first transcontinental railroad is being completed. A massive undertaking, as epic as the land it was built to gird, covering 1911 miles, it was built in an amazing 6 years, from 1863 to 1869. The Union Pacific Railroad linked ‘sea to shining sea’ and served as a vital link, moving people, goods, commerce, and dreams across the continent. Thousands of workers working in a variety of terrains and climate built this railroad, and a huge number of them were immigrants, chiefly from China and Ireland, but contingents of Indians, from Punjab, and Mexicans, also formed part of the workforce.
Today, American enterprise continues to employ the best labor from anywhere in the world, drawing on a global talent pool to scale up quickly and at cost. The difference is, when it comes to outsourcing software development, remote working makes it easier than ever for American companies to outsource or offshore their development needs.
Slicing the Outsourcing vs. Offshoring pie
So what is the difference between outsourcing and offshoring, anyway?
While outsourcing consists of contracting a whole functionality or service to an outside agency, offshoring is more like creating a branch or extension of your team in another country.
Outsourcing software development can be a cost-effective, efficient solution for non-tech companies, an alternative to the time and investment needed to build non-core skills in-house.
On the other hand, offshoring is ideal for tech companies that have a small in-house team in place and need to scale up without burning through their initial funding.
A good offshoring agency will match them with remote teams who bring in the requisite skill sets at an affordable cost. The parent company continues to own the process and the results, and it acquires a second team that works with it towards the same goals.
Helping you make the right choice of whether to outsource your tech needs or augment your own team with an offshore one is part of our expertise at Reliable Group.
While the offshore staff augmentation started around 15 years ago, we have always been a New York based software company, using international talent to drive American success stories.
We connect you with remote teams or developers with complementary skill sets and have a proven track record working across geographies and in close synchronization with firms like yours.
Our proven outsourcing model follows the 5 D process. It’s a linear model where each step proceeds from the previous one, with no overlap. The 5 Ds are:
- Discovery– The scope of work and requirements are discovered and decided.
- Design – Technical and visual designing is finalized.
- Development – The required product/service is developed.
- Debugging – Extensive testing identifies and eliminates bugs.
- Deployment – The product or service is ready to be deployed.
When it comes to off-shoring, we follow the Agile Method. The development teams work in sprint cycles, following a checklist of tasks. Following a basic plan, tasks are prioritized according to the development process, business, and technical priorities, and so on. There is ample scope for modifying plans with each sprint, allowing for a robust, adaptive project scope. This flexibility makes it easy for the offshore software development team to respond to real-time feedback and shifting requirements of your US business.
Of pies, outsourced and offshore software development, and the USA
We’ve come a long way from apple pie and railroads to technology projects in the USA today. But we can see how the two halves of this story dovetail. The all-American apple pie contains a story of international convergence, of ingredients and ideas from all over coming together to become an integral part of the weave of American life. The great railroads of the 19th and 20th century were built by a workforce drawn from all over. In a similar way, offshoring and outsourcing software development has become a seamless part of driving American success stories. Whether you’re a tech company looking to upskill and upscale at cost, or a non-technical company that needs to focus on its core competency while staying competitive on the technology front, the choice to work with remote partners helps you achieve your goals.
At the end of the day, the inputs brought to the table by our outsourced or offshore teams feedback into your business’ competitive edge. Leveraging the best value proposition to augment your own capabilities, you retain ownership over your technology assets, and at the same time, you decide how to use your time and resources in the smartest way. The end result is a business best-case scenario that’s about as American as apple pie and all yours.
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