VENICE, Calif., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Offshore software development -- the practice of outsourcing software programming overseas by companies to save on labor costs -- has been all the rage, and to many companies, rage is indeed all that they are left experiencing as a result of jumping on this bandwagon. Venice Consulting Group (VCG) today released a free report examining the pitfalls and risks associated with offshore software development, and introduces the growing attraction of alternatives such as "nearshore" development.

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Many who have worked with offshore developers in areas such as India or China have had to experience sleepless nights on conference calls to account for the geographic challenges, communication difficulties due to the cultural and language barriers, and also a general decline in quality, reliability, and overall control. Jim Diorio, partner, co-founder of VCG and proponent of alternative options to offshore development, believes that offshore development may be on the decline. One of the options that are outlined in VCG's report is "nearshore" software development -- the outsourcing of programming to neighbor or nearby countries, such as Mexico. The nearshore hybrid development model provides some key benefits, one of them being the ability to work with developers in the same time zone.

The free report titled "The Six Secrets of Nearshore Development" outlines the benefits of nearshore development including: working with programmers in the same time zone, language and cultural practices, true cost management, efficiency, quality and manageability. With so much attention and growing backlash against the offshore outsourcing movement, integrating a strategy with the nearshore hybrid model can provide immediate relief to weary stateside development teams.

Since the end of the dotcom crash, companies in the software and technology industries have had to adjust their business models in order to stay competitive. One of the popular tactics that came out as a result of this shift was the onset of offshore software development in countries such as India and China. Companies were able to hire dozens of relatively skilled programmers at lower costs than hiring a single programmer back home in the States. However, the luster of offshore development has slowly begun to lose its appeal.

"The nearshore hybrid software development model has many concrete benefits that we've seen time and again with our client engagements," said Diorio, author of the report. "It's been growing in popularity precisely because this model strikes the perfect balance between cost containment and quality of product, not to mention quality of worklife for employees. We predict that the nearshore hybrid model will eventually surpass the offshore incumbents."

Those interested in learning more about the hazards of offshore outsourcing as well as the benefits of nearshore hybrid development can download the free report "The Six Secrets of Nearshore Development" at www.veniceconsulting.com/news.asp.

About Venice Consulting Group

Venice Consulting Group is a leading software consulting and development company, specializing in time-sensitive and mission-critical system development. With extensive experience in technologies such as .NET, Java and open-source environments, our consortium of seasoned consultants (coupled with our near-shore outsourcing model) deliver quality solutions on time and within budget. The benefit of our consortium approach is our agility and flexibility. Because of our depth of resources, we can field complete project teams or skilled individuals to augment your team quickly. Venice Consulting has helped top firms with applications that span Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Sales Force Automation (SFA), and Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) as well as custom solutions to address unique client requirements. Our team has deep industry experience that cross many vertical markets from real estate to media & entertainment to new start-up ventures. Please visit us at www.VeniceConsulting.com to learn more.