There are many reasons for choosing a Nearshore partner, but one of them is definitely its location. In some of the meetings I have with new potential partners, there is always this question coming around sooner or later: Why is Portugal a good choice to set up a Nearshore Software Outsourcing team? Usually my answer is: let me start with 5 reasons why!
1. Quality-Price ratio for Software Development teams
One of the reasons that makes Portugal an interesting place to set up a Nearshore team is the quality of the engineers we have. Ok, most countries would say the same, but we have certified and internationally recognized engineering universities that can support this point.
Another strong point is the number (and the quality) of English-speaking people, which will make communicating with our customer’s teams much easier and fluid. Communication is one of the most important keys to success for a non-collocated team to be successful.
On top of these points, Portugal still has competitive rate values due to our country’s living costs, which puts Portuguese resources with a great quality-price ratio.
2. Great Location for Nearshore teams
It may seem something not that important when mentioned, but the location is one of the keys to success when choosing a Nearshore partner. It’s important to have a partner with a location that allows for easy trips between both partner’s offices. One of the things we defend is to have the teams sitting together from time to time. An office with a privileged location is key to make these trips fast and enjoyable. Having a team sitting face-to-face on a regular basis will allow people to create bounds and better understand their cultures and differences.
At BOLD part of Devoteam we decided to have our headquarters in Lisbon, within the city, but close by the airport either by car/taxi or public transportation – no commute needed if you chose the subway. In case there are better flight choices to our amazing city of Porto, you will also find a BOLD office waiting for you in the heart of the town. Apart from these locations, BOLD has another office in Aveiro, sometimes called the Portuguese Venice!
3. Flexible Timezone
There are already many challenges when setting up a team in a different location, so let’s have the timezone with the maximum overlap on the working hours from both teams in order to minimize that impact. This is also one of the main differences between nearshore vs offshore outsourcing.
Portugal has 1h less compared with CEST time zone – which is the timezone for the most central european countries. This is an advantage as you can have both teams working with a large and comfortable window for communication and making sure that neither your local team nor your Nearshore team won’t be blocked waiting for answers from each other for long periods. You can also take advantage of this one extra hour (CEST – 1h) of working in your project, increasing delivery speed or possibility to have your project running during your country bank holidays.
4. Cultural mindset
Portuguese are known by being a friendly and quite adaptable type of people. We like to have contact with different people and cultures. It’s a social thing! We really do have strong social and communication skills, always eager to learn more about others and to adapt to their habits and culture. Also, we have a history of being a safe and stable country, and we are known as hard-working and dedicated people.
5. Weather and Food
I know this might be the least important thing in this top 5, but we do really have an amazing country. With mild weather either in winter either in summer, visiting Portugal will always meet your expectations if you are looking for good beaches or countryside to relax either in the Alentejo plains or hilly Trás-os-Montes. Portuguese people love to eat, and that is one of the reasons we have such an amazing variety of traditional dishes – meat and daily-fished fish – and great pastries in case there is still room for a sweet after a meal or as a snack during the day.
If you are still not yet convinced, let me know and I can let you show you other reasons why!
Gonçalo Ferrada – Nearshore Unit Manager