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The Risks of Outsourcing Development Work to India

The High Cost of a Low Price

4 min readApr 26, 2025

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Outsourcing software development to India has become a popular strategy for businesses looking to save costs and scale quickly. While this might seem attractive at first glance, the hidden costs, risks, and long-term drawbacks often outweigh the short-term benefits.

Here’s a closer look at why outsourcing development work to India is fraught with challenges — and why businesses should think twice before heading down this path.

Communication Barriers

While English is widely spoken in India, critical misunderstandings often occur due to differences in accents, expressions, and communication styles. Misinterpretations during requirement gathering, updates, or feedback sessions can derail projects entirely. Combined with significant time zone differences, real-time collaboration is almost impossible, leading to frustrating delays and endless back-and-forth.

Moreover, cultural norms often discourage directness in communication. Teams might avoid giving honest feedback or flagging risks early, which can result in projects heading off-track for weeks before anyone notices.

Rampant Quality Variability and Fake Degrees

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Patrick Karsh
Patrick Karsh

Written by Patrick Karsh

NYC-based Ruby on Rails and Javascript Engineer leveraging AI to explore Engineering. https://linktr.ee/patrickkarsh

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