Mexico is an Excellent Nearshore Development Resource
Mexico is currently the largest goods trading partner of the United States, with goods totaling $614.5 billion being traded each year. While services were significantly lower at roughly $60 billion both ways, it’s still a significant part of U.S.-Mexican relations. Thanks to NAFTA, imports and exports have increased significantly, and investment in the country is booming. Nearshore software development is an important part of the Mexican economy.
Mexico is one of the most convenient places to conduct business. One of the biggest advantages it has is being in the same time zone, which means it’s easy to quickly handle problems and collaborate with teams located in the country. With something like software development, this aspect is crucial, as bugs can be thrown up due to unexpected changes in surrounding software and databases. Overall, this results in reduced development times and increase responsiveness — key aspects for any business to consider.
In addition, a large portion of Mexicans speak English fluently, partly due to the influence of American culture around the world, but also because its nearest and biggest trading partner also speaks English. Again, this ensures easy communication, even across national borders.
And there are important cultural considerations. Mexican culture is similar to its more northerly neighbor simply due to its proximity. Familiarity with cultural norms is important to ensuring good communication between teams and creating UIs that prospective customers or clients can interact with easily.
Preserving your IP rights is also crucial, as you want to ensure that your property is protected by law. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement ensures that software is governed by laws and regulations to ensure that it is protected from unauthorized use and that there are legal remedies should unauthorized use occur.
These protections reflect the realities of the modern connected world we live in, resulting in more stringent rights in a wider range of scenarios. When you nearshore your software development work to Mexico, you are better protected than in many other countries. Even better, there are no customs duties for software.
Travel between most countries is fairly simple, but between Mexico and the United States, it’s a streamlined process. Work visas are easier to obtain when staff members are sponsored by U.S. companies thanks to NAFTA regulations, making it far more convenient to bring software developers on-site. This is the case whether it’s for a meeting, for training, or for consultancy.
The reverse is true, as well. U.S. citizens can travel to Mexico with a short flight, and they don’t have to worry about jetlag. If face-to-face discussions are important, they are much easier to arrange than traveling to Calcutta or Jakarta.
One of the most important parts of nearshore outsourcing is getting a great product but at a lower cost than available in the United States. Mexico has outstanding schools and universities that produce a wide range of top talent able to complete projects to a high standard.
In addition, because of the lower salaries and lower cost of living, they can do this with a much smaller budget, reducing the overall cost of producing an application. And, because Mexico is so close, it’s much cheaper to travel to.
In addition, a variety of contracting modes can be used for nearshore software development. Scope-based contracts focus on milestones, while time and materials contracts focus on the actual cost of using the developers per hour. A fixed-price contract simply offers a single price paid for a tightly defined project. Different contracts suit different companies, and we know that flexibility is important.
Ultimately, nearshoring software development in Mexico is easy, is convenient, and ensures a great product at a lower price. Talk to us today if you’d like to know more about how we can help with your nearshore software development project.