How to Hire Offshore .NET Developers: Best Practice Guide for 2024

Key takeaways

• Find out a hundred million reasons to try offshore .NET development for your project.
• The portrait of a .NET developer: hard and soft skills that allow delivering an expected outcome.
• Offline and online ways where the best talents are located. Be the first to know. 
• You are error-prone. Learn more about the key mistakes people make and the ways to avoid them when looking for a partner. 
• The cost of hiring .NET developers and proven offshore destinations may surprise you.
• Bonus: Aimprosoft’s experience in .NET development with case studies.

The number of companies looking for C# developers is still extremely high, but the supply is also powerfully low. Most newcomers leaning toward code go for the famed and hyping languages. Meanwhile, the demand for .NET stack does not subside, as evidenced by a large number of vacancies for .NET developers. 38,298 job postings on Indeed and 359,388 C# vacancies on LinkedIn as of August 2022 in the US area only. This suggests that, behind the primacy of scripting languages and Python, .NET is in great need.

How to close these tech openings with local talents without the arrival of new specialists?

The companies resort to offshore dot net developers available beyond the home region. What are the businesses hunting for them as endangered species, where are they lurking, and what are their capabilities and cost? Let’s go through it below before your competitors don’t wake up.

What is .NET development in 2024?

As stated by our Senior .NET developer Dmytro, C# is a good fit for 95% of cases when there is a need for a good general-purpose language.

The reluctance of newcomers to take on old languages and imitate the trends of the time led to a talent shortage among dotnet developers. But is it reasonable to write off the language, given that the share of Windows is 75%, followed by macOS (15%) and Linux (5%)? C# runs everywhere, and its future commitment is definitely cross-platform.

It is a holistic, well-documented industrial platform with its own development environment (Microsoft Visual Studio / Visual Studio Code). Conventionally, .Net is like building panel houses: standard designs and prefabricated reinforced concrete structures. And other languages are like building with bricks. You can build anything, but strength and reliability depend only on the skill of the builder.

.NET is a free, cross-platform, open-source developer platform made up of tools, programming languages, and libraries. It is appropriate for creating a number of different types of applications. There are various implementations of .NET that allow .NET code to execute in different places (Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, etc.). Pretty attractive for business, right?

There are disputes that .NET is losing popularity, mainly it is related to the manual creation of the things that are tooled now. Gates hooked the whole world on Windows; thus, saying that .NET technology becomes obsolete would be ridiculous. Today Microsoft is focusing on making .NET more agile and powerful, enriched with the tools relevant to the time. 

Despite it being tied up in the Microsoft ecosystem, there are already quite successful application templates that combine .Net with other external successful solutions like Angular, React, and Vue.js. The current version is the fastest and the most secure .NET yet.

According to the Stack Overflow 2022 survey, ASP.NET Core takes a solid sixth place among the most popular web frameworks.

.NET meanwhile topped the rating of the most used frameworks beyond web development. 

The most seasoned, dedicated developers write in this language. The majority of developers are over 15 years of programming experience. Therefore, you will get the most experienced and powerful in this world. Does this say something about the sustainability of the framework in the future? Undoubtedly.

Whose opinion, if not professional developers, can be trusted?

12 reasons to choose .NET technologies for your project

.NET is a fairly competitive solution for modern web development, especially the backend, with a toolkit that will allow any developer to quickly and reliably write, test, and deploy applications. The main goal pursued by its creators is the ability to create applications of various types that can be run on different devices.

The basis of .NET is the Common Language Runtime (CLR), which allows software engineers to abstract from a specific programming language and execute code uniformly on all platforms. 

Also, similarly to Java, it can run cross-platform applications on Windows and Unix-based systems. That means a code in F#, C#, or Visual Basic will run each compatible operating system. Your business processes can stay within the .NET ecosystem while reaching various platforms. 

Runtime, in the particular automatic assembly, has a proven track of releases with almost no incompatible changes. You have the opportunity not to think about memory allocation in most tasks but instead focus on, for example, the overall design of the solution. 

The asynchronous code execution model is well-implemented. Software developers love to write performant non-blocking code, which positively affects server throughput. 

.Net developers can design an application that synchronizes with several platforms thanks to the abundance of capabilities offered in this framework.

The multi-tiered software architecture of .NET Framework allows physically separate functions for app processing, data management, and solution presentation, building flexible applications, and improving a single layer without reworking the entire application.

Solution deployment to Azure or IIS can be done directly from Visual Studio IDE and thus not waste time on deployment in the case of prototypes, for example. There is also a wide range of editor extensions available in Visual Studio Marketplace.

A fully open-source code of .NET Framework is intensively supported by a broad engineering community, thus giving new and new impetuses to technology evolution.

Flexible deployment of .NET Core lets you install it as a part of the application you are developing or separately. All necessary dependencies that you need are possible due to their modular design. 

ASP.NET MVC, a framework for .NET web development, provides a large amount of ready-made functionality out of the box, which other platforms get from OSS. At the same time, it is modular enough that you can replace almost any part of the framework with its implementation. A ready-made library for a particular task is available almost in 100% of cases.  

Besides, proper documentation is a big thing here, so businesses can feel much more secure with their foundations.

It just so happened that startups opt for languages with a low entry threshold, like Node.js, Python, Go, etc. However, mature startups prefer Java, C/C++, and .NET offshore development to the hyped technology for their core platform systems. 

It is also sometimes necessary to add a lightweight proof-of-concept application (PoC) when no front-end framework has not yet been selected. For these purposes, the UI-Framework Blazor exists in the arsenal of the .NET platform, which uses C# instead of JavaScript as the client-side programming language. This saves team maintenance costs that do not require front-end engagement while covering all tasks within the same .NET stack. Later, the resulting PoC projects can be used as a basis for further development due to the intended modulation of the project and the possibility of its expansion.

.NET Core is evolving towards gaming, mobile, IoT, and AI in response to the market demand for the mentioned technologies. 

The platform successfully finds a middle ground between code security and speed. The main factor influencing performance is, after all, not the programming language but the developer’s mind writing the code.

Top industries to benefit from .NET development

Why to go far: the most popular developer question-answer website, Stack Overflow, is written using .NET technologies. Whole or in part, it can find the best application almost in any industry.

1. Retail and e-commerce can rely on technology while browsing products,  managing sales, making purchases, and tracking orders. A fully integrated suite of solutions such as Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Microsoft Teams, and Power Platform is supplied by Microsoft as Microsoft Cloud. Nevertheless, any ready-made solution needs customization. If you are from retail and e-commerce, offshore dot net development can solve your specific challenges.
2. The healthcare sector features loads of old-fashioned systems and on-premises installations using proven technologies. To replace closeness, a reluctant earlier, .NET is available for all devices without losing interoperability. Its compatibility package with healthcare regulations attracts CIOs and IT Chiefs to opt for the technology for custom application development of modern solutions.
3. The banking and finance industry going in the transformational phase can leverage.NET for web and app development, though. A multi-language capability of the platform, OS-level virtualization, Azure-based cloud computing capabilities, and reduced coding efforts is a reason for further adoption of technology across backoffice and client success services in the industry.
4. The IoT relied on the platform for over four decades for tasks of collecting raw sensor data. Microsoft cared about bringing context awareness to IoT applications by supplying Machine Learning Framework (ML.NET) so that owners of IoT apps could get information to improve connected devices.
5. Education is no exception in speaking about the implementation of the .NET stack of a new generation. Staying flexible is one of the modern challenges for mastodon educational projects. Virtual classes with gamification, mobile apps, tracking tools for student performance, and cloud-based storage are available now with .NET as well.
6. .NET supports many game engines, thus being demanded in the game dev field. Microsoft Game Dev, a comprehensive suite of tools and services, is available for game engine and framework developers. 

We’ve covered the future and reasons for technology choice. Now let’s go through the portrait of a person you can hire as an offshore .NET developer.

What is a .NET developer?

A .NET developer is a software engineer who builds software using Microsoft’s .NET. The primary tool in their work is a reliable and multifunctional C# programming language, which has been a leader in various TOPs for many years.

If you enter “.net developer” in LinkedIn or Indeed, then you will see in the search results specialists with different job titles. However, the one thing in common is ‘developer.’ 

Regarding your project, you will need a person with different skills in .NET implementations.

A specialist you may need:

• .NET developer can deliver .NET Framework-based desktop applications for Windows;
• .NET Core developer creates cross-platform applications with .NET Core;
• Offshore ASP.NET developers – those who can build web interfaces (front end) by using ASP.NET libraries designed for .NET Framework;
• ASP.NET Core developer is capable to create web applications based on the latest version of library for building websites;
• Xamarin developer is the one behind the development of mobile consumer-facing user interfaces.

Typically a .NET software developer is responsible for building UI and troubleshooting software prototypes. They ensure technical support to users and create programs for .NET applications and procedures to run applications.

You can hire an overqualified candidate and overpay for their technical skills, which are completely unnecessary for your project. 

When hiring offshore .Net developers, it makes sense to start from the technical needs of your project. Your tech lead, CTO or CIO, or any person in the state responsible for the technology strategy of your product can help with this.

Suppose you don’t have such a person, no problem. We can help you. Our .Net tech lead is engaged in the stack definition process within the .Net framework in projects for our clients. Be sure you will not be left alone with your problem.

Offshore .NET developers must-have skills

A skill stack of .NET developers may vary depending on the tasks they are responsible for. They are those who work closely with clients and other software engineers within a team to complete technical projects. Thus, both soft and hard skills are important. 

Hard skills

1. The first and foremost skill is coding. Coping with frameworks is of utter importance. However, making .NET prototypes is followed by code and performance analysis. A developer has to be able to make changes at every development stage on demand.
2. Proficiency in the following programming languages is a must:

• C#
• F#
• VB.NET

3. Visual Studio —Microsoft’s IDE improves team communication, continuous integration and delivery, and integrations, including many Microsoft-backed and external extensions.
4. Database technologies competency is also in place for a good .NET developer:

• Microsoft SQL Server
• NoSQL
• PostgreSQL
• Oracle
• Cosmos DB
• MySQL

5. Containerization and cloud infrastructure knowledge demanded from developers is:

• Microsoft Azure
• AWS
• Docker 
• Kubernetes
• Google Cloud 

6. Knowledge of ASP.NET MVC (framework specifically for building web applications on top of ASP.NET working via APIs) allows developers to use client-side technologies to build software applications efficiently with a higher development pace. ASP.NET MVC is a framework specifically for building web applications. It sits on top of ASP.NET and uses APIs provided by ASP.NET.
7. Unit testing is rather desirable and includes unit tests, TDD, and NUtest from an experienced senior .NET developer.
8. Preferences coming from employers about the infrastructure are: 

• Git
• Azure DevOps Server
• CI/CD
• Linux
• Jenkins

9. Xamarin, a platform with tools and libraries of .NET, enables developers to build a mobile presence of .NET software systems.
10. Full-stack .NET developers, as usual, know client-side technologies apart from the ASP.NET framework that extends their output: 

• React / Angular / Vue.js
• JavaScript / TypeScript
• HTML
• CSS (SASS, LESS)

Soft skills

1. Smart budgeting of resources needed for the project when producing new software characterizes a .NET developer as a reliable team member intended for cost-effective development.
2. Team management and Agile, Scrum, and Kanban skills are of high priority independently whether a developer pretends the Team Lead role. 
3. A team player who enjoys collaborating with developers and stakeholders may be an invaluable find to make the dev process fruitful.
4. Confidence in time management features a senior developer from junior one when it comes to retrieving the finished product according to the defined deadline.
5. Problem-solving is about a lack of fear in front of challenges that software development is full of. 
6. Proven English proficiency and clear communication ability definitely make reaching the goal more enjoyable.
7. Great energy and enthusiasm with an upbeat, collaborative working style inherent to the senior-level developer will come in handy to any project team.

Where to find qualified offshore .NET developers to set up your project team?

There are far more job openings than qualified candidates with over 5 years of experience. A lack of required engineers for hire in the US and European countries compelled them to outsource. Despite that, nearly every industry felt the impact of COVID-19, and .NET developer jobs had seen an increase of 12%. 

Europe, in general, is home to 6.1 million developers. Nevertheless, some regions still have a short supply of tech specialists. 

While the number of currently employed .NET developers in the US is over 165 000, with a growing demand forecasted by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Offshoring .NET development destination

Offshoring software destination plays a role when it goes to delegating your tasks outside the in-house team. You most likely count on getting a cultural fit, speaking the common language (as usual, English), clear communication and comprehension, and compatibility in mindsets. All of that reinforces sharing the same business values.

Historically Asia, Latin America, and Eastern European countries are the most popular offshoring destinations for .NET software development. Let’s see the peculiarities of each.

Asia 

Offshoring got its start in Asia, which later became one of the most popular outsourcing locations. Although the prices are less than those of developers from other countries, quality might suffer.

Latin America

Latin America is mainly preferred by US companies for its proximity being an equally competitive offshoring location. Affordable prices and a more comfortable time zone are the main advantages, while a talent pool is less rich for talents, and sometimes the region demonstrates not have enough language level.

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe most often echoes Ukraine, the region famous for its strong tech talent pool of diverse software specialists supplying freelance offshore .NET developers and dedicated teams to the US and European companies for over 25 years. Poland, Romania, and the Czech Republic are among other popular destinations to look for offshore dot net programmers. 

Online B2B directories with software vendors experienced in .NET development

If you are looking to hire an offshore .NET developer or dedicated development team, consider searching for vendors on B2B directories. Information about the company’s activities is shown on such websites as Clutch, GoodFirms, TopDevelopers, DesignRush, G2, TheManifest, and TechReviewer. You can check listings with rates, reviews, portfolios, provided services, and contacts, which will help you decide on the vendor.

Why hire an offshore development team in Ukraine? 

According to LinkedIn, there are over 11,000 .NET software developers located in Ukraine skilled enough for offshore .NET application development.

According to the rating of programming languages, 14.3% of developers in Ukraine write in C#, which is used to work with .NET. It is in third place in terms of popularity of use, and in 2021 its share even increased.

Ukrainian .NET developers are experienced enough to follow the best software development practices. The local mentality has already been proven to be pro-American and European, sharing the same business values, with a proficient level of English, committing the common workflow standards, and following the values of transparency and high reliability.

As stated SkillValue, Ukrainian software developers took 5th place globally with a score of 93.17% and ranked the 6th most skilled in TopCoder Rating.

One might have some concerns about partnering with Ukrainian companies now. Let’s go through some most currently burning. 

What you get by hiring offshore .NET software developers in Ukraine

• Access to +11 000 .NET developers;
• Cost-quality balance of deliverables;
• Getting benefits from STEM degrees of IT specialists;
• Reaching the goals with people sharing your values;
• Customer-oriented approach in providing IT services;
• Similarities in mindsets to North Americans and Europeans;
• Innovativeness and extreme resilience;
• English as a second native language. 

Why Aimprosoft is a resilient IT vendor

We went through the pandemic. And survived, saving all employees and clients. Moreover, we contributed to the total volume of Ukrainian IT exports that exceeded $5 billion with an increase of 20.44%.

Ukrainian businesses have shown their resilience in the face of severe challenges, turning even war into their strength. The Ukrainian IT sector continues operating at full capacity despite the force majeure caused by the war, remaining incredibly united and adjusting to the new situation. 

For instance, since March, Aimprosoft’s 100% staff has returned to work from the safe areas. We are spread out domestically (at the office in Ivano-Frankivsk) and internationally. 

We have retained all of our customers due to our high level of accountability, preventative actions, and the faith they had placed in us. Additionally, we resumed active hiring in April 2022 to accommodate the need for new contracts.

Key mistakes to avoid when looking for offshore .NET development

Whether looking for ways to save money or access a wider talent pool, you are error-prone. It is not excluded that while offshoring recruitment, one may go the wrong way or miss a thing. Before you launch your hiring efforts, acquiring the common mistakes people make looking for offshore .NET software developers may be useful to avoid them.

Sharp transition to the new model

When the main driver is cost savings, the common mistake that hunts for newbies is doing the transition straight into the deep end. A quick change may cause potentially costly difficulties over time. In contrast, a gradual transition is safer because you can try, for example, one or two developers and eventually grow the team, delegating them more and more tasks.

Wrong outsourcing destination

Suppose you follow the trends or follow your partner’s advice and choose a destination alluring with prices and proximity. You are at risk of failing with domain expertise, poor communication, or cultural fit. In this case, the compromise can be found with a bigger time difference (7-8 hours) and deliverables of expected quality standards.

Hiring freelancers for a long-term project

Definitely, freelancing has pros for coping with small tasks for short-term projects. You can hire .NET developers quickly on online platforms. However, as a rule, distributed, motley staff that is not one team fails in the long run. In this case, you’d better consider hiring a dedicated team in Ukraine when everyone involved is throwing the ball at each other like a well-rehearsed team.

Inefficient attention to offshore operations

Assigning the scope of work overseas doesn’t mean standing aside the development process. Even outsourcing, the most comfortable model of delegating software development tasks to the expert partner, does not relieve you of full responsibility. Making all processes highly visible with proper reporting and iterative deliverables presentation is highly recommended.

Cost of hiring offshore .NET programmers

Since cost is the main driver of offshore software development, let’s see the difference in prices and why many companies choose offshore after all. We oriented on the compensation data taken from Talent, Glassdoor, Reed, and SalaryExpert.

Education, certifications, additional skills, and the number of years in the profession influence the developer cost. Going to outsource locally means getting professionals in the closest proximity to your location, but some obstacles may arise. 

With quite comfortable rates onshore, you are experiencing a lack of relevant expertise and seniority level. Add here the long hiring process, additional compensation, benefits, and remuneration costs, and the costs the employer has to pay will rise enormously.

Long-term complex projects require full-time specialists with a diverse stack to complete the entire project life cycle. Evolving projects will demand intensive annual investments that may seem like a burden. 

For example, by offshoring your tasks to the Ukrainian .Net development company, you can get qualified professionals for a competitive cost with quality that is not inferior to your local standards.

Middle-level developers are available at $40-50 per hour, and senior-level ones at $50-60. In terms of value, they are not inferior to talents from your local tech pool and are available for an affordable price, though.

Apart from Ukraine, which remains unbreakable even during the current crisis, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, India, the Philippines, and Latin America are also attractive outsourcing destinations.

Your step-by-step guide to hiring offshore .NET developers 

You might find out yourself at the moment you’ve overviewed every key aspect of offshore .NET development and just need to put it in order and prioritize your actions. By following the guidance below, you will definitely reach positive outcomes with your software product.

Step 1. Define your .NET tasks

Charged with that can be your experienced tech lead, the team lead of your in-house team if you have one, or a team member responsible for business delivery improvement. As a rule, those who prepare documented project requirements before starting to search for a partner get a more fitted software vendor in the fastest time span. As we mentioned before, proper project budgeting depends heavily on the right tech strategy that a .NET specialist makes. 

Step 2. Decide on the offshoring destination

Time zone, proximity, culture fit, business values compatibility, domain expertise, specific skill sets, cost-quality compromise, and communication easiness are the main preferences clients ground on when choosing the offshoring destination. Follow these principles, add yours, and you’ll shortlist the best company that will help you to improve your business.

Step 3. Search for a partner

Use GitHub, freelance marketplaces, and B2B directories to find missing experts from an offshore software development vendor. You can form a reliable impression about the outsourcing provider by having a broad picture with client feedback, project tracks, the business blog on the website, and media publications. 

Step 4. Interview shortlisted vendors

Now you might be provided with a list of the most desirable vendors. Interview each of them regarding remote management, development practices, team integration, and staff scaling according to the project’s growth. Discuss the parties’ responsibilities for the delivered result (with an outsourcing model, 100% of responsibility is on the vendor’s shoulders). You can get more with a synergetic partner and leave no chance to your competitors. 

Step 5. Use the full capability of your .NET developers 

The thorough selection has been passed. The integration of two teams, if any, has happened. You sign a contract and can finally start your offshore ASP.NET development or any .NET development with staff augmentation or a dedicated development team.

Aimprosoft team experience in delivering .NET solutions

With over 17 years in the market, Aimprosoft successfully delivered +600 projects for customers all over the world. Below, you can get acquainted with some of our .NET projects delivered within the offshore model. 

Conclusion

In the long run, benefits are possible with a .NET outsourcing company only. You can remain as true to yourself as you can by deciding to delegate tasks to experts who can cope with them better by delivering top-notch results. Contact us if you are ready to go ahead. Get a rough estimate and consultation with our tech specialists.

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