Companies that are created and developed in the conditions of modern digital transformation quite often face a shortage of key IT resources, challenges in terms of scaling projects, and, of course, relatively high costs of hiring locally in their home country. In response to any difficulties or problems, there is always a solution — and in this case, too. This solution is to use nearshore software development. To be more specific, this is a local development team that is territorially located in a neighboring or close country and works according to your time zone and has certain cultural features in common with you. In essence, this solution is a golden mean between the relatively financially costly onshore and the somewhat chaotic offshore approaches. A nearshore center offers the opportunity to achieve an international level of quality while maintaining control over the pace and transparency of communication.

However, before making a final decision on choosing a partner, it is worth paying attention to the motivation. Where does it come from? From reducing costs, reducing time to market, or gaining access to specialized personnel? A qualitative example is the company N-iX, which has centers in Central Europe, Latin America, and India. Accordingly, this provides the ability to scale teams flexibly without incurring excessive administrative burden. This ultimately saves both time and resources, allowing you to quickly assemble a team with the necessary and relevant technological skills that are quietly integrated into your workflow.

9 key steps to launching a nearshore center

1. Defining business goals and requirements

At the very beginning, you should clearly understand the purpose for which this center will be created. What technologies are needed, what is the total team size, budget, KPIs, and so on? This strategic alignment will enable the accurate assessment of the region, scale, and model of interaction with partners. This stage is the final configuration point in many instructions, in particular in the ODC procedure. However, N-iX in the article about the launch center emphasizes initial planning as the foundation.

2. Choosing a country and region

No less important is the process of analyzing the country according to the following criteria:

• level of economic stability
• legal field
• cultural compatibility
• level of English proficiency
• scale of the pool of specialists

For example, European companies often choose Ukraine, Poland, or Romania, while North American companies tend to select countries in Latin America, such as Colombia or Argentina.

3. Legal support

After you have definitely decided on the choice of a specific region, you need to proceed to another point — this is the involvement of experts in local legislation. For what? To prepare permits. This is extremely important for working with:

• personal data
• GDPR
• IP agreements
• other compliance requirements

4. Registration of a legal entity

After that, it is time to implement entity registration. That is, choose a legal form, tax system, and complete legal registration. Why does this play an important role? Everything is simple. This is the basis for the further successful functioning of the entire center and, accordingly, achieving the desired result.

5. Office space and infrastructure

Choosing and renting an office, equipping spaces for teams, providing IT infrastructure, and means of communication — all of these provide an offline point, even if part of the team works remotely.

6. HR team and administrative support selection

Suppose you are aware of how critically important the inflow of high-quality and professional human resources and the support of a truly appropriate level of organization is. In that case, you will definitely need a highly qualified team of administration, managers, and recruiters. Strong teams like N-iX can afford to take on this responsibility because they are equipped with a robust HR system and a strong employer brand in select locations.

7. Branding and promotion

Launching a presence in the local IT market by highlighting it on social networks, at conferences, and so on. Attracting the necessary attention to the center is the key to building a strong brand for the future.

8. Recruitment and technical screening

Formation of a technical team: screening, interviewing, and assessment of expertise. Recruitment should be both operational and critical to quality. N-iX emphasizes speed (usually 3–4 weeks to a full-fledged team), a broad base of candidates, and deep specialization of specialists.

9. Implementation of the operational process and scaling

In the end, so to speak, the operational process did not cancel itself out:

• definition of workflow
• fixation of communication channels
• project management system
• organization of coordinated work processes

Only after established procedures are in place can the center be scaled, because in this case, the team can easily grow or adapt as necessary.

Advantages of a properly organized nearshore center

We suggest analyzing in more detail all the advantages of launching a nearshore software development center. What is behind this?

• Maximum high-quality technological diversity and international coverage (specialists from different geographical regions, accordingly, have various latest stacks in their arsenal)
• Relatively high scaling speed without any local HR delays
• Quality control and communication, facilitated by the time zone and cultural proximity, enable feedback loops to be carried out quickly and effectively.
• Relatively long-term and, no less importantly, reliable strategic impact (after all, a local office has the full potential to become a strong R&D zone or a multifunctional technological hub for further expansion)

Compliance with security standards, if a partner, such as N-iX, works in accordance with ISO, GDPR, PCI, etc.

Summary: strategic model of global scaling

Summing up all of the above, the process of launching a nearshore center goes beyond a purely technological approach.

This is about a full-fledged strategic step towards global scaling:

• get access to talent
• carry out the maximum possible cost optimization
• guarantee a high level of flexibility and quality

We promise you that if you use at least most of the nine steps we proposed above, you will undoubtedly be able to implement the idea of ​​accelerated scaling, controlled development, and effective collaboration. Indeed, choosing the right, professional, and reliable partner, such as N-iX, will only accelerate this path, as it will assume operational, HR, and, in particular, legal responsibility.

Thus, creating a nearshore center is the perfect balance or so-called “golden mean” between financial efficiency, cultural and temporal resonance with your team, and the possibility of long-term technological growth.