An offshore development center in India, set up to be yours
A ring-fenced engineering unit with your processes, your security controls and your IP, run by us day to day, with a build operate transfer path if you want to own it outright.
- React
- Angular
- Node.js
- Python
- Flutter
- PostgreSQL
- AWS
- Microsoft Azure
- Your engineering practices
- Security requirements
- Product areas to move
- 01 Charter and designscope, governance, legal terms
- 02 Hire the core teamyour leaders approve senior hires
- 03 Transition in stagesyour team approves each handover
- 04 Operate or transferoptional move to your own entity
- Ring-fenced ODC team
- IP in your tenancy
- Quarterly governance
What you get
7 deliverables, all yours to keep
- ODC charter with governance and security controls
- Core team hired to approved role profiles
- Isolated environments and access policies
- Data processing agreement and transfer terms
- Knowledge transfer plan and engineering practices
- Quarterly governance reviews
- Optional build operate transfer plan
Sound familiar?
Is an offshore development center the right structure?
An offshore development center makes sense once you need more than a team: a unit with its own technical leadership, security model and governance, working only for you and able to grow over several years. We run it day to day from India, with a build operate transfer path if you want to own it outright.
If you need three or four engineers, a center is overhead you do not need, and a dedicated development team gives you the same continuity. If you are still weighing offshore against a nearshore team in Eastern Europe or Portugal, our offshore vs nearshore comparison weighs the overlap and cost honestly.
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Senior hiring at home is the roadmap bottleneck
UK and German software companies cannot hire senior engineers locally fast enough to keep the product roadmap moving.
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Several offshore vendor teams, no single owner
A mid-sized enterprise wants one accountable center instead of many vendor teams.
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A dedicated team has grown past eight to ten engineers
It now needs its own leads, QA function and security controls.
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A permanent engineering presence in India is planned
The business wants to test the model before registering its own entity.
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Procurement rejects shared offshore delivery floors
Security or procurement teams require isolation that shared delivery cannot give.
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Development has to run across a long working day
A US company needs follow-the-sun support or development continuity.
The work
Inside a Offshore Development Center engagement.
What an ODC with us includes
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Engineers who work only on your products
A tech lead or engineering manager, front-end and back-end developers, and QA, adding DevOps, data and design as the center grows.
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Recruitment, retention and employment
Hiring, payroll and benefits under Indian law, with your engineering leadership approving role profiles and every senior hire.
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Isolation that mirrors your own controls
Equipment, network isolation and access policies that mirror your own, with onboarding into your practices, not ours.
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A governance rhythm
Monthly delivery reviews with your managers, and a quarterly review of delivery, attrition, cost and risk with whoever sponsors the center.
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A location chosen on trade-offs
Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad or Bengaluru, picked on skill mix, competition for that talent and how often you expect to visit.
How we build and run an offshore development center
- 01
Charter and design come first
One to two weeks agreeing what the ODC will own, the team structure, location, security model, legal terms and how it reports into your organization.
- 02
A core team ramped on your codebase
A tech lead and first engineers are hired and ramped against your codebase, usually with time spent alongside your headquarters team.
- 03
Responsibilities move across in stages
Transition starts with a well-bounded product area, and your team keeps approval of each handover.
- 04
We operate, you direct
The center grows in planned increments. We run hiring, retention, facilities and compliance, and you set technical direction and priorities.
- 05
Build operate transfer, if you want to own it
We set up and run the center, then move staff, knowledge and assets to your own Indian entity, so you get a permanent presence without carrying the setup risk.
Build operate transfer, and other ways ODCs go wrong
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Build operate transfer terms left vague
Timing, conditions, which staff and assets move, and what the transfer costs are agreed in the original contract.
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The center becomes a ticket factory
The ODC owns a bounded product area from the start, with its own lead in your planning sessions.
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Knowledge stays at headquarters
People from both sides spend real time together early, and the next area does not move until the last one runs without escalation.
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Attrition is noticed too late
Attrition and engagement are reported quarterly, and every critical role has a documented backup.
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Security agreed in principle, not in controls
The charter lists the actual controls: device management, network segregation, access review cadence and audit rights.
How it runs
From first call to production.
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Charter and design
One to two weeks agreeing what the ODC will own, the team structure, location, security model, legal terms and how it reports into your organization.
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Core team
A tech lead and first engineers are hired and ramped against your codebase, usually with time spent alongside your headquarters team.
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Transition work
Responsibilities move across in stages, starting with a well-bounded product area, with your team retaining approval of each handover.
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Scale and operate
The center grows in planned increments. We run hiring, retention, facilities and compliance; you set technical direction and priorities.
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Transfer, if chosen
Under a build operate transfer arrangement, staff, knowledge and assets move to your own Indian entity on terms agreed at the start.
For EU and UK buyers
What EU and UK buyers should settle before signing
European buyers ask different questions from US ones, and they are the right questions. Settle these in the contract, before the center starts work.
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GDPR and data transfers
An Article 28 DPA, the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (or the UK addendum) and a transfer impact assessment. Engineers work on masked data, and production personal data stays in EU regions.
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IP assignment
Work product is assigned to you by contract, with matching terms in each engineer's employment agreement. Repositories sit in your tenancy. Have counsel check the wording against English or German law.
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Time-zone overlap
India is 3.5–5.5 hours ahead of the UK and central Europe by season. With a mid-morning start in India, stand-ups, reviews and most ad hoc conversations fall in shared hours.
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Works council consultation
If your German teams have a works council, moving responsibilities offshore may require consultation. Plan that timeline alongside ours.
Team and timeline
2–4 weeks
from signing to first engineers productive
Indicative. Actual duration depends on requirements and complexity, and can change.
Who works on it
- Tech lead or engineering manager
- Front-end and back-end developers
- QA and test automation
- DevOps, data and design
Engagement model
Dedicated Team at center scale, contracted for a minimum initial term with governance reviews each quarter. Build operate transfer adds an agreed transfer window and terms from day one.
Good to know
Hiring the full core team of five to eight follows the market. Your engineering leadership approves role profiles and every senior hire, and a sponsor on your side joins the quarterly review. Dedicated Team model at center scale.
Proof
Where we have built this.
How a leading energy enterprise reduced partner onboarding time by 45%
faster partner onboarding
How a global AI SaaS company improved conversion rates by 18%
enhanced KPI visibility
How an FMCG brand increased market share by 37% through digital commerce
increase in market share
FAQ
Offshore Development Center: common questions.
What is an offshore development center?
An offshore development center is a dedicated engineering unit in another country that works exclusively for one client, under that client's processes and technical direction. The provider handles recruitment, employment, facilities and compliance. It differs from project outsourcing because the scope is open-ended, and from a small dedicated team because it has its own leadership, governance and security controls.
How is GDPR handled when an ODC in India processes EU personal data?
The ODC acts as a processor, so an Article 28 data processing agreement is required. India does not have an EU adequacy decision, so transfers also need an approved mechanism, usually the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, plus a transfer impact assessment. In practice we minimize the issue first: engineers work on masked or synthetic data wherever possible, and production personal data stays in EU-hosted environments.
Who owns the intellectual property created in an offshore development center?
You do. The contract assigns all intellectual property created for you, and employment agreements with each engineer carry matching assignment and confidentiality clauses so the chain holds under Indian law. Code lives in repositories you control. For UK and German buyers we recommend your counsel reviews the assignment wording against your home jurisdiction before signing.
What is the build operate transfer model?
Build operate transfer is an ODC arrangement where the provider sets up and runs the center for an agreed period, then transfers the team, knowledge and often the assets to the client's own legal entity. It suits companies that want a permanent Indian engineering presence without taking on the setup risk. The transfer terms, including timing and conditions, should be written into the contract at the start.
How much working-day overlap does an ODC in India have with the UK and Germany?
More than most buyers expect. India Standard Time runs 4.5 hours ahead of London in summer and 5.5 in winter, and 3.5 to 4.5 hours ahead of Berlin. A team starting mid-morning in India shares most of the European working day. Overlap with the US East Coast is narrower, so a fixed daily window is agreed instead.
How long does it take to set up an ODC?
The first engineers are typically productive 2–4 weeks after signing, once the charter is agreed and access is live. Hiring the rest of the core team depends on the talent market for each role. Plan data transfer terms and any works council consultation alongside the charter, since both can hold up the first handover if left until later.
Related services
- Dedicated Development TeamA dedicated development team or individual engineers who join your sprints and your tools. We handle selection, ramp-up, cover and continuity.
- Custom Software DevelopmentEnterprise platforms, workflow systems and software products built around how your organization works, with the architecture decided for the load you will have.
- Legacy Application ModernizationLegacy application modernization in reversible slices. The old system stays live while each function is rebuilt, shadow tested and cut over on its own.
