The Technical Leader's Guide to Offshore Development
Not a sales page. A practitioner's framework for evaluating ODC partners, covering IP protection, code ownership, engineering transparency, security certifications, and the due-diligence questions most vendors hope you won't ask.
Why Leading Engineering Teams Choose an ODC
An InApps ODC isn't just cheaper than in-house hiring, it's faster to spin up, easier to scale, and purpose-built for long-term product delivery.
Dramatically Faster Time-to-Hire
Senior in-house hires take 3–6 months from job posting to first commit. InApps delivers a fully operational, pre-vetted engineering team in 4–6 weeks, with zero recruitment overhead on your side.
Significantly Lower All-In Cost
In-house hiring carries hidden costs beyond salary: benefits, equipment, office space, HR overhead, recruiting fees, and attrition risk. Our ODC model bundles everything into a single, predictable engagement, contact us for a tailored team estimate.
Get a team proposal →Elastic Scale Without Hiring Risk
Scale your team up or down with 30-day notice. Add a mobile squad for a new product line. Wind down after launch. No severance, no redundancy, no 6-month hiring cycles to rebuild capacity.
Ready to compare your current setup?
We'll map your current team structure and show you what an equivalent ODC looks like, scope, roles, and timeline.
Questions Every CTO Should Ask Before Signing
Most ODC providers hope you won't dig into these areas. We built our answers into every client engagement from day one.
IP & Legal
- ✓Mutual NDA before any discovery call
- ✓IP Assignment Agreement: all code, designs, and documentation belong to you
- ✓Data Processing Agreement (DPA) for GDPR/PDPA compliance
- ✓Jurisdiction clause specifying governing law
- ✓Non-solicitation clause protecting your talent pipeline
Code & Repository
- ✓You own the GitHub/GitLab org from day 1: no vendor lock
- ✓Mandatory PR reviews with minimum 2 approvers
- ✓Branch protection rules and signed commits enforced
- ✓Automated CI/CD pipelines with security scanning (Snyk, Trivy)
- ✓Quarterly architecture review with your internal tech leads
Security & Compliance
- ✓ISO 27001 certified: formal ISMS with annual audits
- ✓CMMI Level 3: repeatable, measurable engineering processes
- ✓VPN-only access to production and staging environments
- ✓Background checks on all engineers with client data access
- ✓Annual penetration testing of delivered systems
Engineering Transparency
- ✓Daily async stand-up reports (Slack/Teams): no black-box delivery
- ✓Bi-weekly sprint demos with working software, not slides
- ✓Real-time access to project management board (Jira/Linear)
- ✓Monthly KPI dashboard: velocity, defect density, test coverage
- ✓Escalation path directly to InApps Engineering Director
Want the full checklist as a PDF?
Download our “ODC Partner Due Diligence Checklist”, 47 questions across IP, security, process, and SLA governance.
Certifications Your CISO Will Ask For
InApps holds the certifications that matter for regulated industries. We provide evidence documentation on request during due diligence.
ISO 27001:2022
Certificate available on request during due diligence.
Certified Information Security Management System (ISMS). Annual third-party audits. Controls cover data access, incident response, physical security, and supplier management.
CMMI Level 3
Appraisal results available on request.
Capability Maturity Model Integration Level 3, defined, repeatable, and measurable engineering processes across all project teams. Ensures consistent delivery quality at scale.
Engineering Security Controls (Operational)
VPN-only access to all client environments
Hardware security keys (FIDO2) for engineers with privileged access
Mandatory code signing for production deployments
Automated secret scanning in CI/CD (Trufflesecurity)
Container image vulnerability scanning (Trivy)
Dependency audit on every dependency update (Snyk)
Separate staging/prod environments with no shared credentials
Annual penetration testing of all client-facing systems
Incident response SLA: critical = 1-hour acknowledgement
No Black Box. Full Transparency.
Every InApps ODC engagement is structured so your engineering leads have complete visibility, not just reports, but real-time access to the work.
Daily Async Stand-ups
Every engineer posts a daily update in your Slack channel: what was done, what's next, any blockers. No 9am calls required across time zones.
Real-time Board Access
You have full access to the Jira or Linear board, create tasks, add comments, reprioritise sprints. Your product roadmap drives the team, not ours.
Bi-weekly Sprint Demos
Every two weeks, the team demos working software, not slides. Your product lead and engineering lead attend and provide direct feedback.
Monthly KPI Dashboard
Velocity trends, defect density, test coverage, DORA metrics (deployment frequency, lead time, MTTR). Engineering health visible at a glance.
PR-based Code Review
All code merged via pull requests. Your internal engineers can review, comment, and approve, we encourage it. Branch protection enforced, no force-pushes.
Escalation Path
Direct access to InApps' Engineering Director, not a project coordinator. When technical decisions need escalation, you talk to someone who can decide.
How We Start an ODC Engagement
From technical discovery to engineers in your Slack: typically 10–14 business days.
Technical Discovery Call
60 minMeet InApps' Engineering Director and Solution Architect. We review your tech stack, architectural constraints, compliance requirements, and roadmap. No sales pitch, pure technical alignment.
Team Scoping & Proposal
2–3 daysWe provide a detailed team structure proposal: roles, seniority mix, tooling, estimated ramp-up, and monthly cost. You review, and push back, before anything is signed.
Engineer Interviews
3–5 daysYou interview your proposed team members. Technical screen, system design, and a cultural alignment session. You approve every engineer who joins your team, we never assign without consent.
Legal & Onboarding
3–5 daysNDA, IP assignment, DPA, and service agreement executed. GitHub org access granted. Communication channels (Slack, Jira, Confluence) set up. Engineers meet your internal team.
Sprint 1 Launch
Week 2First sprint kicks off with a joint kickoff call. Your product roadmap becomes the team's north star. Daily async updates start immediately. Your engineering lead approves all PRs.
What CTOs & VPs Engineering Say
“Our ODC team at InApps has been running for 3 years. In that time we have scaled from 4 to 14 engineers, shipped 6 major product releases, and maintained 99.95% uptime on our trading platform. The engineer retention is exceptional, 11 of 14 original engineers are still with us. That continuity is priceless in fintech.”
3 years · 14 engineers · 99.95% uptime
“We evaluated 6 offshore partners before choosing InApps. Their ISO 27001 certification, clear IP assignment process, and willingness to join our existing Jira/Slack setup made the decision easy. 18 months in, our HRM platform has 120+ enterprise clients and the InApps team has delivered every sprint commitment.”
120+ enterprise clients · 0 missed sprints
“We run 800+ vehicles across Germany and needed a custom fleet management system with driver behaviour analytics. InApps delivered it 6 weeks ahead of schedule, under budget, and it has processed over 2 million trips without a critical incident. Communication in English was always fluent and professional.”
2M+ trips · 0 critical incidents
Verified reviews on
Start the Conversation Now
Drop us a message and our Engineering Director will respond within 2 business hours with a proposed agenda for your discovery call.
Book a Discovery Call
60 minutes with InApps' Engineering Director and Solution Architect. No sales pitch, pure technical alignment on your stack, team structure, and roadmap.
Typical response time: <2 business hours · sales@inapps.net · +84 838 030 816