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Characteristics of an effective PhD supervisor

from Supervising PhD Students: A Practical Guide and Toolkit A Book by Hugh Kearns and John Finn

1. Understands the qualities associated with doctoral level research in their discipline, and communicates these to the PhD student
2. Gives time and thought to the selection and acceptance of students for PhD research
3. Establishes a good working relationship with the student
4. Clarifies expectations throughout the PhD
5. Inspires and motivates the PhD student
6. Supports the conceptual development of the research
7. Guides the timing and sequencing of project activities
8. Monitors research activities to ensure timely completion
9. Supports the student through institutional processes for monitoring progress and reporting
10. Provides constructive and timely feedback
11. Identifies and deals with potential conflicts and difficult situations (academic and personal)
12. Ensures that the research is of publishable quality
13. Anticipates problems and assists the PhD student’s adaptation of their research to cope with problems and challenges
14. Advises, and enforces where necessary, the academic and research standards of the PhD research
15. Encourages and advises the PhD student on appropriate professional development
16. Encourages the PhD student to have an appropriate work-life balance
17. Assists the PhD student with their preparation of the thesis and for the viva
18. Actively guides the PhD student’s preparation for their post-PhD career
19. Is aware of and responds to the changing relationship with the PhD student over time, and especially the balance between structure and independence
20. Gives sufficient time to these responsibilities
21. Invests time in their own professional development as a PhD supervisor

WHAT IS OFFSHORE OUTSOURCING IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT?

Whether it’s due to limitations in your budget, or simply a desire to get more for your money, you’ve decided to go with offshore software development. The further you get into your search for the right offshore web development company, however, the more you’ve realized just how many different types of offshore teams are out there.

For example, what is offshore outsourcing vs. outsourcing?

While such terms are very similar, and could easily be mistaken for meaning the same thing, there are subtle differences. Offshore outsourcing software development, as opposed to simply outsourcing it, can provide you (the client) with two very different experiences.

So you better understand what experience you’re buying into with your offshore development team of choice, let’s discuss the differences between offshore outsourcing vs. outsourcing. We’ll also address some of the benefits of working with our offshore team type of choice.


Defining Outsourcing vs. Offshore Outsourcing

Before we dive into the definition of offshore outsourcing, let’s establish a clear understanding of both outsourcing and offshoring. You’ve probably heard the terms ‘outsourcing’ and ‘offshoring’ used interchangeably; in fact, we often use them interchangeably here at ClikGlobal.

Outsourcing is “to obtain goods or services from an outside source” (Dictionary.com). In other words, outsourcing simply means having a third-party company complete the work for a company. For example, a software development company may outsource development services from another company in the same city to supplement their existing team.

In contrast to outsourcing, offshoring is “the practice of moving employees or certain business activities to foreign countries as a way to lower costs, avoid taxes, etc.” (Dictionary.com). In this way, offshoring always occurs outside of the country a company is based in. That being said, with offshoring, the company retains control of the overseas operations.

With these definitions in mind, we can bring the two together to understand offshore outsourcing. While there is no formal definition for this term, it could be described as follows: when a company acquires services or goods from talent located in a foreign country, typically overseas, but retains control over the talent providing those services or goods.


What are the Advantages of Offshore Outsourcing?

To paint an even clearer picture of offshore outsourcing, we’ll use our team as an example: ClikGlobal is an offshore outsourcing software development company. Our in-house team of software developers and project managers partners with an overseas team of software developers from PomTech ICT Solutions.

Through our global partnership, we’ve been able to benefit all parties involved, from our onshore and offshore team members to you. To provide a clearer illustration of why this business model is so effective, here are some of the benefits it can provide.


BENEFITS OF OFFSHORE OUTSOURCING FOR YOU

The clearest benefits of offshore outsourcing are the benefits you could receive. No two offshore outsourcing software development team is the same—as such, we’ll use the benefits our team offers to show what you could receive from a team like ours.

  • Affordable rates – With overseas software developers taking on most of the work, you can receive custom software development services, such as WordPress development or mobile app development, for a cost much lower than onshore-only teams.

  • U.S. management & processes – Because our company is based out of Colorado Springs, Colorado, the ideology behind our operations is U.S.-based. Likewise, our project managers are based here in the U.S., providing you with quality project management.

  • Quality custom software development – In many cases, affordable custom software development seems too good to be true—and it often is. With our team, however, our U.S. software developers help to ensure that you can receive development that both fits within your budget and meets our high standards.


BENEFITS OF OFFSHORE OUTSOURCING FOR OUR PARTNERS

Many offshore software developers are located in developing countries, such as India or Argentina. While there are many people interested in tech in such places, there are few opportunities available to pursue it. In this way, by working with an offshore outsourcing team, you are able to help others, and here are a few examples of how.

  • Sustainable economic development – Many developing countries struggle to grow and improve because of their inability to achieve sustainable development, often due to lack of financial resources, political turmoil and war, or natural disasters. Through your partnership, however, you contribute to sustainable development.

  • Employ tech-driven men & women – You may be surprised to learn that there are a significant number of people in developing countries that have four-year degrees or specialized training in tech. That said, their location often limits their ability to pursue those fields. By hiring a team that works with offshore software developers, you provide the opportunity for these educated people to work in their field of choice.

  • World-class technical training – Finally, the education system in developing countries is not as robust as ours here in the U.S. With this, these individuals may struggle to provide quality services to their clients here in the U.S., limiting their capacity to grow and succeed.

Blended teams, like ours, work with our offshore software developers to grow their skill set and improve as developers. For our team, in particular, our U.S. senior developers provide training opportunities, so that our offshore developers can continue to develop their skills.

WHY 2019 IS THE YEAR FOR OFFSHORE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

In 2018, the global spending on IT rose to 987 billion U.S. dollars. By the end of 2019, that number is expected to rise to a whopping 1,034 billion U.S. dollars. As spending in IT continues to rise, it should come as no surprise that the need for talent in the industry is rising as well.

With a high demand for IT talent, and little IT talent available, offshore software development teams have become a critical resource. While outsourcing software development is nothing new, changes in how offshore teams operate, along with new digital trends, will likely push many businesses toward hiring overseas software engineers.

So, in terms of offshore software development, what exciting changes should we expect to see in 2019? What will offshore teams have to offer? Here are just 5 ways that offshore teams will change and flourish in the coming year.

A shift from ‘low cost’ to ‘quality service.’

Over the past decade, many U.S. businesses made the shift to outsourcing because of the Great Recession. The Great Recession resulted in budgets cuts, and outsourcing was a great way to cut labor costs. In fact, 57% of companies in the U.S. increased their use of outsourcing, and as 2017, 43% of the existing IT services in the U.S. were outsourced.

Since then, however, the U.S. economy has seen much improvement. In December 2018, a healthy number of jobs (312k) were available in the U.S., and the GDP saw a 3.4% increase this last quarter. As such, saving money has taken the backseat, bringing quality forward as the utmost concern.

While businesses will still hope to save money by hiring offshore software developers, they’ll also expect a quality product from their investment. This shift in priorities, nevertheless, is pushing offshore software development teams to work harder to offer higher quality services.

A better customer-supplier relationship.

Businesses’ changing expectations will likely result in a secondary shift over the coming year: better customer-supplier relationships. With both eyes on producing a quality product, businesses and offshore agencies may move toward a more partnership-based relationship.

Male Offshore Software Developer Working on Desktop Computer

In fact, customer-supplier relationships in outsourcing have already improved. According to Deloitte’s 2016 Global Survey, 78% of businesses worldwide had a positive relationship with their outsourcing company. And of those companies, 72% were outsourcing IT talent.

With an increase in positive attitudes towards offshore teams, customer and supplier relationships will continue to grow and improve. In this way, the relationships between businesses and offshore software development teams should become more personal and produce better results.

The answer to talent shortages.

In 2018, LinkedIn found that software development had the greatest shortage of talent in the U.S. As of last April, the field had over 850,000 jobs openings, indicating a significant need for human capital in the industry.

In this way, while many businesses have in-house IT teams, not enough talent may be available for them to hire an entirely in-house team that meets their needs. As a result, many businesses may need to go elsewhere to find talent to fill in the gaps, which could mean hiring an offshore team.

Businesses looking to fill in these gaps will likely need quality services to match that of their in-house teams. In addition, to make up for the lack of human capital, there’s also a strong likelihood that they will need teams that can offer both a broad range of skills and a long-term partnership.

In addition to providing higher quality services, offshore teams that provide a wide range of skill will likely be the next best bet for organizations without the resources to hire more talent in-house.

The go-to option for going mobile.

From 2017 to 2018, mobile app downloads worldwide increased from 178.1 to 205.4 billion, a number only expected to rise. Moreover, almost half (48%) of global Internet traffic was mobile last year, implying that the use of mobile devices in only expected to increase in the years to come.

Female Software Developer Giving Presentation to Coworkers

That being said, more and more businesses will be pushed towards seeking software solutions that accommodate mobile devices. Nevertheless, mobile app development can be costly, especially if one seeks the help of a U.S. developer.

To make the shift toward mobile as quickly as possible, many organizations may opt to hire an offshore software development company. Not only will organizations save money, but as noted, they may build a partnership that could last into the years to come.

Continued outsourcing of Progressive Web Apps.

In addition to a continued movement toward mobile, 2019 has already being touted as the year for progressive web apps (PWAs). PWAs can be defined as apps that offer the blended experience of a website and a mobile app, or a great compromise for those not ready to go mobile.

With PWA support with Google Chrome 70 on Windows, there has been a strong shift towards this app type. Not only are many Fortune 500 companies making the change to PWAs, but many healthcare, banking, and ecommerce organizations are following in suit.

From businesses looking to stay on trend, or simply find a mobile-friendly solution that costs less than a mobile app, offshore teams will likely be the most cost effective route to building PWAs.

IS OFFSHORE DEVELOPMENT THE ONLY OPTION?

While offshore software development teams will likely play a more pivotal role in 2019, you may be wondering if hiring an outsourced team is really a good idea.

Despite all of the aforementioned benefits of outsourcing software development, there are several potential downsides. From communication barriers to concerns about quality, hiring an entirely outsourced team may not be worth it.