Offshore Development Center: Proven Strategies for Success

Hiring skilled developers in the US, the UK, or Australia feels like a never-ending challenge, right? Demand keeps climbing, but the local talent pool isn’t growing fast enough and the price tag keeps going up. That’s why many companies are looking beyond their borders, setting up offshore development centers (ODCs) or working with dedicated development teams to scale smarter, cut costs, and keep projects moving.

At Clockwise Software, we’ve been offering dedicated development team services since 2014. We’ve built 200+ digital products, and 98% of our clients come from the US, the UK, and Australia. We know remote teams inside and out. And here’s the thing — the outsourcing process is not just about hiring developers. It’s about building a team that feels like a natural extension of your in-house crew.

By the time you’re done reading this article, you’ll know:

• What an offshore software development center actually is and how it works
• Why offshore development is a smart move for scaling your business
• How to set up offshore development center with right partner
• What to expect in terms of cost, quality, and control

If you’re ready to build a reliable, high-performing team without the hiring stress, let’s get started.

What is an offshore development center?

Think of an offshore software development center as your own remote tech team that is fully dedicated to your projects and working alongside your in-house crew. Only this team comes without the headaches of hiring, onboarding, and managing everything yourself. Working with an ODC is like getting a plug-and-play development team that fits right into your business.

But here’s where using an ODC is different from relying on traditional IT outsourcing: instead of handing a project to a provider's existing team, you get your own team built just for you. They follow your processes, align with your goals, and work as an extension of your company. You stay in control of development, while the offshore partner handles the heavy lifting: finding top developers, setting up infrastructure, and keeping everything running smoothly.

With an offshore development center, you get the best of both worlds:

• A dedicated development team that feels like an in-house unit
• Full control over development without the administrative headaches
• Lower costs compared to hiring locally
• A scalable solution that grows with your business

And here’s the best part: you can customize your ODC setup based on how much control you want. Let’s break down the two main models so you can find the best fit.

Contractor ODC model

In this model, your offshore partner (or vendor) handles everything, from hiring top developers to managing HR, payroll, office setup, and daily operations. You get a dedicated team that works on your projects, but without the stress of running an overseas office.

• Your vendor builds and manages the team for you
• They handle recruitment, infrastructure, and administrative work
• You focus on your core business while your vendor takes care of the rest

Best for: Companies that want a fully managed solution with minimal involvement in operations.

Customer ODC model

Here, the vendor provides infrastructure and administrative support, but you manage the team. It’s like having your own remote development office without dealing with office logistics.

• You select and manage your developers
• You define workflows and oversee projects
• Your partner handles HR, payroll, and back-office work

Best for: Businesses that want full control over their remote team while still benefiting from lower costs and vendor support.

Whichever offshore development center model you choose, the goal is the same — building a strong, scalable team that helps your business grow.

Key differences between contractor and customer ODC models

Both offshore development center services models help you build a remote team, but they differ in control, management, and level of involvement. Here’s a quick breakdown to help you decide which one best fits your needs:

If you want a plug-and-play team with minimal effort, the Contractor ODC Model is your best bet. But if you prefer direct management and full control, the Customer ODC Model gives you that flexibility.

ODC vs in-house teams

If you are familiar with pros and cons of outsourcing, you know that building an in-house team gives you direct control, but it also means higher costs, longer hiring cycles, and more operational overhead. On the other hand, an offshore software development center provides a dedicated team — without the hassle of hiring, HR, and infrastructure — so you can scale faster and stay focused on growth.

Here’s how they compare:

When to choose in-house teams

An in-house team makes sense when you need full control and have the budget to support it. But if your goal is to scale quickly, reduce software development costs, and access global talent without the hiring headaches, an offshore development center is likely the better choice.

That said, there are situations where keeping development in-house is the right move. Consider going this route if:

• Face-to-face collaboration is essential. If your industry requires strict regulatory compliance (defense, government, healthcare), this can limit your ability to remotely access sensitive data. Also, if the project involves physical hardware, such as IoT devices, robotics, or custom electronics, a local team may be essential.
• You have the resources to build and maintain a team. Hiring in-house means managing recruitment, training, salaries, office space, and long-term retention. If you have the budget and infrastructure, it can be a good investment.
• Your development needs are stable and long-term. If your business has a predictable, ongoing need for development, investing in a full-time, in-house team may pay off in the long run.

For businesses that need absolute control and have the capacity to manage an in-house team, this model can work well. But if you want scalability, flexibility, and cost efficiency, an offshore software development center is often the smarter move.

When to Choose an ODC

An offshore development center is a great option if you need scalability, cost efficiency, and access to top-tier talent without the overhead of hiring in-house. Consider an ODC if:

• You need to scale fast without breaking the budget. Hiring locally can be expensive and slow. An ODC lets you expand your team quickly while keeping costs under control.
• Your project requires specialized skills. The global talent pool gives you access to highly skilled engineers without the limitations of local hiring.
• You want to focus on your core business. With your vendor handling hiring, HR, payroll, and infrastructure, you can focus on product development and strategy.
• You value long-term collaboration but need flexibility. An ODC ensures knowledge retention while giving you the freedom to adapt and restructure your team as your business evolves.

Here are two real-world examples of companies that successfully scaled with an offshore development center through Clockwise Software:

MarTech company (UK)

A UK-based MarTech company wanted to enhance their AI-powered PR platform, but relying on freelancers led to missed deadlines and inconsistent work quality.

They needed a more stable and scalable solution — one that would ensure knowledge retention and long-term collaboration. With limited resources to build an in-house team, they faced a choice: hire full-time employees (slow and expensive) or partner with an offshore development center.

Challenges the MarTech company faced:

• Slow product development due to limited internal resources
• Difficulty finding and managing skilled developers
• Missed deadlines and lack of accountability with freelancers

Why an ODC?

Instead of juggling inconsistent freelancers, the company partnered with an offshore development center. Clockwise Software gave them a dedicated team they could scale when needed, ensuring faster development and successful integration of AI into their product.

Volan Technology (US)

Volan Technology, a US-based startup specializing in micro-location tracking, needed to scale their team while managing a tight budget. Traditional hiring would have been too slow and expensive, risking critical deadlines.

Challenges Volan Technology faced:

• Scaling efficiently without the high cost of full-time hiring
• Finding experts in location-based platforms, geospatial analytics, and real-time tracking
• Replacing unreliable freelance developers from previous projects

Why an ODC?

By choosing our offshore development center, Volan Technology gained on-demand access to top-tier engineers who had worked on 10+ geolocation apps, without long-term hiring risks. They scaled their team as needed, ensured cost efficiency, and stayed competitive in their industry without the overhead of hiring full-time specialists.

If you’re also looking for a smart way to build a strong, flexible, and cost-effective development team, an ODC might be your best move.

Benefits of offshore development centers

An ODC gives you a dedicated team that works as an extension of your company, but without long hiring cycles, high local salaries, or operational overhead. We’ve spoken with our clients to understand their top reasons for choosing an offshore development center. Here’s what matters most to them — and how we ensure they get the best experience.

Let’s break down the key benefits that make ODCs a smart move for growing businesses.

Cost efficiency without compromising quality

Hiring in-house in the US, the UK, or Australia comes with high salaries, office costs, and long hiring processes. With an offshore development center, you can cut costs by 50–60% without sacrificing quality.

How?

• Lower salaries in top offshore locations mean you get expert talent at a fraction of the cost
• No extra spending on office space, equipment, HR, or admin — we handle all the logistics
• Faster scaling without the delays of in-house recruitment

Example: Our clients outsource web app development and scale their teams with top-tier engineers from Ukraine, saving money while maintaining world-class development standards.

Access to niche expertise and global talent

Finding the right specialized engineers is tough, especially in SaaS, MarTech, and HealthTech. An offshore development center removes geographic limits, giving you access to top-tier experts no matter where they are.

Why it works:

• We tap into a global talent pool, so you’re not restricted to local hiring challenges.
• Need AI specialists, cloud architects, or security experts? We find them for you.
• Our hiring process is rigorous — for every 200 applications, only one or two make the cut after multiple screening stages, test tasks, and technical interviews.

Example: We find specialists who understand your industry. Need a location-based platform? We bring developers experienced in real-time tracking and geospatial data. Building a real estate solution? Our team knows the ins and outs of MLS integrations and property data management.

Scalability and flexibility

Business needs aren’t static, and your team shouldn’t be either. With an offshore development center, you can scale up or down as needed, without the delays and costs of traditional hiring.

Real-World Example: HeadsUp Health

Our cooperation with a US-based health analytics startup began in 2019. Initially, they just needed a frontend and mobile developer to improve their doctor and patient apps. As their business grew, they:

• Added specialists on demand to tackle new challenges
• Recognized the need for structured QA as their product expanded
• Partnered with us to hire a QA team and build a QA framework from scratch

The result? Smooth scaling without disruptions, allowing them to grow efficiently while maintaining product quality.

Focus on core business goals

Hiring, payroll, and office admin shouldn’t eat up your time. An ODC handles the operational details, so your internal team can focus on strategy, innovation, and growth.

Real-World Example: Attention Experts

This Australian marketing agency wanted to build an all-in-one platform for marketers and their clients, but their leadership had zero software development experience. Instead of struggling through the process alone, they:

• Partnered with us for expert guidance
• Offloaded development to our team so they could focus on running their agency
• Managed time zones efficiently — while they worked during the day, we developed in the evening

With an offshore software development center, you get the right team, at the right time, without the hiring headaches. Ready to scale smarter?

Long-term knowledge retention

High employee turnover can disrupt development and lead to knowledge loss, which slows down progress and creates unnecessary setbacks. An ODC helps maintain team stability, ensuring that critical expertise stays within your project for the long run.

Real-World Example: Orthodox (US)

Orthodox, a non-profit organization founded in 1898, has been working with us since 2019 to scale their development team. Their CTO, based in Israel, needed a reliable, cost-effective team in a compatible time zone — something that local hiring couldn’t provide.

With the dedicated team model, they were able to:

• Expand their team in an agile way while keeping knowledge intact through structured documentation and clean code, ensuring fast and seamless onboarding with no gaps
• Ensure continuity — one of our senior developers has worked on 15+ projects for them
• Build an experienced team — three out of five developers on the project now have 10+ years of experience, including two tech leads

What the client says:

With a dedicated offshore development center, you get a team that grows with your product, keeping critical knowledge where it matters.

Streamlined communication and collaboration

Smooth collaboration is the backbone of a successful offshore development center. Without it, miscommunication and delays can slow progress. But with the right setup, your ODC team can feel just as connected as an in-house team no matter where they are.

This is how we ensure great communication with clients:

• Fluent English & international experience. Our developers communicate clearly and have experience working with global clients: no intermediaries, no communication barriers.
• Modern collaboration tools. From Slack and Zoom to Jira and Notion, we integrate seamlessly into your existing workflow for real-time updates and smooth coordination.
• Overlapping work hours. We align schedules to ensure that meetings, feedback loops, and check-ins happen naturally, as if your ODC team were right next door.

With the right processes, tools, and communication strategy, an offshore software development center removes the distance factor, keeping your projects on track without unnecessary delays.

Challenges of ODCs (and how to overcome them)

Offshore development centers come with huge benefits, but let’s be real — there can be challenges, too. In our own surveys, our clients shared their biggest concerns when considering this model. The good news? With the right approach, these hurdles are easy to manage. Here’s what our clients worried about most and how we ensure smooth and productive collaboration with an ODC team.

Quality concerns

Some businesses worry that web and mobile app development outsourcing teams won’t meet the same quality standards as in-house developers. The key to solving this? A structured approach to hiring, performance monitoring, and continuous improvement.

How we guarantee top-tier quality:

• Selective hiring. Only the best make it through. Our rigorous screening process ensures every developer has verified skills and relevant experience.
• Proven track record. A 99.89% work acceptance rate and 94.12% client satisfaction demonstrate that quality is built into every stage of development.
• Regular performance evaluations. Structured feedback loops and monitoring keep standards high, ensuring our teams deliver at the same level as in-house engineers.

Communication barriers

Time zone differences and language barriers can lead to miscommunication, but they don’t have to. With the right processes in place, collaboration feels as seamless as working with an in-house team.

How we keep communication smooth:

• Fluent English speakers. Our teams communicate clearly and effectively, eliminating language issues.
• Overlapping work hours. We work in time zones that align with US, UK, and Australian business hours, making real-time discussions easy.
• Modern collaboration tools. Slack, Jira, Zoom, and daily check-ins ensure alignment, transparency, and quick decision-making.

Data security risks

Sharing sensitive business data with an offshore team can raise concerns about security breaches and compliance risks. That’s why a well-structured ODC follows strict security protocols and legal safeguards to keep your data safe.

How we protect your data:

• Legal safeguards. Comprehensive non-disclosure and intellectual property agreements ensure your intellectual property remains fully protected throughout our collaboration.
• Compliance with global security standards. We follow the GDPR, HIPAA, and industry-specific laws and regulations to ensure legal and ethical data protection.
• Enterprise-grade security. Our infrastructure includes encryption, access controls, and secure development environments to prevent unauthorized access.

The result? You get the benefits of an ODC without security risks.

Cultural differences

Differences in the work culture between teams can lead to friction. But with the right approach, your ODC team can integrate smoothly, making it feel like a natural extension of your in-house crew.

How we ensure seamless collaboration:

• Experience with US, UK, and Australian clients. Our developers understand Western work culture and expectations.
• Cross-cultural communication training. We emphasize clear communication and adaptability to minimize friction.
• Client-first mindset. By proactively aligning with your workflows and values, we make offshore collaboration as smooth as working with an in-house team.

The result is no cultural barriers — just a team that works like yours.

Initial setup and onboarding challenges

Getting an ODC up and running takes effort, but a structured onboarding approach gives you a smooth start.

How we simplify onboarding:

• We handle recruitment, setup, and team integration so you don’t have to.
• Structured knowledge transfer ensures developers quickly understand your business and project goals.
• Dedicated onboarding support minimizes downtime and keeps development on track from start to finish.

We make sure your ODC team is operational fast, without the usual setup struggles.

Best practices for setting up an offshore development center

Launching an offshore development center is about building a reliable, long-term extension of your business. The right approach ensures smooth collaboration, seamless integration, and long-term success. Having set up ODCs for multiple clients, we’re sharing key insights to help you do the same — ensuring your offshore team delivers real value from day one.

Define your goals

A successful ODC starts with clarity. You need to define what you want to achieve — whether it’s scaling development, reducing costs, or accessing niche expertise. Understanding your long-term goals will help you make the right decisions at every stage. Also, at this stage you need to create a project brief that outlines goals, deliverables, and technical requirements.

Choose the right partner

Not all offshore vendors are created equal. Your choice of partner directly impacts your ODC’s success. Look for proven expertise, industry experience, and a strong track record. Client testimonials, case studies, and high retention rates signal reliability. A vendor familiar with your industry will integrate smoothly and deliver better results. Transparency and open communication are essential.

Plan the onboarding process

A structured software developers onboarding ensures that your ODC team can contribute effectively from the get-go. Clearly defining workflows, sharing key documentation, and setting expectations for roles and responsibilities will help align the offshore team with your business objectives. A knowledge transfer framework can also accelerate onboarding and minimize disruptions.

Establish communication processes

Seamless collaboration depends on strong communication. Establishing clear communication channels through tools like Slack, Jira, and Zoom, setting up regular syncs, and ensuring overlapping work hours will help keep everyone aligned. When real-time discussions and feedback loops are in place, working with an ODC can feel just as natural as managing an in-house team.

Prioritize team culture

Beyond technical expertise, cultural alignment plays a key role in long-term success. A shared work ethic, aligned values, and mutual expectations help create a strong team dynamic. When offshore developers feel like part of your company, they become more engaged, motivated, and productive. Encouraging open feedback and celebrating team achievements can strengthen this bond.

Setting up a dedicated offshore development center is about more than knowing how to choose a software development company. It’s about cultivating a strong and reliable team that scales with your business. With the right strategy, your ODC will become a seamless and valuable extension of your company.

Why Ukraine is a great location for your offshore development center

Choosing the right location for your offshore development center is just as important as selecting the right team. Ukraine has become a top destination for businesses looking for high-quality engineering talent, cost efficiency, and a strong work ethic.

Exceptional talent pool

Ukraine is home to a highly skilled and diverse tech workforce. Ukrainian developers are known for their strong technical expertise, problem-solving mindset, and adoption of emerging technologies. With a focus on engineering excellence, they bring deep experience in SaaS, AI, MarTech, HealthTech, and other complex domains, making them a top choice for an offshore development centre. Companies that need specialists in cloud computing, machine learning, cybersecurity, or enterprise software development can find world-class talent in Ukraine.

Cost-effectiveness

Setting up an offshore development center in Ukraine offers significant cost savings without sacrificing quality. Hiring developers in Ukraine costs 50–60% less than in the US, the UK, or Australia, making it an efficient alternative to in-house teams and nearshore outsourcing. Ukrainian vendors also provide transparent pricing models, ensuring predictable costs and facilitating budget planning for long-term collaboration.

Convenient time zone

Ukraine’s time zone allows for a convenient overlap in work hours with major markets, including the US, the UK, and Australia. This supports real-time communication and collaboration

• United States. Depending on the coast, there’s a 4–7 hour overlap, making morning or afternoon meetings convenient.
• United Kingdom. With just a 2–3 hour time difference, teams can work in near-perfect sync for smooth, real-time collaboration.
• Australia. Many Ukrainian teams adjust their working hours to provide a partial overlap, allowing for efficient handoffs and continuous progress.

This flexibility makes it easy to coordinate with in-house teams, keep projects on track, and maintain efficient workflows without the usual offshore communication delays.

Strong cultural compatibility

Ukrainian IT specialists share a professional, proactive, and results-driven approach that aligns well with Western business values. They prioritize transparency, accountability, and collaboration, making it easy to integrate them into existing teams. With extensive experience working with US, UK, and Australian clients, Ukrainian developers adapt quickly to different work cultures, ensuring smooth and efficient cooperation.

Beyond technical expertise, Ukraine’s IT industry has proven its resilience and operational stability, even in challenging circumstances. Clockwise Software has ensured full security and continuity for our teams, with employees decentralized across safe locations. Our operations are not dependent on energy infrastructure, so we can work without disruptions and maintain consistent productivity. Throughout the entire war, we have continued all projects without interruptions, scaled existing teams, and signed new long-term contracts.

Between 2022 and 2024, we have demonstrated stability and growth, proving our ability to deliver high-quality results regardless of external challenges. Businesses partnering with Ukrainian teams gain not only top-tier engineering talent but also a reliable, adaptable, and future-proof workforce.

Final thoughts

Setting up an offshore development center isn’t just about cutting costs — it’s a strategic move to scale efficiently, access top-tier talent, and build long-term expertise within your team. When set up correctly, an offshore software development center isn’t just a remote workforce; it becomes a seamless extension of your business, fully aligned with your goals and ready to grow with you.

Ukraine stands out as one of the best locations for a dedicated offshore development center, offering highly skilled developers, cost efficiency, strong cultural alignment, and proven resilience. From startups to enterprises, the companies we work with have successfully leveraged ODCs to accelerate development, optimize budgets, and stay ahead in competitive markets.

Can an offshore team feel like your own? Yes. Our developers stay on their projects for 3+ years, and Clockwise has a 94.12% client satisfaction rating. We can help you build your perfect team too.