• June 08, 2017 6:04 am
• by Sooraj

With technology becoming more a part of our regular systems, companies and enterprises are finding it increasingly ideal to outsource the non-core activities for improving upon their competitive edge and the profit margins. The trend in offshore software development is increasingly getting popular in the western world where it makes economic sense to outsource a good many of the backend jobs to destinations like India, China, and others. Most of the International IT Companies these days so much depended on offshore software development companies because it leads to innovations and improved productivity. No wonder, regardless of restrictions that have cropped up in recent times because of the changes in policies brought by the Trump administration, offshore software development will continue to grow to become a larger part of the global economy.

The ever-changing global equations and the marked improvements on the technology front is sure and certain to affect the offshore software development industry. Considering these factors, let us here study few of the recent trends in offshore software development.

Major Trends in Offshore Software Development

Security Issues – The Top Concern

Security issues will continue to be one of the top concerns in the field of offshore software development. There will be concerns regarding the security of data that is being handled by the offshore software development companies and clients will be skeptical about the data and information that they have to share with the service providers.

With internet of things and more and more smart and not-so-smart devices getting connected to the network, it is feared that security breaches will rise to an unprecedented level. It will be thus necessary for offshore software development companies to provide the best security practices, inclusive of secure booting, firewalls and secure authentication mechanisms.

Cloud Computing and Big Data

Cloud computing will be an important part of all offshore software development companies that will play a crucial role in scaling up the sales of the software service providers. With cloud computing getting more and more popular, companies are now increasingly hosting their solutions in a cloud-based platform. Customers are getting aware and demanding access to the cloud-based hosting of information. They are mature enough in understanding the possibilities of cloud computing and are thus demanding fast access to information from their service providers. The concept of Hybrid Cloud too is getting popular that has both private and public cloud computing solutions for addressing the needs of the clients. Along with cloud computing big data too is trending highly, especially with the large corporations.

Automation

Automation and robotic processes will be instrumental in reducing the dependence on manpower and drive down the costs. This will be helpful for companies to provide solutions and services without having to depend upon the unpredictability of manpower availability. Automation will be extremely useful in circumstances like the present turmoil surrounding controversies related to H1B visas in the United States. It will be increasingly difficult to bring in manpower from countries like India and will thus force companies to go for more of automation. It is said that even before the recent controversies had erupted regarding the visas, companies had already been gradually shifting to a system that would have called for lower overseas manpower.

Internet of Everything

From Internet of Things, which was trending good last year, this time it is Internet of Everything that will boost things up. Every piece of hardware will now get the opportunity to get connected to the network, making us connected to our surrounding environment all the time. This will however, help in breaching the security protocols. There will be much more concerns regarding issues pertaining to security. Ultimately, everything will be connected, including wearables, home devices, cars and smart cities will be the order of the day. It will thus be a great challenge for software developers to neutralize those threats by offering advanced security automation and solutions.

Web and Mobile App Development are Trending Hot

With the growth of the offshore software development industry, there’s an increased focus towards value added services. As such, service providers will have to look for providing more of innovative solutions to their tech partners. It’s through innovations and providing high-end services that the offshore software developers in countries like India can hope to take their businesses to a higher level. As a result, developers are providing a range of services from web development to app development. Offshore android app, iphone app, PHP development, wordpress development are some of the trending offshore software development activities taken up by the developers.

Virtual Work on the Rise

These days because of issues such as visa, immigration and other controls it is quite difficult and uneconomical to shift manpower overseas. As such the virtual work phenomenon is becoming more an integral part of all outsourcing work that offshore software developers are taking up for their clients. The trend of working virtually is picking up fast. With advanced technology such as Skype and Google Hangout, it’s all the more easy for offshore software developers to communicate with their overseas clients. The range of services such virtual work offers is simply endless. They could be anything from marketing, bookkeeping, proof reading, tech support, project management to a host of other services.

From Offshore to “Nearshore”

There is a huge likelihood that US companies would now start looking for outsourcing business from “nearshore “countries in Latin America. In recent times countries such as Costa Rica are providing an excellent alternative to the offshore software development countries like India and China. Anyway, the Latin American countries are not yet able to provide outsourcing at a large scale and it will take a long time before they can hope to catch up with the level of offshore software development that is done in India.

Political Uncertainties

Political uncertainties were never of much concern as it is these days. With the taking over of the Trump administration, there has been a rapid change in the fortunes of many of the offshore software development companies located in India and other countries. Issues related to visa and immigration has the possibility of vitiating the whole atmosphere of the outsourcing industry. Many fear that the Trump administration could perhaps sound the death knell for the outsourcing business in India. But the outsourcing industry as a whole is hopeful of surviving this crisis period. The industry is positive that the American administration will see reason and will not allow politics to override business. After all outsourcing is there to stay for the long term. It is the popular choice of businesses all over the world. So one can hope to be positive about the outlook of the industry in the 21st century.