As the name implies, nearsourcing is exporting your software, design, engineering, and/or testing to someplace “near”. So where is near? In the case of Agave Lab, it’s Guadalajara, Mexico.
What’s so special about Guadalajara? Well, in turns out, a lot of things:
- A surplus of tremendously skilled engineers. Over the past 20 years, the Mexican federal government has dedicated tremendous amounts of money and resources to create a “Mexican Silicon Valley” in Guadalajara. They’ve invested in new tech schools, expanded software engineering programs within existing universities, built a city-wide infrastructure and, through promotion and scholarships, encouraged young people from around Mexico to come and study in Guadalajara. Their efforts have been successful - students from all over the country and world have flocked to Guadalajara’s 230 universities, which turn out, on average, 18,000 new IT graduates per year.
- A prevailing wage that is extremely low. So we have a surplus of labor, the flip side of the equation, however, is that there are relatively few local software jobs. And post- 9-11, visas to work in the US are extremely difficult to get. So supply and demand comes in to play and, lucky for us (and for you), we can hire phenomenally talented people that are eager to work for wages that are a small fraction of those in the US and well below those you find in India, China, and/or Eastern Europe.
- Time Zone. If you’ve ever outsourced a project to Asia or Europe you know the hassles of a 12-hour shift in time-zone. Your staff is just getting in the office and your development team from Sophia, Bulgaria has just checked out for the night. Just as they come back online, your staff is already asleep. Today’s iterative, and short-interval engineering methodologies require communication and lots of it. Guadalajara is on central US time, and given that the mexican work day starts about 9 and goes to about 7, your California-based engineers, users, and product managers users can pick up the phone and communicate with the development team any time, all day, everyday.
- Proximity. Every so often, an in-person meeting between all the stakeholders is a must. Have you ever travelled from the West coast to Bangalore? First, you have the endless flight (best case - 24 hours), then, not only are you exhausted from the flight, but the time zones are a punishing 13 hours offset. Plan on being a zombie for at least a week. Then, just as your starting to get your sea legs – guess what? It’s time to do the same thing in reverse. It’s common to lose 2 weeks of actual productivity for just one day of face-to-face. On the other hand, you can board a flight in San Francisco in the morning, be in Guadalajara in less than 4 hours. Leave the airport, have a tasty lunch, spend the afternoon meeting with the development team, and then hit the airport for the evening flight. You’re back in your office the next morning. Or better yet, stay over a night and enjoy one of the most picturesque colonial towns in all of Mexico, and fly home the next morning.
- Cultural and language affinity. Virtually all mexican software engineers are fluent in english. Most of the college coursework is english-only. What’s more, Mexicans have the same cultural background – they grew up watching the Simpsons, and Sex In The City. In addition, communication patterns are the same on both sides of the border - “yes” means “yes”, “no” means “no”, and “tomorrow” means “tomorrow”. Anyone who has been involved in outsourcing in India or China can attest to the importance of that last bit!