IT Offshoring for Canadian Businesses: A Scale and Growth Strategy
Why Offshore Outsourcing?
Software development outsourcing has come a long way throughout recent decades to reach a standard of a new normal by 2020. In fact, what the right IT outsourcing partner often does is benefit both the financial and professional side of businesses. The keyword for a successful partnership with an outsourcing vendor here is “right”. To make the right choice, businesses need to look at their objectives and unique pain points and then decide on a nearshore (near geographical distance) or an offshore (overseas) the third party.
Compared to nearshore vendors that come with similar costs as hiring in-house development teams, offshore outsourcing is usually cost-effective. What is more, offshore IT vendors offer a great variety of talent pools to choose from and the time-zone difference adds up to productivity as the offshore team works while you are asleep.
The Canadian Business Scene
Due to the Covid-19 outbreak all over the world, 2020 was not an easy year for the global economy. In particular, like many other highly developed markets, Canada also faces its greatest challenges in the service sector, as it is one of the hardest being hit by local restrictions and lockdowns. Canadian economy now depends greatly on governmental financial help, which is being relocated where it is most needed through an increase in Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and sectors such as aviation, tourism, and child and elderly care. One of the major purposes of global economies ahead is to return markets, spending habits as well as social life back to normal, and during a lockdown we have enough time to reflect on what can be done better and how to thrive in a post-pandemic world.
Now, with the government’s procurement plan for vaccinating the nation by late 2021, a major business milestone that Covid-19 put in front of us remains open: coming stronger out of the crisis. The whole world saw how when social distancing is mandatory, technologies are the only feasible option to stay afloat. Many businesses had to undergo temporary layoffs and permanent job terminations for the sake of surviving. While we rapidly approach the light at the end of the tunnel (i.e vaccine) it is time to enthusiastically look in the future and see what it may bring.
The Value of an Innovative Partner
The year 2020 was an eye-opener regarding our preparation for and readiness to deal with uncertainty. The way we face crises says a lot about our capabilities, entrepreneurship, and innovative potential. Dreamix is proud to have acquired more custom software projects during the pandemic, leading to acquiring more qualified team members to be involved. Traditional industries such as healthcare, banking, or the insurance sector turned to IT technologies to be able to successfully keep their businesses running, resulting in telemedicine, various fintech software, and insurtech.
Every business today relies on some sort of technology to provide service to their clients. Digital transformations are not just a fancy word but rather a modern necessity that can decide if a business stales or innovates instead. In Canada, the top ten fastest-growing industries (such as e-commerce, cannabis production, pharma and precious metal mining), as well as the ten industries with the largest number of businesses (e.g.apartment rental, IT consulting, primary care doctors), are a balanced mixture of tradition and modernization. Undeniably, to stay competitive in our increasingly technology-dominated world, these sectors will need to rely on innovative partnerships that can help them scale and grow their businesses.
Technological Expertise
What would have happened this year if the technology was not at such advanced rates? Before our eyes, the modern health crisis called Covid-19 made it clear that we are so dependent on technology to stay connected and to manage the reorganization of businesses. To be able to rely on IT during the pandemic is a huge privilege. For this reason, every business, whose goals are to succeed opts for IT solutions such as custom software development to serve the unique company’s needs. With great devotion, our certified developers at Dreamix build end-to-end software projects with the highest technological expertise in:
- Java & frameworks like Angular, JSF, Spring, PrimeFaces, Hibernate
- Angular Web frameworks for a seamless experience such as JHipster, AngularJS, TypeScript, Flex to Angular Migration
- Web development with ReactJS
- Oracle Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) Suite & Oracle Business Process Management (BPM)
Traditional Businesses vs. Innovative Projects
Both traditional and innovation-driven businesses can benefit from a strategic partnership with an offshore vendor. One huge pro is that turning to an outside expert helps traditional businesses such as healthcare or pharma stay relevant and competitive. Custom software tools like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and specific features like payroll, CRM, financial modules, supply chain management, etc. are no longer essential for big enterprises only but also for small-to-midsize enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 500 employees, which make approx. 99% of Canadian businesses. With a bespoke software solution, businesses receive better levels of work organization, consistent infrastructure, improved efficiency, and reduced operational costs.
In our impressive client portfolio, we’ve partnered with traditional industries like healthcare and aviation to support their digitalization and automation of services. Our dev talents also have a soft spot for cutting edge-technologies like AI, virtual assistants, 3D printing, Internet of Things (IoT), and many more and deliver industry-standard excellence for clients from disruptive sectors, helping them boost their margins.
One of our most recent projects includes implementing an AI-driven chatbot as part of an innovative communication platform for one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the US. Combining advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence, and a good understanding of the business sector gave us the opportunity to create valuable solutions for our clients in an agile, effective, and impactful way. A key element in the AI driven chatbot platform is the data analytics module which gives direct market insights and prediction analysis so that companies can be up to date with the customer behavior and increase their sales turnover by utilising their own information and in a smart and effective way.
Keeping it Stable or Growing Exponentially?
With a capable technological partner on their side companies can thrive. Some may consider that 2020 with the COVID-19 health crisis was about simply surviving but every so-called crisis comes with unprecedented opportunities if we are aware of them. Canada marked its biggest decline in labor productivity on record with a 10,3% drop in the Q3 of 2020 and efforts for stabilizing the economy are demanded. Faced with continuous lockdown restrictions, Canadian businesses will be posed to rethink their strategies to remain competitive during global structural changes.
No one can predict for sure how long the pandemic effects will last but increased demand for digital services will likely remain even after the restrictions are lifted. In fact, many companies shift their focus on digital-first models as a way to answer to changed consumer behavior. In such complex and uncertain environments, cost-effective alternatives such as offshore outsourcing may be the right step if business owners consider to strategically scale their business (e.g. highly demanded goods manufacturing) or to grow their already established digital businesses exponentially. When whole nations are now only connected digitally, the time is ripe for this one.
Bulgaria аs а top outsourcing destination in Europe represents the best of both worlds – cultural proximity to traditional European values combined with a passion for innovation. With its highly talented and motivated, multilingual IT specialists, Dreamix ranks on top when it comes to custom software development and the 97% retention rate is an achievement we take pride in. Simply put: you get more for less.
Special thanks to Ivo Gorgachev who contributed to writing this article with his valuable insights. Ivo is a Management Consultant & Business Architect with over 15 years of experience designing successful IT solutions for businesses, founder of Theiio Management Consulting.
