Green Flags To Look For When You Hire a Nearshore Software Company
For those of you who have already been scrolling through Google or Clutch looking for a nearshore development partner, you’ve probably noticed a trend: every company out there claims to have “top talent” and offers some mix of staff augmentation or custom development services. How can you know which one is actually worth your time (and money)?
Well… there are certain green flags that will make your vendor selection process easier. Let’s look at what these are:
Green Flag #1: People-First Philosophy ✔️
When you hire a nearshore vendor, you’re basically hiring people that will join your team. So who you hire — both the vendor and the engineers they will assign to your team — will have a massive impact on your project. If your vendor attracts (and retains) the best talent, then you will, by default, get the best talent for your company as well.
When you first begin discussions with a nearshore company, you should always start by asking:
- How do you ensure your employees have an amazing work experience?
- If we want to reward an engineer with a performance bonus, how does that process work?
At Ewents, we see our clients and team members as real people, not just “resources.” Here’s how we like to work with our staff:
- Open Communication: We have open communication channels on Slack and Discord, and we check in every 1-2 weeks to know how the engineers are feeling about their work and if there’s anything we should discuss with our clients to improve their work experience.
- Performance Bonuses: We do not take any percentage or cut on performance bonuses. So if one of our clients wants to pay the engineer, let’s say, a $5,000 check for their work, we bill and directly deposit this amount to the person without taking a cut.
- We Care: We regularly send thank you notes, deliver breakfast like coffee and bagels, and send out Christmas presents to every single one of our staff. We usually do it at random times, so it is an unexpected surprise. It’s those little things that matter that make people want to stay working with us because of a single reason: we care.
Green Flag #2: Strategic In-Person Visits ✔️
Great partnerships aren’t built entirely over Zoom. If you’re looking for a nearshore development partner who truly integrates with your team, they should be willing to meet you in person. A lot of service-based companies that offer remote services, simply hire people that work behind the screen. But there is a lot more to it than just writing code.
Think of it this way: if you’re a Director or VP of Product Engineering and you are in charge of defining a dev roadmap and budget for the quarter, wouldn’t it be amazing if you could bring in your nearshore vendor to help you understand where you can optimize costs and scale up your team effectively? For instance, we can help you define the critical roles you should hire onshore, like project managers or product owners, and which roles you could outsource for cost efficiency, like UX/UI designers or QA manual testers.
In our company, we have the policy to visit our clients in person every 3-6 months. The goal is to make our clients really feel the concept of near-shore; we strive to be near at all times. It can be either going out for lunch to meet the team or even going to our clients’ offices in person to discuss their budget and dev roadmap for the quarter and help define a staffing strategy. In-person meetings make a huge difference in the relationship.
Green Flag #3: Verifiable Reviews and Certifications ✔️
How can you know if a software vendor is good or not? In our experience, there are a few key ways to separate high-quality nearshore development partner from the rest of the pack.
First, always check client references—ideally from companies in your industry. The moment you book a discovery call with a potential vendor, ask for at least two verifiable references. A reliable company should have no problem providing the client’s name, role, email, and phone number, along with a quick summary of the project, like: “We helped Company X scale their team by providing staff augmentation for two QA manual engineers and two full-stack developers.” If they hesitate or try to avoid this request, consider it a red flag.
Another way to gauge a vendor’s credibility is by checking their verified reviews on platforms like Clutch, G2, or Trustpilot. These independent reviews give you an unfiltered look at what past clients think about their services. No reviews? That either means they’re new (which isn’t necessarily bad) or that they don’t have satisfied clients willing to vouch for them—which could be a red flag and a reason for you to run away.
Beyond references and reviews, you should also ask about certifications since these are a great way to measure a company’s level of maturity and service quality. When you work with certified partners, you immediately elevate your brand by leveraging their status and quality in your favor.
For software quality: ask for certifications like CMMI Level 5 or ISO 9001, which indicate that the company follows structured, high-quality development processes.
For information security: ask for certifications like SOC 2 or ISO 27001 to verify that they take information security seriously. Depending on your industry, your third-party vendors (like software vendors) may be required to have certifications.
Bonus pro tip: check if the vendor has any additional credibility markers like Top Company on Clutch, making the Inc. 5000 list, earning industry endorsements, or being recognized as a Great Place to Work. While these aren’t deal-breakers, they certainly add an extra layer of confidence in your choice.
It’s worth noting that some of these certifications take time and money to achieve, so smaller companies—especially those with 15 to 150 employees—might still be in the process of getting certified. That doesn’t necessarily mean they lack solid processes. If you’re considering working with a vendor that isn’t fully certified yet, you can still get a sense of their security and quality maturity by asking the right questions:
- Do you have a foundational cybersecurity or information security framework in place? Can you walk me through it?
- Have you ever experienced a security incident or data breach affecting client data? If something like that were to happen, how would you handle it?
- How do you ensure quality and security when writing code? Do you have a structured process in place?
Green Flag #4: Insurance ✔️
Most companies don’t think to ask about insurance when hiring a nearshore development partner. But when sh*t hits the fan, it’s one of those details that can make all the difference. Hopefully, you’ll never have to deal with a worst-case scenario. But if something does happen, you’ll want an insurance company covering the bill instead of your business.
For example, E&O Cyber Insurance is specifically designed to cover financial losses resulting from mistakes, negligence, or security breaches caused by a service provider. Let’s say you’re in healthcare or finance—industries where a data breach can be catastrophic. Now, imagine your nearshore development partner accidentally exposes a private API key in a public repo, and suddenly, sensitive data is compromised. Without insurance, you’re left having an extremely uncomfortable (and expensive) conversation with your vendor. But if they’re covered? Their policy can help absorb the financial impact, sparing you from legal disputes and massive out-of-pocket costs.
Most reputable software vendors carry policies with coverage for General Commercial Liability and EO Cyber Insurance ranging between $1-$2 million, which is typically enough to handle common risks. These policies must be renewed annually, so when vetting a vendor, we suggest checking that their insurance is up to date.
Green Flag #5: Company Structure ✔️
If a company claims that they are nearshore, you should look to partner with a U.S.-based entity that already has affiliates in Latin America. Your ideal nearshore development partner should have the right legal structure so you don’t have to stress about international payments or complicated legal agreements in places like Brazil or Argentina. Things like contracts, payments, and other operational aspects should be handled in the U.S., so you’re simply outsourcing the work and forget about the rest.
Green Flag #6: Thorough Interview Processes ✔️
If your vendor doesn’t vet candidates before sharing resumes with you — run away.
In a previous blog, we provided a step-by-step guide on hiring nearshore engineers in Latin America. One of the most crucial factors when evaluating vendors is understanding their candidate vetting process, particularly when hiring external talent.
Every company approaches this differently, but here’s how we do it:
- First-Round Interview: A 30-minute conversation to assess English proficiency and soft skills.
- Second-Round (Technical) Interview: Candidates either complete a coding challenge or participate in a 30-minute technical interview with one of our lead engineers. During this session, our experts evaluate technical skills by asking questions like:
- Can you walk me through your GitHub repository?
- What’s the most technically complex project you’ve worked on, and why?
Our thorough screening process ensures that only pre-vetted candidates—representing the top 5% of talent—reach our clients. This not only saves hiring teams significant interview time but also guarantees a steady pipeline of high-quality candidates. The whole process typically takes 1–2 weeks, from the initial interview to presenting two or three vetted candidates for review.
Green Flag #7: Background Checks ✔️
When onboarding a nearshore development partner, it’s a good idea to ask whether they conduct background checks on candidates. One big advantage of working with a vendor in LATAM—or any international location—is their ability to run background checks across multiple countries, like Colombia, Argentina, Peru, and Brazil.
A background check is the final quality check to ensure a candidate is good to go and unlikely to cause any issues. It also helps verify that their education and work experience match what they listed on their resume. We strongly recommend asking for background checks for all hires (something our company actually does at no additional cost).
Green Flag #8: Transparent Pricing ✔️
Speaking about costs, the last and possibly one of the most important green flags is transparent pricing models with clear hourly rates. Some vendors apply hefty markups and charge exorbitant prices for staff augmentation, so it’s always a good idea to compare their rates against industry standards.
From our experience, nearshore rates in Latin America typically range from $35 to $120 USD per hour, depending on the role. For example, a junior UX/UI designer would be on the lower end, while a fully bilingual AI tech lead with 15+ years of experience would be on the higher end.
To avoid surprises, we recommend asking for a rate card during your initial discovery call and comparing prices from at least one or two other vendors.
Bonus tip: Don’t be shy, and make sure to ask for volume discounts. Many nearshore vendors (including Ewents) offer an additional 5-10% discount when you hire a dedicated team of 3–10 software engineers.
Find a Nearshore Development Partner That Shows All The Green Flags
You want a partner who cares about your long-term success, not just someone who fills seats and sends invoices. The best nearshore teams act as an extension of your company. We suggest you find a vendor that invests in the relationship, shows up when it matters (yes, even in person), and makes your life easier.
At Ewents, we have decades of combined experience offering software dev services in a nearshore model. We understand your needs, what you’re looking for, and, most importantly, how important it is for you to choose the right software team to work with. Hence, we’re sharing all the insider tips we know to provide you with lots of value.
Thank you for the long read. We’d like to close by asking:
Are you currently looking for a software development partner?
If you are, contact Ewents today to see how our team can help you with staffing and software development projects.
