Offshore Development Center for a UK Software Provider

The collaboration dates back to 2020. The outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic influenced the software development market in many ways; among them were the boost of remote work and a higher demand for web and mobile products. Naturally, one of the client’s business goals for that year was to mount up on the growing demand.

As a part of the growth strategy for that period, the client decided to set up an offshore development center that would function not as a contractor but as a self-sufficient branch of the company, working alongside its existing in-house professionals. The client chose Devox Software thanks to the matching positioning on the IT market, the small time zone difference, and the value of common sense and honesty we adopt in our daily work.

ODC collaboration format suggests that the Devox team is not an offshore team per se but rather a branch office for the client that retains its name and identity. It means that we work openly as a separate legal entity yet in complete synergy with the client’s team.

Devox’s and the client’s classic responsibilities distribution suggests that Devox’s side works on the development, testing, and management while putting the client’s project manager or scrum master at the head of each team. The client places a strong emphasis on the Agile Scrum framework, with structured teams devoted to agile methodologies, which enables our joint teams to work seamlessly with minimum traction even at the point of a new team assemblance.

• Recruitment: We manage the entire recruitment process, from technical and managerial interviews to delivering a shortlist of candidates for your review and acceptance. Free replacements are available if needed.
• Office with all essential amenities, including meeting rooms, physical security, internet, tea, coffee, cookies, and fruits.
• English courses and speaking clubs with our in-house teacher.
• Bi-weekly tech talks for continuous learning and knowledge sharing.
• HR support for organizing workflows, performance reviews, and employee engagement.
• Legal and contractual support to ensure employees have all necessary documentation, such as contracts and NDAs.
• Modern workstations equipped with a laptop (Core i7, 16GB RAM, SSD), 27-inch monitor, headset, keyboard, and mouse. Additional specifications can be arranged as needed.
• Accounting support for team members, including assistance with taxes and financial matters.
• Managerial support from our side to address organizational, employee-related, or process-related inquiries.

The client’s corporate ethics is built around the employee-first approach. As this value strongly corresponds with Devox’s, together in our collaboration, we managed to achieve an environment that is centered around one core belief: both Devox and the client are convinced an employee’s happiness and peace of mind drive them to deliver their best results. No matter the role, an interviewee will feel welcome on a job interview, be it their first time working with the client or just a regular check to take the existing collaboration to the next level, which is highly appreciated both by their internal and Devox engineers.

This approach can be expressed in numbers: for instance, the attrition rate within four years of collaboration was as low as 6,8%; within this number, in 2023, we counted a total of four instances where technical or behavioral issues were raised (either by the client’s or Devox’s team or the employee themselves).

On the client side, the company prioritizes ethical practices with initiatives like a modern slavery check, reinforcing a commitment to ethical employment standards. This ensures a supportive environment where employees can grow professionally within a collaborative, values-driven culture.

In turn, the Devox side managed to achieve a nurturing work environment thanks to our diligent recruitment and multifaceted HR activities. For starters, it’s the proactive candidate search and extensive internal database of over 20,000 specialists. By expanding the recruiting funnel at the initial stage, we accelerate the process, enabling swift vacancy fulfillment.

Here’s what our recruitment process looks like in more detail:

• We deliver the 1st relevant CV within 7 business days.
• Every 3rd candidate receives an offer from the client.
• The average Time To Fill is 2-4 weeks.
• Developer’s lifetime period is more than 18 months.
• Strong regular performance team management.
• External/Internal Weekly and Monthly professional training.
• Hiring capacity up to 15 professionals per month.
• 97% of developers pass a probation period.

Over four years, Devox and the client delivered nearly 20 projects, with the majority focused on fintech:

• Banking
• Insurance
• Vessel insurance
• Governmental platforms

The client is a recognized Microsoft Gold Partner, specializing in Azure solutions, including digital and app innovation. Their extensive internal team of engineers therefore works a lot with .NET, Angular, Java and other Microsoft-oriented tech stack, which is a big premise for our synergetic collaboration as Devox puts a special emphasis on these technologies.

While working with the client, we focus on cloud computing, specifically through Azure, which supports digital transformation and consulting services in many fintech-related projects. Services-wise, we engage in DevOps practices and offer a range of services, including application development, cloud migration, and legacy system modernization.

Tech approach

The clients we and Devox work with commonly play a long game, which also means the tech stack on an average product requires regular updates or at least keeping up with the latest word of tech progress to stay relevant. It’s always our teams’ proactive initiative to switch to a more modern stack once it’s released: updating timely and beforehand, we cut major potential costs and avoid potential bugs final users could experience, which overall contributes to a product’s successful work in production.

Winning trust

Devox earned the client’s trust with two key deliverables: quick yet professional hiring and impeccable project delivery.

When hiring a candidate for the client, Devox recruitment keeps in mind that candidate quality is of utmost value. While we usually hire the right person at the maximum possible speed, quality remains the priority that beats timing, meaning we will rather put an emphasis on looking for a candidate longer than closing the position quickly.

The other factor that secured the client’s trust is our HR and recruitment’s response speed. In rare cases when any issue emerged, either raised by a team, management, or employees themselves, we set the one-on-one meeting and offer a personal development plan the same day the issue occurred.