So you’ve decided to outsource some work to a third party, but how do you make sure you get the results you’re after? You need to find the perfect partner, someone who can follow your design but has the autonomy to work independently. How well they perform will have a direct effect on your business, so this is a decision that you need to get right.

If you’re new to the outsourcing approach then this is the article that you need. We’re going to go over everything you need to know to create an effective outsourcing strategy. We’ll talk about the steps involved in outsourcing and how you can make sure your partner delivers the goods.

We’ll go over things such as how to transfer key information to a third party and how to build new processes to help facilitate an outsourcing relationship. You’ll also learn how to handle ending a contract whether it comes to a natural stopping point or the work isn’t up to standard.

1. Finding the right partner

The most important step of an outsourcing approach is finding the right company or person to partner with. Someone without the necessary experience is going to hold your company back. You want to choose a partner who has proven experience working to deadlines, meeting and exceeding expectations, and providing good value for the work.

As part of your outsourcing implementation plan, you’ll need to decide the scope of the project you are handing off. This will help to inform what kind of company you partner with, whether it is something small like logo design or something grander like creating assets for a video game.

A logo can be handled by a single person or a design firm. There are plenty of websites that can help you find a freelancer including Upwork, Fiverr, and 99Designs. On these websites, you’ll be able to review someone’s portfolio and professional feedback before approaching someone.

Sometimes it makes financial sense to outsource entire departments. Small businesses may need an accountant but lack the resources to bring someone in full-time. A great option is to contract an outside firm that can handle this for you. In these instances, you want to look at firms with outsourcing experiences that can deliver great results at cheap rates.

2. Finalizing the deliverables

Once you’ve found the right partner, you’ll need to decide on the deliverables before a contract can be drawn up and signed. An effective outsourcing strategy will include a detailed contract that leaves no room for error on what is expected. A key part of early conversations should be about locking down expectations and making sure everyone is on the same page.

Here is where an outsource implementation plan is going to make the biggest difference. It may seem like a lot of work to make but it’s useful to have this document for both parties to refer back to. Include details about the goals of the partnership and how your business will support the third party.

One key thing to do is create systems and processes that are uniform between both businesses. Using a project management tool like Teamly means everyone can follow the same tasking system and be able to communicate effectively between teams. Each deliverable and every step involved can be included in Kanban boards on Teamly for quick reference.

Lastly, a dry run at this stage is going to be beneficial for both your business and your outsourcing partner. Set aside a few hours where both teams can pretend it is the first day of work together. Go about the day as you would expect things to progress and make note of any inefficiencies. A rehearsal helps to ensure everything works smoothly and there are no roadblocks between the two companies.

3. Partner Relations

Once the deliverables have been agreed and the contract is signed you should appoint someone to be the contact person. By having a single point of contact between your business and the third-party vendor, any issues or questions can be addressed quickly and coherently. An effective outsourcing strategy will avoid emails to and from multiple people as this can slow down progress.

You’ll likely have set a timeframe for the deliverables in the contract and if your freelancer or agency doesn’t know who to contact they may not be able to keep to it. Treat this as a relationship instead of a transaction and nurture it as you would your own employees. You may elect yourself as the point person, or a trusted member of staff. The key is to select someone who can take ownership and seek out information on behalf of the partner company.

This will create a closer working relationship and will help to grow a long-lasting partnership between the two companies. If your project is large in scope it may be worth assigning a project manager or team that can facilitate relations with the third party. As long as you can avoid communication breakdowns, the project should run smoothly, on time, and on budget.

4. Knowledge transfer

One of the key steps involved in outsourcing is the transfer of knowledge from your business to the partner company. They need to be trained in how your business operates and how to meet your expectations. Other companies may not use the same software, so it will be important to get them up to speed if they need to use in-house software such as your CRM.

Sharing your tech stack with a third party can ensure that you’re working in tandem with each other. This will also help your in-house team to assist the outsourced team where it is appropriate. They may already be using the same tech you use but if they don’t it’s worth getting everyone on the same software.

They may also need access to design documents and knowledge of company tone and attitude. Knowledge transfer is a collaborative process that can be shared through a series of informal and formal discussions. Early in the project, you should arrange a meeting to discuss the brand as well as the deliverables.

Consider if it is worth creating templates and best practices (such as naming conventions, support, and codifying) that can be shared with the outsourced vendor which they can share with their new hires. Following Agile methodology can help to facilitate knowledge transfer by breaking the project down into short 2 week sprints. There will be ample opportunities to share knowledge during meetings and roadblocks can be addressed before the next sprint.

5. Implement transition plan

Here is the part of your outsourcing implementation plan that covers the transition to the third-party vendor. This will be a highly collaborative process and should be led by the in-house project manager if one has been assigned. Involved in this process are the various internal stakeholders as well as the important people at the new company.

You should make sure that the dry run has been completed successfully, the tech stack has been agreed upon, and the transfer of knowledge has everyone on the same page.

Now you’ll need to decide on the timeline for the deliverables and each component of the project. Send over the important assets that the third party needs to complete their work. This could include login information for certain software, or shipping necessary hardware to their address.

Once everything is in place, it’s time to take your hands off the wheel and entrust the developer to deliver the goods. Any third-party vendor will want to retain their autonomy during this process. Micromanagement is likely to rub them the wrong way and if you are unable to let go, it may be better to do this in-house.

Let your point person be there to answer any questions but allow the vendor to work away on the deliverables. They will use your design document and best practices to ensure the work fits your brand identity.

6. Assessing the deliverables

Before you sign off on the deliverables you’ll want to ensure they meet your expectations. Depending on the type of work being done you should try to build revisions into the contracts. For example, if you are commissioning a logo design from a freelancer or agency, make sure to add one or two revision requests. This protects you if the initial design misses the mark.

Other types of contracts may stipulate work will continue until the final product is signed off on. The important thing is to ensure you’re not paying for work that you can’t use or limit the amount of money spent on goods you aren’t happy with.

In a perfect world, the end result will be ideal and the project can be signed off. At which point you can look at commissioning a new project or ending your relationship there, with both parties happy with the result.

Sometimes, however, there will be issues with quality or deadlines missed which can sour the relationship. At this point, you’ll need to decide whether to cut your losses and find a new vendor, bring development in-house, or swallow your pride and accept the project as-is. In order to make this decision, you’ll need to look at the costs, resources, and time available for the project.

7. Ending the contract

Ending a contract with a third-party vendor can happen for a number of reasons and not all of them are within your control. The most obvious reason pertains to quality but sometimes you’ll need to end a contract early if there are financial issues. If you are hit by an economic downturn, one of the first things a company will do is look to end outsourcing to save money.

An exit plan is a great idea in these instances to ensure you can end the relationship on good terms. While it is impossible to plan for every natural or economic disaster that may come into play, you can plan ahead for changes in the market and budget constraints. The exit plan should contain the steps you’ll take if your partner fails to meet expectations or other factors that mean you need to terminate the account.

In the plan, you should cover the steps involved with bringing the project in-house or transitioning the assets from your partner to a new vendor. Consider how to facilitate these changes without running into interruptions in your day-to-day business.

Sometimes the most challenging part of running a business is allowing others to take some of your load off. It’s not just control freaks who feel they have to do it themselves if they want the job done right. Many of us try to do it all because we think it’s easier than training someone else. However, letting go and offloading tasks allows us to focus on what we’re truly good at. Not only does this help avoid burn out, but it makes us better at what we do and facilitates our business growth.

If you want to focus on growing your business or are even at the stage where you really need support, hiring a virtual assistant could be your next secret weapon. A virtual assistant is an independent contractor who can provide a wide range of services to clients, operating outside of the client’s office.

Virtual assistants are great because they don’t need to occupy space in your office and are usually less of a financial commitment than a full-time employee. You can hire them for precisely the amount of hours you need them for and have the flexibility to adjust this based on the needs of your business.

Wondering how exactly a virtual assistant can make your life easier? Here are 10 services that you can use them for:

1. Administrative Work

Does anybody really enjoy doing admin work? Admin tasks such as filing, data entry, and scheduling are of course important, but can be a massive time drain, cutting into the time you have for more interesting tasks. Fortunately, since much of these tasks are straightforward, a virtual assistant can take the load off. Even if admin work is your jam, the ‘as needed’ work structure of a VA means that if your workload increases, you can always have the option of offloading admin work. Have a think about how offloading some of the admin work you do could give you more time to focus on growing your business.

2. Social Media Management

Many businesses need to harness the power of social media these days. And yet, it’s an area that many business owners don’t have the time (or patience) for. Since hiring a dedicated social media manager or marketer isn’t always in the budget, a virtual assistant can help. On an as-needed basis, a VA can create content calendars, interact with the community, manage posts, and fulfil many of the duties of a social media team, without breaking the budget.

3. Bookkeeping

One of the most essential elements of running a business, but also one of the most tedious (particularly for us creatives), is bookkeeping. If the thought of invoices, bills, and keeping track of finances makes you just want to get back in bed, a virtual assistant can help. Some tasks a virtual assistant can take over are generating invoices and following up, issuing refunds, preparing balance sheets, helping you prepare your tax statements, and paying bills and wages. If you have tears of boredom in your eyes after just reading that list, get in touch with a virtual assistant who can help.

4. Customer Service

Sometimes when we’ve grown a business ourselves from scratch, interacting with our customers personally means a lot. They’ve helped us get where we are today, and we want to make sure we’re continuing to develop those relationships. But needing someone to take this on for you is a great sign that you’ve grown. And in order to do what you do best and ultimately keep making those special customers happy, you need to have someone take care of the day-to-day customer service tasks. This can include answering emails, phone calls, live chat, and social media messages. And there are still many ways you can make your customers or clients feel the personal touch; you could send a gift during the holidays, handwritten notes with big orders, or host events.

5. Creative Writing

As a business owner, it’s hard to ignore the power of creative writing content such as blogs, ebooks, courses, etc. Whether you want to appear higher on a search engine search or find new and exciting ways to generate leads, creative writing can be the key. Virtual assistants can help by writing blog posts, writing ebooks, newsletters, email funnels, social media post captions, email marketing, product descriptions, brochures, and packaging.

6. Research

Another interesting way a virtual assistant can help you take your business to the next level is through research. The research that a virtual assistant can help you with varies greatly. It could be hashtag research for your social media, speaking opportunities, market research, or even creating a SWOT analysis. Research is important but time-consuming, so consider outsourcing this aspect of your work to improve productivity and streamline business growth.

7.  Graphic design

You don’t need to be a graphic designer to create excellent graphics nowadays, with platforms like Canva offering services that make it easy to learn and execute. A virtual assistant can help you with several simple graphic design tasks, such as photo editing, creating content for social media, or creating a brand style guideline.

8. Tech

Not a tech guru? Or just don’t have the time for it? A virtual assistant is a great option to help you with all of your tech needs. You can have them format your blog posts, edit your videos or podcasts, troubleshooting, or even create reports on your analytics.

9. Recruiting

Hiring is tiring. So get someone else to do it for you! If they understand your vision for your business, a virtual assistant will significantly assist with the recruitment process. You can brief them on what you need, get them to upload the job advertisement to various sites, filter through applicants, set up interviews, and so on. Not comfortable with outsourcing the entire recruitment process? Even just having a VA do the leg-work and leaving the interviewing up to you will streamline your work day massively.

10. Project management

While a project manager can play a pretty massive role in itself, a virtual assistant can be of great help in this area. They can help outline project scopes, create and manage timelines, create contingency plans, and schedule meeting and tasks. This will help your business and projects run super efficiently. Use Teamly to empower your virtual assistant to finish projects faster and efficiently.

You should have a pretty good idea of how hiring a virtual assistant can help your business grow. And remember, these are just a starting point! Some virtual assistants specialize further and could be familiar with the ins and outs of your industry.

So how should you find the best virtual assistant that will make your life easier? You want to take the necessary steps to make sure that you find the right fit. A few things you’ll want to think about before you start your search are:

• What your goals are. Do you want someone who can bring a new fresh perspective on something you’re not as well-versed in? Do you want someone who can lighten your load in general? The answers to these questions can determine the qualities and skill level your future virtual assistant should have.
• Your budget. Virtual assistants can range in price. If you need someone who goes above and beyond, you might want to evaluate what you can afford.
• What a good personality fit looks like. Chances are, you want this to be a mutually beneficial and long-term relationship. You’ll want to make sure that you get a good vibe from the virtual assistant and that they seem like a good fit for your team.

You can go down a few different avenues to find the right virtual assistant. Platforms like Upwork and Fiverr allow you to easily find experienced virtual assistants from all over the world that meet any budget or other requirements. Another great way is to ask your network for a referral. Prepare some thoughtful questions to ask the potential candidates to give you insight into their experience, personality, and skill set.

With the rise of the internet and increased competition in the corporate and entrepreneurial space, hiring and training a virtual assistant has become increasingly popular and accessible. This development has led to virtual assistant coaching and training becoming a valuable asset to any company.

Growing a business takes a lot of work, and the repetitive tasks can become overwhelming as you continue working to expand. These often take up large amounts of your working hours, leaving you with little time to focus on tasks that provide high growth opportunities. When you delegate your lower reward tasks, you remove the pressure they put on your schedule and can refocus your energy on those that matter most.

This is where hiring a VA can become a highly beneficial step in your business, and learning how to train a virtual assistant becomes a valuable skill (we’ll tell you how in a minute!).

What Does A Virtual Assistant Do?

The role of a virtual assistant will vary depending on their individual skillset and the needs of their client. To put it simply, a VA follows a predetermined system you have put in place for them.

The type of services they offer can come in 3 distinct forms. These include:

1. Task-Based
   This is a VA who has been hired to manage very specific individual tasks behind the scenes. This can include sending emails, editing correspondences, or scheduling essential appointments.
2. Project-Based
   A virtual assistant who has been hired to manage a specific project. They would have a more robust set of expectations that relate to one singular project. This could include creating content such as blogs, gathering quotes for upcoming projects, or curating travel itineraries prior to a scheduled trip.
3. Ongoing Role-Based
   When you hire a VA who is taking on a specific role for you. They would be focusing on a more specialized area where you require continual support such as daily, weekly, or monthly tasks. These roles could be bookkeeping, supporting customers, data entry, or managing your social media across all platforms.

Overall, a virtual assistant is hired to make your day-to-day life less stressful. The goal is to free up your time to tackle the more valuable tasks that have a higher rate of growth potential for your company.

5 Benefits Of Having A Virtual Assistant

While hiring a virtual assistant comes with a range of benefits, there are 5 that stand above the rest.

1. Increase Productivity
   Hiring a VA to manage the smaller, repetitive tasks of your day, allows you to focus on the most important aspects of your business. This will let you use your working hours more effectively, focusing on tasks that are aimed to grow your business.This not only benefits your working hours, but it can expand the functioning hours of your business entirely. Hiring a virtual assistant from abroad provides a unique opportunity for you to have work completed while you sleep. For example, you could hire a few VA’s who are in opposite time zones as the rest of your staff to allow for 24/7 customer support. This creates an opportunity for your business to provide services your competitors may not be offering.
2. Reduce Costs
   Virtual assistants often work on a contract basis, removing the financial expense of hiring staff in-house to complete the desired tasks. This removes the requirement to pay for sick days, holidays, or lunch hours, as a virtual assistant is not a full-time employee. This reduces the overall cost of completing the assigned tasks.Additionally, VA’s usually work remotely. This is a growing trend across all workplaces, as remote work reduces the overhead costs of a business. Removing the need to provide a physical workplace also lowers your expenses.
3. Reduce Stress
   Hiring a virtual assistant reduces your workload. When you delegate tasks you don’t enjoy, you naturally reduce the amount of stress you experience. This also occurs because hiring a VA frees up your time to take necessary breaks and recharge after long periods of hard work. This time can be spent engaging in highly rewarding activities, such as spending time with your family. Allotting yourself time to rest is essential in setting yourself up for success during your working hours.
4. Better Scalability
   By hiring a virtual assistant you reduce your onboarding time when you require a role to be filled. Many VA’s are highly skilled in particular areas and usually work on a project-to-project basis. This gives you the flexibility to hire someone with the skills you require for a short period of time to complete a specific project. This is especially helpful when you have a sudden increase in work, or the demands of a project are changed unexpectedly.
5. Higher Quality Of Work
   When you have a virtual assistant, you can offload undesirable tasks and create a work environment you enjoy stepping into each day. When you genuinely want to do the work you’re doing, you naturally apply more effort and increase the quality of your work.

Planning Before You Hire A Virtual Assistant

Before you begin looking for a virtual assistant, it is important to consider a few vital steps.

• Consider why hiring a virtual assistant would be helpful to you. Ask yourself questions like how a VA would help you, and what you would do with the time they would be giving back to you.
• Research the average cost of a VA, either in your area or abroad based on your needs. It is important that you know your budget for this expense and can be confident in your ability to afford these services.
• Define the expectations you would have for a virtual assistant. Consider repetitive tasks of your daily routine or those you don’t enjoy completing.
• Take a deep look at your personality. This will help you know the type of person you would work best with. For example, if you struggle to release control of your workload or find it difficult to trust someone to meet your standards, a VA may not be a good fit. However, there are ways you can combat this if you want to work towards delegating effectively (more on this in the next section).
• Make a list of the required tools and software you may need to provide a virtual assistant to support you successfully. This would include things like scheduling or management software, customer support tools, or editing software.

How To Train Your Virtual Assistant

Once you’ve completed your pre-planning and have found a virtual assistant that fits your needs, you’re ready to begin training them. This process is essential in setting your expectations and standards while helping them find success in your partnership.

Define Your Expectations Clearly

This step is especially important if you struggle to relinquish control over your work or trust others to complete tasks to the caliber you expect. The best way to do this is to curate a strict list of realistic expectations. Include both their role responsibilities and the quality of their work with key performance indicators in this outline.

A great way to ensure your virtual assistant understands these expectations and can successfully meet them is by providing examples. Create a folder that is specifically for previous work that you would like them to review to get a better understanding of your personal style. Include notes in these documents that highlight specific areas you want them to focus on and emulate in future tasks.

Communicate In Various Ways

Everyone learns differently, and it’s important to consider that when creating your training material and during all interactions. The best way to do this is to incorporate verbal, written, and video communication methods to convey your task and expectations in a clear, concise way.

Verbal

A great way to include this in your training material is through audio recordings. Tone will play a big role in how your VA understands your expectations and their importance to you. This will help you quickly explain your needs and expectations while highlighting important aspects of the project.

Written

When writing your training material or curating an email, try to keep the length of them to a reasonable amount. Walls of text can be overwhelming and can lead to your main points easily being missed. To avoid this, try breaking things down into bullet points or steps making them easy to digest and follow.

Ensure you include email as a form of communication. This allows you to answer in your own time while also allowing your VA the freedom to do the same.

Video

This is a great way to introduce yourself and make the initial introduction to you and your expectations more personable. By including video, you’re building rapport and allowing your virtual assistant to get a sense of who you are and connect with you on a different level. This is especially helpful for VA’s that are visual people, as you can emphasize certain aspects by including screen recordings of important information.

Break Tasks Down Into Specific Steps

When you provide a task with a clear breakdown of how to complete it, you make the process easy to follow. This also gives your virtual assistant a reference point for how you like things to be completed. If you’re assigning a repetitive task, this can also serve as a template for completing that task each time.

As an added bonus, when you break tasks down into steps, it can serve as a way to review your process and improve it for greater efficiency.

Create Checklists

When you first hire your VA, create a detailed list of recurring tasks for them to easily track throughout their contract with you. This will reduce the risk of tasks being left incomplete, and also provides your VA with a way to easily schedule and plan around them. This not only tells them you value their time but also provides an opportunity to review and optimize your repetitive tasks.

Give Feedback

Let your VA know how they’re doing on their various tasks. This will help them learn how you like projects to be completed, and adjust their style to match your own. Mistakes, large or small, provide great learning opportunities. If there is something that was missed, or that you would have preferred done a different way, share this information with your VA. This will influence how they manage any future assignments for you.

Eastern European countries are becoming an increasingly popular resource for organizations needing to outsource their software development or IT services. Most notably, Romania, Poland, and Ukraine are among the top three countries within this region that boast a competitive pool of talent in the global outsourcing market. Aside from the unbeatable cost-saving benefit, outsourcing to Romania can give way to a wide variety of skills and experience, which can create a robust and well-functioning cross-cultural team.

But what about Romania in particular makes it a competitive country when it comes to outsourcing compared to other nations, especially when it comes to high-quality software development?

Here is what you need to know about outsourcing to Romania.

What is Outsourcing?

Let’s first start with a refresher on the definition of outsourcing. Outsourcing is the practice of hiring a third party to complete services or other business functions that originally were done in-house by the company’s own employees. Outsourcing gives the company an opportunity to expand its global network and create streamlined processes that benefit the entire organization and its many operations.

Some of the most in-demand business functions that are most commonly outsourced include:

• IT services
• Software Development
• Web Design and application
• Customer Service
• Financial Services/Accounting/Payroll
• Administration
• Data Entry
• Chat Support
• Banking/Insurance
• Manufacturing

According to Fortunly, over 300,000 jobs get outsourced out of the United States each year. And over 44% of Chief Intelligence officers say that they are more likely to use outsourced suppliers than they were over five years ago. 51% of technology executives outsource their software maintenance and application, with over 40% outsourcing their data centers.

Outsourcing has become an essential part of how businesses operate on a global scale. While there are various advantages and disadvantages with outsourcing, it’s important to keep in mind the business needs and demands (or restrictions) must operate within a designated budget. However, outsourcing has proven to be an effective way of improving the efficiencies of an organization’s general operations, leaving the internal team to focus and deliver high-quality work. With its many benefits including saving time and money, opening up a more diverse pool of talent, and maximizing the resources available to them, outsourcing outside of the United States has become a cost-effective way to streamline certain business processes. Additionally, talent across the globe has access to state-of-the-art technologies that have the potential to bring innovative and novel ideas into the workplace, transforming how the core team works and operates. This exchange of ideas can elevate an organization to new heights.

Top Eastern European Countries for Outsourcing Software Development and Information Technology

These eastern European countries have been globally identified as the best destinations for outsourcing, especially within the IT and software development fields:

• Romania
• Poland
• Ukraine
• Belarus
• Russia
• Hungary
• Czech Republic
• Croatia
• Bulgaria

The reputation of these eastern European countries is growing rapidly due to the high-quality services and level of expertise in their robust talent pool. Of course, there are a variety of factors that contribute to how an organization chooses where to outsource, despite geographical location. This includes:

• Level of technical skill – This will depend largely on the business need of the company and the level of expertise needed in order to complete pressing assignments and projects.
• Service costs – Organizations will need to research the average hourly rate of experts in their particular field outside of the US in order to get a clear understanding of what the overall cost will be to outsource their services.
• Language barriers – Another area that deserves attention is the command of the English language. When outsourcing to another country, it’s important to keep in mind that there may be some cultural and language barriers the organization will need to work through. The team must be aware of such potential circumstances and exercise patience, extensive collaboration, cultural sensitivity, and effective communication to ensure everyone remains on the same page.
• Time Zone – Companies also need to consider the time zone difference when they choose to outsource outside of the United States. Significant time zone differences can create difficult scheduling conflicts and availability issues. On the flip side, it also allows someone to be working on your business even while you sleep! This is a factor to consider in choosing where to outsource depending on the demands of the business.
• Reputation – An organization must do extensive research on the company and country they are considering outsourcing their services to. This helps build trust and fosters a sense of respect for the team the organization chooses to hire to support their operations. For example, HackerRank is used to identify and assess the technical acumen of developers on a global scale. For example, the HackerRank for Romania currently sits at 81.9%.

All of these are deciding factors in choosing the right resource for the company. With eastern European countries quickly on the rise in the global market, let’s dig into why outsourcing to Romania has proven to be a smart and fruitful endeavor.

Why Do Companies Outsource to Romania?

Romania’s IT industry has been growing rapidly over the course of the last 20 years. During this period of time, Romania has earned its reputation of being one of the top custom software development, maintenance, and support services in eastern Europe.

As Romania has over 4,000+ technical universities, the country boasts more than 5,000 engineers and computer science graduates—this is supported by their growing and flourishing economy. The country has maintained its steady growth by the increasing number of companies that choose Romania as its number one destination for outsourcing. Romanian developers have strong expertise in the embedded software development, cybersecurity, and AI development sectors.

While Romania may not offer the lowest prices in the outsourcing market, its highly competitive technical proficiency and general soft skills are vastly superior compared to surrounding countries. The country’s geographical location also lends a hand to its economic growth. Romania is at the center of three major markets: the Middle East, the European Union, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). It’s the second-largest country in central and eastern Europe, a 3-hour flight from London and only a couple of hours ahead of Berlin. Investors typically find themselves in a vast pool of over 500 million consumers, which provides companies with unique advantages and opportunities to develop and grow.

Earlier this year, BalkanInsight reported that Romania is one of only six countries in the world (China, Chile, Australia, Lithuania, and South Korea) whose Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown despite the rippling effects of the pandemic. Major software companies such as IBM, Amazon, and Oracle have tapped into Romania’s growing talent pool of experienced software developers to support their operations since the competitive rates continue to produce high-quality results compared to other countries across the globe.

As Romania continues to reveal itself as a highly advanced technological hub with over 100,000 trained software developers and certified IT professionals, the country has become a hot spot for IT offshore/nearshore outsourcing.

Advantages of Outsourcing to Romania

There are a number of advantages that exist when an organization chooses to outsource to Romania.

• Robust talent pool – According to Rinf.tech, Romania produces the highest per capita technology workforce in Europe and also contains the top 5 technical universities. Over 68% of employed IT professionals in Romania received an advanced degree. By choosing to outsource to Romania, organizations have a plethora of various talents to use to support their team and bring innovative ideas to the table. While Romania is known for its superior IT and software development professionals, other essential fields include robotics, automotive innovation, and cyber security. Depending on the organization’s needs and projects, Romania can offer a variety of options in different professional arenas. Romania’s in-demand talent pool can also lend a very important hand in spreading gender balance in a largely male-dominated field. On average, 24% of tech graduates are women according to Romania’s Country Commercial Guide. Outsourcing to Romania can not only capture competitive skills and expertise, bolstering the company’s vision for the future but can also actively encourage inclusivity in the workplace.
• Ripe Location – Romania neighbors many European countries, making the time zone difference minimal for those located in Europe looking to outsource their business operations. This poses little to no interruption for general communication and coordination between teams or with any travel plans as most surrounding countries are only separated by 2-3 hour distances. Put simply, Romania is easily accessible. For the United States, Romania remains about 10 hours ahead of the west coast, including the major city of Los Angeles. Although this time difference may initially sound drastic, Romania’s familiarity with US companies makes this transition as simple as possible. Maintaining constant (and effective) communication during vital company projects is always a pivotal piece of the project management process, no matter where the team is located. This is especially true in the case of outsourcing to countries outside of the United States. But Romania’s geographical location makes the process of outsourcing to Romania an easier experience and many find its high-quality services are worth the investment despite any time zone differences.
• Multilingual – Although Romanian is the primary language in Romania, the country boasts a multilingual culture. Most developers in Romania are proficient in English and are experienced working with a vast array of international clients. Their talent for language doesn’t just stop at English, however. Other languages include German, Spanish, and French. This is an incredibly valuable soft skill to have in today’s market. As more and more organizations begin to outsource their services, having a team that is adaptable to different languages is becoming a critical skill to stay competitive. And because Romania’s popularity continues to grow, their flexibility with learning additional languages becomes an attractive factor.
• Cost savings – One of the most important factors for deciding to outsource to Romania is the cost-savings benefit. While the standard hourly rate for software developers is not concrete (this depends on a variety of subjects including the type of software needs that a company requires, relevant years of experience, and unique qualifications or specializations), on average, the hourly rate for a developer from Romania is anywhere between $15-$25. This is largely due to the country’s low cost of living and its economic conditions. Let’s compare this to the United States. For an entry-level position at a tech company, the average hourly rate begins anywhere between $40-$50. Let’s take a look at other notable examples. In India, the average hourly rate for a developer with 1-4 years of experience starts at approximately around $30, and in the UK, the same level of experience starts at $38.
• Economic stability – According to Near-shore Romania, since becoming a member of the European Union in early 2007, Romania has become a safe and reliable nation to work with when it comes to business needs. As a central IT hub, Romania’s economic stability and growth, robust education system, and technological advancements make it easier for other countries to work with Romanian software teams.

Now that we’ve gone over the many advantages that come with outsourcing to Romania, it’s also important to consider some of the various challenges that may arise.

Challenges with Outsourcing to Romania

Many of these challenges are common pitfalls of outsourcing to countries outside of the United States. Here are the factors you need to keep in mind:

• Misalignment of values – Bringing in an outsourced team can be tricky. It’s important that a company performs extensive research on the team they’re looking to bring in. In some cases, the prospective team may have conflicting values that don’t support the company’s missions. This could lead to difficult and awkward interactions for everyone involved and can have a proud effect on the company’s culture. While disagreements are common in the workplace, misalignment of essential values can come at a cost later down the road.
• Remote team – An increasing number of organizations are switching to a remote workplace environment, which means that communication within teams needs to be sharp. This is especially true for outsourced teams, such as the developers in Romania. Frequent updates on day-to-day progress are essential in making sure that everyone remains on the same page and can do the basic functions of their jobs without very little delay or interruption. In these cases, diligent project managers would play a pivotal part in coordinating the many players of a project from across the globe.
• Communication – Because of the remote nature of outsourced teams, deadlines must be carved out beforehand and relayed to all relevant parties. It can become very easy for due dates to slip through the cracks or miscommunication to occur frequently between team members. This is an area that needs to be highly regulated in order for processes to be truly streamlined and cost-effective.
• Unclear needs – One of the most important areas that a company needs to address is its own unique needs. If a company is unclear about the type of skills, experience, or expertise that needs to be brought in, it may end up hiring the wrong set of hands, ultimately incurring a heavy price. A company must review its internal demands, its goals, and the development team it’s looking to hire before going with its decision to outsource to Romania (or any other country for that matter!). Especially in the field of IT services or software development, it’s critical that a company thoroughly review the gaps in its own organization in order to make the best decisions for the team as a whole. Remember, the idea is to make the processes easier on everyone, to give the core team another area of support so they can perform at their best.

When you understand both the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing to Romania, you get a complete picture of what it may look like for you and if it’s the right direction for your company.

Biggest IT hubs in Romania

Romania is home to some of the biggest tech hubs in the world. And according to Romanian Journal, another one of Romania’s biggest cities has been added to the list of the fastest-growing tech hubs in Europe. Let’s take a look at some of the most vital Romanian tech hubs:

• Isai – Ranks in the top 10 of year-over-year growth with its impressive number of members.
• Cluj-Napoca – Often considered one of the best tech hubs in Europe and is known for producing the biggest pool of talent in software development.
• Bucharest – Known for bringing in a steady flow of capital
• Uipath – Was in the top 20 largest Venture Capital-backed fundraising deals, ranking third in Europe