Software Outsourcing Development Comparison: Vietnam, India, Philippines, China

Not only software outsourcing brings great opportunities for large businesses to get access to a talent pool in many countries, but it also provides extensions to SMEs and startups. There are also hundreds of outsourcing companies offering professional software outsourcing services. Businesses now can choose from plenty of options based on their specific criteria (such as language, time difference, geographical proximity, cultural similarity, etc). In this article, we will discuss the differences between the four Asian countries, which have proven their abilities to the world in recent years.

Major Trends in the Software Outsourcing Market

Before jumping into evaluating countries, we cannot deny that the current trends in the software development outsourcing industry have posed great influences on the way the software outsourcing companies function. Usually, vendors tend to recruit suitable talents or try to accumulate their knowledge in trending fields so they can extend their portfolio, thus, more clients. As a client, you also find these market trends useful because those fields are where best vendors compete. We find these trends are notable and worth your attention:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Cross-Platform Development Tools
• Blockchain
• Internet of Things
• Continuous Delivery and Deployment
• Progressive Web Apps
• Low-Code Development

Software Outsourcing Countries Comparison

In this section, we will deliver the advantages as well as disadvantages of selected Asian countries in providing offshore software development services to the English-speaking market.

Software development services in Vietnam

According to the Vietnam Software and IT Services Association, the IT outsourcing companies in Vietnam is growing at an exponential rate: about 35% annually for over 10 years. Until 2019, Vietnam is still in the golden population era with over 50% of the population in the labor force. This is a promising country that has high potential to provide skillful talents for the up and rising industry.

Pros

• Vietnam-based dedicated software developers particularly excel in artificial software development projects.
• The average wage of IT staff in Vietnam is very reasonable (US$14-$22 for developers and engineers vary by their experiences and expertise).
• Dedicated software development teams are young, vibrant and fully equipped with the most updated technology.

Cons

• More communication efforts to keep information sharing clear and transparent.
• Language barrier may be a problem since not all developers are fluent in English.
• QA testing and code reviewing need some improvements to fulfill the whole programming project.

Software Development Services in India

When mentioning custom software development outsourcing, India has been a go-to country for many Western companies. Having been working in this sector for over 25 years, this experienced country has no doubt to remain on top of the ideal destination for outsourcing technology projects in any report.

Pros

• It is undeniable that India possesses an enormous IT talent pool.
• No communication barrier with Western countries because developers using fluent English.
• Time zone advantage allows round the clock working conditions for Indian software development companies and boosts their productivity.

Cons

• Lack of privacy and security laws risks your business’s creation.
• Rising costs when choosing big and old agencies. If you are an SME, India is not a very ideal place.
• Unwanted expenses may arise during your work process if you try to hire some small agencies (among thousands of agencies in India).

Software Development Services in the Philippines

This country seems to be under-estimated among global developers. However, many international clients give their trust to the Philippines vendors that provide an excellent talent pool. Additionally, the software development outsourcing industry gained governmental support. The country’s software industry is currently valued at $3 billion and is predicted to rise to 7 billion dollars by 2020.

Pros

• Philippines have an outstanding understanding of Western Culture thanks to their background of close connection with many EU countries.
• Filipinos are fluent in American English both in verbal and written communications.
• The country has a unique recruitment process: Companies can apply different standards to hire staff that do not violate the laws (such as age, marital status, etc.).

Cons

• Unfortunately, the weather conditions in this country are turbulent. Tropical storms can disrupt the project during summertime and cause inconvenience for the developers to work.
• The Philippines has numerous holidays. The number of holidays is quite a problem when it comes to projects that last more than 6 months.
• The laborers are protected at great length by the government and sometimes this may cause foreign investors headache trying to organize their outsourcing teams.

Software Development Services in China

China is going on the IT outsourcing map because of the government support and Japan’s movement in outsourcing many low-value works to this country. Other MNCs such as GE, Dell, and SAP have also set up their R&D teams in China. The macro-environment has favored the outsourcing agencies here.

Pros

• ‘They are like India but with lower-cost’- this is a statement that many developers are familiar with and cost-effectiveness is one of their biggest strengths.
• Productive laborers are also a China expertise: their work ethics and productivity is admirable.
• The government focuses on improving the technology sector with friendly policies for IT companies, in general, make it easier for any enterprise that is interested in doing business in this country.

Cons

• Intellectual property rights gain a negative aspect since many companies have experienced copy-cat in this country.
• The cultural issue is another constraint for EU or US clients because they value ‘guan-xi’ more than other elements in working with partners.
• They are not eager to learn other languages other than Chinese so English-speaking countries should consider this.

Conclusion

Although our evaluation is based on the overall traits of the countries, it may contain some generalizations that are not true in specific cases. We recommend you to be careful in choosing your software outsourcing vendor with established criteria to match your expectations.