If you want to boost your digital transformation efforts it might be a good idea to hire remote developers.
Technological capability is fast becoming a crucial differentiator in the world of business. Tech-savvy enterprises can deliver services faster, to a better standard, and at a lower cost than their less sophisticated rivals. Unfortunately, that can be bad news for many small and medium-sized enterprises. While larger corporations can splash out the cash to access the best technical talent, you might be limited by the expertise within your in-house team. With talented developers being hard to come by that could leave you at a distinct disadvantage. However, if you hire remote developers, you can level the playing field.
The promise of remote work
Of course, we have all become familiar with remote working. The chances are that at least some of your current employees are working remotely at least part of the time. Thanks to Covid-19 something that used to be a marginal option has quickly become the norm. Business attitudes have shifted and digital communications have become transformed. Platforms such as MS Teams and Zoom now mean you can collaborate seamlessly with multidisciplinary teams from around the world.
Remotely sourcing developers comes with a host of advantages including:
• Widening your talent pool: Casting your net further gives you access to developers based not just here in the UK but everywhere in the world. As long as you’re set up for remote work operations, there are very few restrictions on location. Advanced software projects will often require individuals with skills and talents that are simply not available in your local area or within your existing team.
• Optimizing your costs: Working remotely can help you use the power of the market to find high-quality individuals at the best available costs. When working with overseas developers you may be able to take advantage of lower costs of living in other countries which enables them to offer more competitive services.
• Scalability: Hiring remote developers enables you to access services as and when you need them. The world of business is more agile and fluid which means you need to be able to respond to demand as and when you need to. You may often find yourself faced with one-off technological challenges that require a talented team on a short-term basis only. Remote developers enable you to scale up your talent pool temporarily to meet short-term needs.
How to hire remote developers
When hiring remote developers there are several things to consider:
• Sourcing talent: Where will you source talent? Software development is a highly technical discipline. Anything but the most basic of IT projects will need more than just regular IT professionals. You’ll need to understand the requirements of your project and work out where to find people with the appropriate skills to help you out.
• How to work with them: Remote developers will need to collaborate with you and, most likely, people in your team. For that, they will need a clear pipeline to do so. The better communications are the easier it will be to have a two-way conversation. Of course, it will never be as easy to manage work in the same way as if they were there in your office, but platforms such as video communications and instant messaging can work wonders at breaking down barriers and reducing the distance between teams.
• Set key milestones: Establish what you want from the working relationship and establish clear milestones and KPIs to help you assess how successfully the engagement is going.
• Security: Working with remote third parties across any discipline can expose your organization to a host of cyber risks. In a traditional workplace, in which everyone worked on-site, securing your technical infrastructure was relatively straightforward. It was like securing your castle with a moat and wall. Bringing remote employees into the equation can complicate matters. Vulnerabilities in their security posture can cause a breach in yours. Whether working with individuals or companies make sure you understand how they are connecting to your system and that all devices and endpoints are secure.
• Establish a clear working relationship: When hiring freelancers, this can usually be done on an ad-hoc and one-off basis in which they work on a certain project and get paid via an invoice. However, if you have regular development needs it pays to work with people you know and trust. Over time you could build up a regular team of remote developers who you can turn to when you need them.
• Classify workers: Whatever the working relationship you need to make sure they are classified correctly. As the working relationship becomes closer you may find it beneficial to switch from ad-hoc freelancing to a more closer contractual relationship. You’ll have to be careful to make sure that you categorize them correctly. If they are working with you every day they may become indistinguishable from regular full-time employees. If the authorities start to feel you’re using them for disguised employment you may run into legal difficulties.
Hiring remote developers overseas
Working with remote developers overseas can be a great way to not only widen your talent pool but also optimize your costs. Labor costs in the UK are some of the highest in the world. Elsewhere lower cost of living means professionals can offer significantly discounted work.
Developers in one country might be much cheaper than in your home market. However, you need to make sure that what you save in costs will not come back to haunt you in quality.
When choosing countries you need a location that has:
• A highly diverse, talented, and technically minded workforce
• Good IT infrastructure
• A commitment to best practice
• Clear working regulations
• Discounted working rates
South Africa is one of the few countries that offer all this in one package. The country benefits from a low cost of living. Cities such as Durban and Cape Town are some of the cheapest in the world which means professionals can pass those savings onto you as the end client.
At the same time, though, the country has a thriving economy and a highly talented workforce. It has a strong IT sector with plenty of people able to offer high-quality software development expertise.
Good technical infrastructure facilitates fast, low-risk communications which will help you collaborate with professionals quickly and easily. South Africa is also only a couple of hours ahead of the UK which means it’s easy to arrange meetings without suffering from service delays.
On top of that South Africa has one of the fastest growing business process outsourcing sectors in the world. The country is keen to attract foreign investment into the South African economy and will offer a host of grants to businesses that provide jobs for local South Africans.
South Africa is, therefore, a perfect location offering low cost, good talent, easy communications a friendly government regime, and a matching time zone.
Furthermore, it has plenty of ways in which you can hire developers from arranging an individual freelance contract to working with dedicated outsourcing companies.
To do this it’s important to find the right structure to avoid any compliance problems. South Africa has strict labor laws and fines for any company that breaks them – whether deliverability or accidental can be high.
To avoid that it helps to have the support of a local company. An Employer of Record can help you source developers and meet all legal and administrative responsibilities. An EOR avoids the need to have a legal entity such as a foreign subsidiary in the country and will serve as the legal employer in the country. They will also assume all liabilities for their employment as well as manage PAYE obligations.
Alternative options include Professional Employers Organization (PEO). It works in much the same way as an EOR but employment is shared. The PEO handles all the admin requirements of the employment while you manage the day-to-day relationship.
An Agent of Record (AOR) meanwhile can help manage relationships with freelancers and contractors and avoid the risk of poor worker classification.
Each of these can provide the help and support you need to hire remote developers in South Africa and manage their ongoing employment.
At Future Teams, we provide comprehensive support services to help you source and work with highly skilled individuals of different disciplines. To find out more download our free PDF report.
