Nearshoring, Freelancing or Internalisation: Which strategy should you choose for your Tech needs in 2025?
In a world of ever-changing tech priorities, knowing how to manage your technical resources has become essential to staying competitive and innovative. CTOs and VPs Engineering in tech companies are faced with a crucial strategic choice: whether to internationalize, nearshore or freelance solutions to optimize their resources and ensure competitiveness. Each of these approaches has its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on business priorities. In this article, we help you understand the advantages and limitations of each option, to guide you towards the ideal choice for your priorities.
1. What is Nearshoring? Advantages and disadvantages for your Tech teams
Nearshoring involves outsourcing all or part of your tech projects to teams located in neighboring countries, offering a balance between optimized costs and cultural proximity. This approach is becoming increasingly popular with companies looking to cut costs while maintaining a high quality of service.
Advantages of Nearshoring :
Cost optimization: Development costs are often lower than those of in-house development, while guaranteeing high-level technical expertise. For example, Go&Dev provides qualified teams in Morocco, guaranteeing high standards while enabling budget savings for increased profitability.
- Cultural and linguistic proximity: unlike distant offshoring, nearshoring considerably reduces cultural and linguistic barriers, facilitating fluid communication and effective teamwork. The result is better mutual understanding of business issues and closer collaboration.
- Access to skilled labor: Nearshore destinations, such as Morocco or Eastern Europe, often have a large pool of qualified technical talent. Fintech start-ups and scale-ups such as Lemonway have been able to strengthen their capabilities by calling on Go&Dev’s nearshore teams, who share a wealth of expertise.
When should you opt for Nearshoring?
Nearshoring is particularly recommended for projects requiring close collaboration with a technical team, without sacrificing the benefits of cost optimization. It is also an attractive solution for long-term projects where continuity and team commitment are essential.
2. When should you choose freelancing for your tech needs?
Freelancing is a fast, flexible option for filling a one-off need or obtaining specific technical expertise. Thanks to platforms such as Malt and Upwork, companies have easy access to a pool of highly qualified freelancers.
Advantages of freelancing :
- Flexibility and speed of implementation: Freelancing is the perfect way to access specific skills quickly and flexibly, without the constraints of formal recruitment. For example, if your team urgently needs specialized DevOps skills, an experienced freelancer can be up and running in a matter of days.
- Access to cutting-edge expertise: Specialized freelancers are often at the forefront of new technologies and methodologies. So a company developing a complex new feature can find a Flutter expert, for example, based on its immediate needs.
When should you choose freelancing?
Freelancing is particularly recommended for short projects or one-off assignments requiring very specific skills. However, care should be taken when it comes to long-term strategic projects, as freelancers may be less involved in the company’s overall objectives.
3. Internalisation of Tech skills: For what types of projects?
Internalization means recruiting and training talent in-house, guaranteeing total control over projects and aligning teams with the corporate culture.
Advantages of internalization :
- Total control and team cohesion: Having an in-house team guarantees total control over projects and strong cohesion. Internal employees are more aligned with the company’s culture and better understand its long-term objectives.
- Developing in-house skills: Recruiting and training talent in-house helps to strengthen the company’s skills and technical expertise over the long term, thereby fostering continuous innovation. This approach is particularly relevant for technology companies such as Orange or Thales, who invest heavily in developing in-house skills.
When to opt for internalization?
Insourcing is a wise option for companies wishing to build up solid technical expertise that is perfectly aligned with their strategic objectives. It is particularly well suited to projects requiring a high level of control and team cohesion, but can be costly and time-consuming, especially in a context of shortage of technical talent.
How do you choose the ideal solution?
Your choice between nearshoring, freelancing and insourcing depends on your current business priorities:
Flexibility and speed: For maximum flexibility and rapid deployment, freelancing is often the best option.
Cost optimization and communication quality: nearshoring is an ideal solution for keeping costs down while preserving quality and cultural proximity.
Team cohesion and control: Internalization remains the preferred solution for reinforcing corporate culture and guaranteeing total control. In many cases, combining these approaches can achieve an optimal balance. For example, some companies choose to internalize core competencies, use nearshoring for support functions, and call on freelancers for specialized assignments.
How Go&Dev can help
At Go&Dev, we help companies structure their tech teams optimally. Thanks to our qualified nearshore teams and strategic support, we can help you make the most of each model according to your needs. If you’d like to find out more, or evaluate which solution is right for your business, please get in touch. Our experts will be delighted to guide you towards the ideal solution for your business priorities.
Are you hesitating between nearshoring and internationalization? Download our free guide to discover the best option for your projects, or contact our Go&Dev experts to discuss your options.