Why Nearshore Software Development to Latin America?

Latin America has been proving to be a fertile ground for Nearshore Software Development, and such growth has been drawing attention and inducing several changes in the mobile app development scenario.

What are the reasons behind that and what does the future hold for LATAM?

LATAM and the current scenario

First of all, we have two sides to the story: the US and Latin America.

On one hand, the mobile app development niche has been increasing over the years in the US. Although it might appear, at first, that they have everything they need to make such reality complete, that’s not what is truly going on. There’s a growing need for skilled developers that they just can’t meet. Until 2020, 1 million more jobs than candidates are predicted just in the computer sciences field—an increase of 30% since 2010—, as demonstrated below. As a result, many times outsourcing becomes the best option.

On the other hand,  “more than nine in ten online Latin Americans own or use a mobile device on a regular basis”, being more than 406 million mobile phone users, with almost 142 million only in Brazil; against 184.2 millions in the US. In addition, the use of smartphones in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia is predicted to grow even faster in the next three years, reaching up to 434.4 million.

As to the global time spent on the Internet via mobile devices, Latin Americans lead the TOP 5 most active countries in the world, with Argentina in 2nd place with 4.2 hours per day, Mexico in 4th with 4 daily hours, and Brazil in 5th place with 3.8 hours—an average of 4.3 hours per day—, against 3.5 daily hours by the North Americans. In sum, Latin Americans own more than twice the number of mobile devices than North Americans and also spend more time online on them.

As a consequence, Latin America counts with a great potential for mobile app developers willing to provide users with apps matching their daily needs, with Brazil, Mexico and Colombia topping the list of countries with the most active users.

As you can see, we have companies and startups looking for talented developers to meet their needs. On the other side, we have highly-skilled collaborators living in a very active mobile environment, seeking an opportunity to put their knowledge into action. So how do we connect them?

The bridge that was missing

Bearing this panorama in mind, the number one SEO marketing company in the mobile development sector—Clutch—decided to aid this connection by creating a directory of the top app development companies in LATAM. The directory features ourselves at the top of it, with our services rated as an astonishing 5-star deliverer, optimally bridging the supply and demand gap in between these tech-savvy countries.

The fact that Clutch turned their attention to our region demonstrates that LATAM is more and more active in the app development niche and also reveals an increasing tendency among companies: nearshoring.

What is Nearshore?

Basically, nearshore occurs whenever a business-pair is located in different countries or even continents, but still in a similar time zone. As an example, if you’re in the US—let’s take New York, for instance—, and you have a partnership with a company in Brazil—in São Paulo—, you’ll be able to work within a 1-3 hours range. Such small difference of time zone will considerably make developers’ briefing and other project management issues much more easier and faster.

However, if you’re in New York and your partner is located overseas, let’s say, in New Delhi (India), the difference goes up to 9.5-10.5 hours. It is impossible to schedule a meeting within business hours, consequently all your efforts may go down the drain. Check an example of these time zone differences below.

As you can see, nearshoring makes the relationship among far-located companies possible and also increases the partnership scheduling and workflow options. Being able to make partners in the US is one of the many features that lead us to the top of Clutch’s list of the best companies in Latin America, along with other differentials, such as 24/7 packed fridge and shelves, flexible working hours, videogames and board games, yoga classes, English classes, stock options, and many more benefits for our team, including heading out to the US now and then and sharing a beer with our partners.

What lies in the future

The increasing integration among companies from all over the world is one of the many evidences of globalization. As such, it is important that we learn how to work together remotely, to explore our partnership possibilities and to understand how to bring the best out of the companies’ relationship.

Through nearshore software development, it is possible to improve such integration among countries, aiding the mobile niche to develop worldwide as a whole and also providing mobile users with more application options. Therefore, it is crucial to know how to solve remote team collaboration issues, which will become more and more important due to the non-stopping globalization, along with the lack of developers in the US, which are prone to get worse in a midterm future.

In addition, Latin America’s contributions are clearly becoming stronger each day and having a more active participation in the mobile app development niche, not only as users, but also as developers. Since Brazil is the most active country in Latin America and the US is in great need for developers, the partnership between these two countries is very positive and fruitful for both ends, so we can expect the number of integration between companies in the US and LATAM to skyrocket.

Are you ready for the future of remote collaborative development? Please send us a message so we can explore how we can work together.