In a tense macro-economic context, where many companies have to demonstrate a certain form of economic sobriety and improve their performance. As a result, the use of subcontracting and outsourcing is becoming increasingly regular. Outsourcing enables companies to offload time-consuming tasks, manage costs and benefit from specific skills.

In spite of all this, outsourcing, although associated with economic gains, unfortunately still suffers from a negative image: questionable quality of deliverables, missed delivery deadlines, shaky project management… These are just some of the issues that sometimes discourage companies from resorting to this type of subcontracting.

However, some service providers manage to make the most of the situation by offering their customers a service based on the right balance between nearshore and onshore. The combination of these teams, located in distinct but often complementary geographical areas, enables them to exploit the advantages of each region while mitigating the disadvantages associated with geographical distance. However, for this integration to be truly effective, it is essential to implement appropriate strategies.

In this article, we take a closer look at the winning approach that combining onshore and nearshore IT outsourcing can offer companies.

1. Understand the advantages and challenges of each model

Before looking at integration strategies, we need to distinguish between the 3 main outsourcing formats: nearshore, offshore and oneshore.

The difference between inshore, nearshore and offshore is fairly basic, since it’s a question of geographical position:

• Nearshoring involves using the services of partners in neighbouring countries;
• Offshoring, on the other hand, tends to focus on companies located in distant countries;
• Inshoring, on the other hand, is based on the services of service providers located in the same country as the client company.

In contrast to offshoring, nearshoring, often located in neighboring or nearby countries, offers additional and often much-appreciated advantages: compatible time zones, similar cultural understanding… while offering attractive labor costs.

The onshore format offers the advantage of providing teams with a better understanding of local needs, more fluid communication and greater proximity to customers.

So how can you benefit from combining these two models? What are the advantages of using service providers offering this dual onshore/nearshore approach?

2. Strategies and benefits of harmonious oneshore/nearshore collaboration

a. Clear definition of roles and responsibilities for improved efficiency

A clear definition of roles and responsibilities is essential to ensure that you get the best of both worlds.

One of the winning strategies proposed by IT service providers is to orchestrate project management in the country of origin, onshore, and have the service delivered by neashore teams.

Onshore teams then focus on customer relationship management and project supervision.

By acting as the interface with the customer, they guarantee a high level of requirement and responsiveness, while benefiting from the flexibility and economic advantages offered by nearshore operations. In this way, the customer has a win-win situation.

b. Transparent, regular communication

As with any relationship, communication is the key to successful collaboration. For both nearshore and onshore teams, it is essential to maintain regular and transparent communication. This means defining clear communication channels, using appropriate collaborative tools and scheduling regular meetings to monitor project progress.

As nearshore teams often operate in time zones close to those of onshore teams, this facilitates real-time communication and reduces response times, a necessary lever to guarantee optimum flexibility and responsiveness.

b. Managing cultural and/or language differences

Cultural differences can influence the way teams interact and work together.

However, when we talk about nearshore in most European countries, we often accept nearshore as a continental reality, stretching from the provinces of our own country to Eastern Europe and as far south as the Maghreb, with a maximum time difference of 2 hours and a maximum travel time of 3-4 hours. So, while cultural differences do exist in some cases, they don’t impose many constraints. On the contrary, cultural proximity between onshore and nearshore teams often considerably reduces misunderstandings and improves collaboration.

d. Flexibility and scalability

One of the reasons why companies choose outsourcing is the ability of the service providers we interviewed to find experts to work on a project quickly and in sufficient numbers. Nearshore outsourcing enables companies to rapidly increase the size of their teams to handle project workloads or to benefit from missing expertise.

For example, team outsourcing in Tunisia provides access to a wide range of IT skills and high-value engineers, a real advantage for companies.

3. Case study: transforming a telecom operator’s information system with Numeryx support

In 2023, a major player in the telecommunications sector undertook a vast project to completely redefine its information system (IS) architecture. To carry out this complex transformation, the company chose Numeryx. Numeryx deployed onshore teams to manage the project, as well as nearshore teams based at its premises in Tunis (Tunisia) to implement the technical solutions.

Numeryx’s onshore teams therefore took over overall management of the project, providing functional and technical direction for the entire process (MOE). Their geographical proximity to the customer enabled fluid communication and close collaboration with stakeholders, facilitating management of the project’s specific requirements and constraints. This proximity was essential in ensuring that the customer’s strategic objectives were achieved efficiently and in line with expectations.

At the same time, Numeryx’s nearshore teams based in Tunisia played a key role in analyzing and consolidating the audits carried out on the existing IS architecture. Their technical expertise, combined with an optimized cost structure, enabled them to consolidate and validate the target to be achieved with great precision. Critical tasks such as implementing secure segmentation of LPM networks and migrating over 300 servers were efficiently carried out by these teams. Their intervention ensured rigorous and consistent technical execution, while maintaining a high level of quality and security in line with the customer’s expectations.

The use of a split between onshore and nearshore teams brought numerous advantages for the customer. This approach optimized costs while maintaining the high quality of deliverables. The proximity of the onshore teams to the customer ensured a thorough understanding of requirements, and greater responsiveness to any necessary adjustments. At the same time, the technical expertise of nearshore teams in Tunisia ensured precise execution of technical tasks and operational flexibility. This hybrid collaboration therefore combined efficiency, cost control and quality, contributing to the success of the project and customer satisfaction.

Conclusion

Integrating nearshore and onshore teams can offer significant benefits, but it requires careful management to avoid potential pitfalls. By implementing effective communication strategies, managing cultural differences and defining clear processes, companies can leverage the strengths of each team to achieve their goals. Case studies of successful hybrid projects show that, when well managed, such collaborations can not only overcome geographical challenges, but also deliver outstanding results, increasing companies’ competitiveness and efficiency in a globalized market.