General Resources
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Nearshore Salesforce Development Guide
Intro to Nearshore Salesforce Development
The term 'Nearshore' primarily refers to outsourcing projects to individuals or teams is neighboring countries, offering massive benefits in terms of collaboration and time zone overlap.
At FoundHQ, our Nearshore Salesforce Development Network consists of talent located in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico, in addition to several other South American countries.
In the world of Salesforce, the platform's exhaustive capabilities are a double-edged sword for most companies. As businesses grow, the complexity of Salesforce implementations, integrations and audits generally increase, which brings the need for ongoing administration, development, and optimization efforts.
There are a variety of resource models companies adopt to get this work done.
Build an Internal Salesforce Team
Hiring an in-house Salesforce team is an approach we encourage at FoundHQ.
It’s important to give your Business Systems the investment it requires, both in terms of time and money.
But you want to be very certain of the goals you intend to accomplish with this team before you get started. It's not as simple as hiring a Salesforce Admin or Developer and letting them run wild.
If you’re looking for guidance on structuring and hiring full-time Salesforce talent, NotDigitalHQ can help.
Hire a Salesforce Consulting Partner
Consulting Partners are approved Salesforce vendors that provide a range of services to help you manage your Salesforce instance.
While we believe there’s a time and place to work with Consulting Partners, we have seen firsthand the drawbacks to this model, which are worth highlighting:
Leveraging outside Consulting Firms is the highest cost resource model you can adopt.
They are incentivized to get everything done at once, rather than helping you adopt and expand incrementally.
The pricing model is rigid, typically requiring a minimum hour commitment or fixed SOW.
Engage Independent Salesforce Consultants or Freelancers for Nearshore Salesforce Development
The whole reason we built FoundHQ was to give Salesforce Customers a more flexible, accessible and customized service than Consulting Partners can offer.
Engaging with Independent Salesforce Consultants is a cost effective way to embed part-time or full-time Contractors into your team for any type of Salesforce Development initiatives.
FoundHQ is the only platform specialized entirely in Salesforce Freelancers with a network of 7,000+ carefully vetted, Independent Salesforce Consultants who’ve worked with the likes of Stripe, G2, Deloitte, Slalom, Workday, Michelin, Home Depot, and hundreds of others.
Our Nearshore Network is proficient across all Salesforce Product areas, brings an average of 5.5 years working on the platform, and immediately available to get started on any type of project.
Learn more about FoundHQ here or schedule a quick intro call here.
How to Use Nearshore Salesforce Development Teams
There are a range of benefits to leveraging Nearshore Salesforce Development Partners but the way you want to engage with them will depend on the capabilities of your existing team.
In some scenarios, companies will have an existing Salesforce team they are looking to augment with cost-effective resources that can achieve faster project delivery. In other scenarios, you look to Nearshore Salesforce Developers to acquire a specialized skill set that you don’t necessarily need on a full-time basis.
We outline the primary advantages to the model, depending on how you plan to use Nearshore Salesforce Developers.
Benefits of Nearshore Salesforce Development
Nearshore Salesforce Development can be a beneficial option for companies without an internal Salesforce team for various reasons:
Cost-Effective: Instead of hiring and retaining an internal Salesforce team, which involves recruitment, training, and increased overhead from taxes, benefits, and PTO, Nearshore Salesforce Development services is a more flexible option. Companies can hire an individual or teams of Salesforce Experts in a matter of days, without the commitment of full-time employees.
Access to Specialized Skills: Salesforce is a complex platform with various modules and functionalities. Nearshore Salesforce Development providers typically have a diverse team with specialized skills across different aspects of Salesforce, ensuring that all your needs, from Apex to flows and MuleSoft to Dev Ops, can be addressed.
Continuous Support and Monitoring: Nearshore Salesforce Development partners provide continuous support and monitoring of your Salesforce instance. This includes proactive issue detection, system optimization, and quick resolution of any issues, minimizing downtime and ensuring the platform runs smoothly.
Rapid Response to Changes: Nearshore Salesforce Development providers are equipped to handle changes, updates, and new feature implementations quickly. Unlike Consulting Firms, adopting this model allows you to engage with Salesforce Contractors that function as an embedded member of your team, rather than a group of Consultants doing work in isolation.
Customization and Optimization: Nearshore Salesforce Developers can assist in customizing Salesforce to meet your specific business requirements. They can also optimize existing configurations to ensure that the platform aligns with your evolving business needs.
Nearshore Salesforce Development For Companies With No Internal Salesforce Teams
When selecting a partner for Nearshore Salesforce Development Services, companies without an internal Salesforce team can consider a couple of options.
Salesforce Consulting Partners for Nearshore Development
As highlighted, Salesforce Consulting Partners are recognized by Salesforce and have Certified Consultants and Administrators who can provide a range of services, including configuration, customization, and ongoing support.
FoundHQ: A Salesforce Partner Alternative
FoundHQ is a New York based company bringing 12+ years of experience in Salesforce Recruitment - we pride ourselves in having a more flexible model than those of traditional Consulting Partners. We’ve built a global network of the top Salesforce Consultants, all of whom have undergone a rigorous vetting process and are specifically matched to companies looking for Salesforce help in their area of expertise.
Our services include:
Hourly Projects (Fractional Contractors)
Staff Augmentation (Full-Time Outsourced Team)
Nearshore Salesforce Development Services (Full-Time or Part-Time)
Managed Services (Onshore, Nearshore or Offshore)
We understand that every Salesforce customer is different, which is why our approach is fast, adaptable and scalable.
We charge no recruiting fees, have no minimum hours, and require no SOWs.
If you want to see if FoundHQ might be a fit for you, schedule a call here or click on the popup on the bottom right corner.
Augmenting Your Team with Nearshore Salesforce Developers
For companies who already have an in-house Salesforce team in place, supplementing your team with Nearshore Salesforce Development experts offers a set strategic advantages.
Faster Project Turnarounds: Nearshore Salesforce Developers provides the flexibility to quickly scale the team up or down based on project requirements. This scalability ensures that additional resources can be brought in promptly to meet tight deadlines or handle increased workloads.
More Opportunities for Innovation: Supplementing internal teams with Nearshore Salesforce Developers fosters innovation by introducing diverse perspectives, global best practices and rapid access to specialized skills you may not need for your team on a permanent basis.
More efficient task delegation: This setup allows organizations to leverage specialized skills, scale resources as needed, distribute project components strategically, and ensure continuous work cycles. For most companies, this means keeping the strategic decisions in-house and using your Nearshore Salesforce Development partner to delegate the execution of the roadmap.
Choosing a Partner to pilot Nearshore Salesforce Development is tricky. Most US-based companies love the cost-cutting aspect, but are rightfully nervous to get into business with an unknown international partner.
To choose the right Partner, pay attention to these key aspects:
Find a Partner who will take the time to truly understand your needs.
Great Partners will make sure to evaluate what you need from Salesforce and make recommendations that make sense for your business. Even more important is that they understand the pace at which you want to go - a lot of Partners try to consolidate everything into fixed-scope projects, which can be difficult for growing companies. It’s also common for Partners to recommend solutions that are simply too big to implement, and too robust as a first step. Make sure your Nearshore Salesforce Development Partner can build in blocks and thoroughly explain why this is the best first step your specific business needs to take.
Engage with Consultants who not only execute, but guide and strategize with you.
This is particularly relevant for companies that don't have strong Salesforce Leadership in place. Make sure your initial conversations with potential Partners are not restricted to Sales people, but to technical collaborators who have fully understood your goals around Salesforce and will be involved in the day-to-day relationship.You want to Partner with someone that is actively looking to work with you, not simply receive the assignment, go off to deliver in isolation, and hand you back the finished product.
Interview the resource who’d be assigned to your company
Most Salesforce Consulting Partners will simply assign whoever is available to new accounts. You want to make sure you know beforehand who’ll be working on your project and that you’re comfortable with their expertise, communication style and Salesforce project background. The biggest mistake we see with selecting a Salesforce Partner is to choose the vendor instead of the specific team.
Ask enough questions to make sure every resource assigned is necessary
Unfortunately, there are Salesforce Partners who go too big, too soon and create a bigger than required project roadmap. Be mindful of the scope they’re suggesting and don’t be afraid to challenge anything that might seem too much or question why certain resources and skill sets are being brought into the engagement throughout.
Offshore vs Nearshore Salesforce Development Partners
Choosing the right outsourcing model is a decision that can significantly impact the long-term success of your Salesforce org. Let’s compare the Offshore vs Nearshore approach to see which one is the right fit for you.
Geographic Proximity:
Offshore:
Offshore Development typically involves outsourcing to teams located in distant countries, often with significant time zone differences (for Salesforce, a popular offshoring country is India and we would include regions in Eastern Europe like Ukraine.)
The geographical separation can lead to challenges in real-time communication and coordination, particularly when it comes to stakeholder collaboration.
This model can work well if you have an established Salesforce team, structured priorities and process, since you can more effectively delegate. It’s strongly advised against if you don’t have a Salesforce team and these Consultants need to interact heavily with stakeholders.
Nearshore:
Nearshore Salesforce Development, on the other hand, entails outsourcing to teams in neighboring or nearby countries with closer time zones (at FoundHQ, our nearshore network primarily sits in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico, among several others).
Proximity facilitates more synchronous collaboration and reduces communication barriers.
Cultural Alignment:
Offshore:
Offshore teams may have cultural differences that can impact communication styles, work habits, and project understanding.
Bridging cultural gaps requires additional effort to ensure effective collaboration.
Nearshore:
Nearshore teams share similar or aligned cultural traits, easing communication and collaboration.
Cultural affinity often results in a smoother integration of nearshore teams with internal processes and values.
Operational Efficiency:
Offshore:
Offshore development can present great advantages with the right communication, enabling 24 hour, continuous build cycles because your offshore team is working while you sleep and vice versa.
Project timelines may be even shorter than Nearshore development as a result of not having overlapping time zones.
Nearshore:
Nearshore development promotes operational efficiency with overlapping time zones, enabling faster communication and collaboration.
The closer proximity facilitates agile development practices and quick project turnaround.
Cost Considerations:
Offshore:
Offshore outsourcing can offer cost savings due to lower labor and operational costs in certain regions.
However, potential hidden costs may arise from increased project management efforts and communication challenges.
Nearshore:
Nearshore outsourcing provides a balance between cost-effectiveness and operational efficiency.
While hourly rates may be slightly higher than offshore options, reduced communication challenges can lead to overall cost savings. You can take a closer look at Nearshore Salesforce Consultant Pricing here.
Talent Pool and Skill Availability:
Offshore:
Offshore locations may offer access to a vast talent pool, but finding the right skill set may require extensive search efforts.Since offshore demand has historically been centered around Engineering skill sets, companies may struggle to find reliable Salesforce Consultants with other disciplines in these regions, such as Administrators, Business Analysts, and Product Managers.
Language barriers may also impact the quality of communication and understanding.
Nearshore:
Nearshore locations offer access to a skilled talent pool with a potential advantage in language proficiency.
The proximity often results in easier collaboration and a quicker understanding of project requirements.
We generally see a more balanced skill set across the overall Nearshore Salesforce Talent pool with individuals experienced as Developers, Administrators, Business Analysts, and Product Managers.
Assessing these aspects carefully will help you make an informed decision that aligns with your project goals and organizational needs.
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