The Best Software Development Companies in Chile

Factors to Consider Before Choosing a Software Development Company

1. Do They Specialize in a Specific Area?

All but the largest software development companies specialize in a few, typically related, areas – it can be anything from back-end development with a focus on several programming languages, or mobile applications, or front-end development with UX and UI design, etc.

That is why you should clearly define the scope of your project and understand what services you require. The benefits of this approach are twofold:

1. You get the best possible services.
2. You cut costs without sacrificing quality.

As for no. 1, the reasons are clear – a software company whose area of expertise is the one your project requires will likely do a better job than a company with a different focus. The reasons for no. 2 may not be as intuitive.

Specialized services tend to cost more. Thus, a company with many areas of expertise will bill its services at a higher rate. The thing is, to successfully complete your project, you may only need specialized services in one area while basic knowledge is required for the rest of your project.

Think of it like this – would you hire an interior designer who only serves the elite to redo your garage? Probably not.

The same principle applies to software development. You can outsource a part of your project to a specialized company while finishing the rest in-house or outsourcing to other developers. When you know exactly what you need, you can save money while getting the same quality in the end.

2. How Much Experience Do They Have? Do They Have a Portfolio?

But how do you know which areas a software development company from Chile specializes in? By looking at the projects they worked on. Experience is the best indicator of what a company does best. Ask them to show you their portfolio – most software development companies keep a portfolio on hand just for situations like this.

If they can’t show you one, you can still ask them directly. However, this means that you are placing a lot of trusts that they will answer truthfully. Even if they are being 100% honest, if they have no demonstrable experience in projects like yours, they could still overestimate their abilities, without any malicious intent.

So, a company with no demonstrable experience is always a gamble.

3. Does the Company Operate within an Agile Framework?

If you’ve had any dealings with software development companies, you’ve likely encountered the term Agile on many occasions. In truth, you’re more than likely sick of it. We get that, we’re in the same boat. But, there are good reasons why so many companies insist on applying Agile methodologies.

Practice has shown that the iterative approach and flexibility that Agile frameworks provide is the most productive way to create software. The issue is that companies often only nominally apply Agile while sticking to outdated project management models in practice. So, ask for transparency and a plan with actionable steps to understand what you are getting.

4. Will You Have Open Channels of Communication?

Good communication is key when you are outsourcing software development projects – the Agile approach necessitates good communication between the client and the company. Luckily, when you are hiring a software development company from Chile, you are outsourcing to a nearshore company.

This means that they are in a similar time zone to most of the US, so you should have no issue communicating within both your and their working hours. It may seem like insisting on open channels of communication is superfluous – and maybe it is – but many projects have been unnecessarily delayed only because of issues in communication.

5. How Much Will It Cost?

Finally, you need to do a cost-benefit analysis of whether outsourcing to Chile is good for your budget. At the end of the day, the main reason people hire Chilean software developers is to cut costs while getting high-quality services.

There’s not much advice we can give – you know how much you are willing to pay. We can only say that you should take into account the specialized and general knowledge we talked about in point no. 1 when doing your analysis.

4 Reasons Why Outsourcing Software Development to Chile Is Worth It

By now, you understand the different factors you need to consider when choosing a software development company from Chile. But is outsourcing to Chile a good strategy? We’d argue it is. Here are just some of the reasons why hiring Chilean developers is worth it.

1. A Large Talent Pool

Chile has a very large talent pool of local IT experts to choose from. A lot of it can be attributed to the great foundation that the Enlaces program created. Enlaces was started as a small project by a group of individuals with links to the Chilean Ministry of Education in 1992. The aim was to integrate new technologies into the education system of Chile.

By 1995, private companies started participating and Enlaces was expanded to the national level and slowly became integral to Chilean education. The Enlaces educational program has produced some exceptional results – by 2009, 99% of children went to schools where computers and the internet were regularly used for educational purposes.

This focus on new technologies has created a very solid base for developing Chilean IT talent. The University of Chile, the largest university in the country that educates many of its IT experts, ranks no. 7 in all of Latin America and the Caribbean.

With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that approximately 8,000 IT companies operate in Chile and the Chilean IT sector has the highest growth potential in the region. All of this is an overly verbose way of saying that Chile has a very large talent pool of tech experts you can choose from.

2. Similar Time Zones

We talked about the importance of communication and time zones play a part. If you are outsourcing software development to Chile, this won’t be an issue as continental Chile has one primary time zone – UTC -03:00. This is very similar to the US (for reference, EST is UTC -05:00). Thus, aligning your work hours and those of Chilean developers should not be an issue.

3. What About the Language Barrier?

Being in similar time zones is all well and good, but which language can you communicate in? English or even Spanish, most likely. Spanish is the native language of Chile, which many people from the US are proficient in. Even if you can’t speak it, most Chilean professionals that work with foreign companies have solid English skills, so the language barrier should not be an issue.

4. The Cost

As was mentioned numerous times, one of the main reasons to outsource development to Chile is the cost. Chile has a low cost of living and, consequently, Chilean software developers cost much less than their US or European counterparts. As an emerging IT market, Chilean developers are also often cheaper than developers from the more famous LATAM countries like Brazil or Argentina.

Still Not Sold On Outsourcing Development to Chile?

If you are still not confident about outsourcing development to Chile, take your time and make an informed choice. We have similar lists with the best software development companies from other LATAM countries that you can check out below. Take a look and see how Chile compares.