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ITDS Nearshore · Updated 23 September 2026
Nearshore software development means working with engineers in a nearby country, close enough in hours and culture to act as one team with yours. ITDS delivers it from two hubs under one contract and one account manager: Poland for depth of senior talent, Portugal for Western European hours and French-speaking engineers.
Most companies that look at nearshore software development compare countries. That is a reasonable start, although it misses the real question, which is how many good engineers you can reach, in which hours, under which law. ITDS answers it with two hubs rather than one. Our Warsaw team gives you the depth of the leading tech hub in Central and Eastern Europe, while Lisbon and Porto give you London's working day and engineers who speak French. If you already know you need individual engineers inside your team, go straight to IT staff augmentation.
| 2 hubsPoland and Portugal, one contract | 600+consultants on live client projects | 20 daysaverage from sourcing to an integrated engineer | ~500,000IT specialists in Poland |
Source: ITDS IT Talent Trends 2026, based on 3,500+ recruitment conversations in 2025.
What is nearshore software development?
Nearshore software development is the practice of building software with a team in a nearby country rather than in your own office or on another continent. The defining feature is overlap. Your engineers and theirs work most of the same hours, so questions are answered the same day and meetings happen live. By contrast, offshore teams several time zones away rely on handovers.
For European companies, nearshore also means the team works under EU law. As a result, data protection, contracts and intellectual property follow rules your legal team already knows.
Why does ITDS run nearshore software development from two hubs?
Because each country solves a different problem, and most clients have both. Poland offers scale and seniority: according to ITDS IT Talent Trends 2026, the country has around 500,000 IT specialists, with strong benches in Java, .NET, DevOps and data engineering. Portugal, meanwhile, offers Western European hours, English as a working language and a pool of French-speaking engineers.
| Poland (Warsaw) | Portugal (Lisbon, Porto) | |
|---|---|---|
| Time zone | Central European Time | Western European Time, same as London |
| Strongest for | Senior depth, large teams, backend and data | UK hours, French-speaking roles, smaller specialist teams |
| Languages | English | English, Portuguese, often French |
| Typical clients | Banks, insurers, US and Nordic tech firms | UK, French and Benelux companies |
Most nearshore vendors are either Polish or Portuguese. ITDS delivers from both, so you sign one contract, work with one account manager and can staff a single team from both countries when a role is easier to fill in one of them.
Which engagement models does nearshore software development cover?
Nearshore describes where the team sits, not how you work with it. ITDS offers three models, and many clients combine them as their needs change. Choosing the right one matters more than choosing the country, because the model decides who directs the work and who owns the result.
- IT staff augmentation: individual engineers who join your team and work under your direction.
- Dedicated development teams: a standing team that works only on your product for a year or more.
- Software development outsourcing: a defined project or product that we deliver end to end.
Which industries do our nearshore teams work in?
Most of our work sits in regulated industries, where a partner has to understand compliance as well as code. Our strongest focus is financial services: retail and investment banking, payments, insurance and asset finance. We also work with HR technology and telecom companies.
For banks and fintech companies we describe our domain experience in detail on the fintech software development page, including payments, KYC and cards.
How does a nearshore software development engagement start?
The first 30 days decide whether a nearshore team becomes part of yours or stays an external supplier. Our starts follow the same sequence, although the pace depends on seniority and on how fast your side can grant access.
For comparison, a senior engineer hired directly on a Polish employment contract usually has to serve a notice period of one to three months before starting, and that comes after your own recruitment. Our average of 20 days covers the whole route, from the start of sourcing to an engineer at work in your team.
- Week 1, brief and shortlist. We agree the roles, the stack and the team the engineers join. The first vetted candidates usually follow within days.
- Week 2, interviews and selection. You interview the candidates and choose. Meanwhile, we prepare contracts, equipment and your access requests.
- Weeks 3 and 4, onboarding. Engineers join your ceremonies, receive access and pick up their first tickets. On average, 20 days pass from the start of sourcing to an engineer integrated in your team.
- Day 30, first review. We review fit, pace and communication with you, then adjust before small issues grow.
How many working hours do you share with a nearshore team?
With a standard working day on both sides, a team in Warsaw shares seven to eight hours with London, Amsterdam and Stockholm, while a team in Lisbon shares the full day with London. New York is the exception, with two to three shared hours, so work there runs on a planned handover instead.
Because both hubs follow the European daylight-saving calendar, the overlap with UK and EU clients stays the same all year. That is the practical meaning of nearshore: most of your questions get answered the same day.
What changes inside the EU: security, GDPR and IP
When your nearshore team works in Poland or Portugal, your data never leaves the EU legal space. The GDPR applies directly, so you do not need the extra transfer mechanisms that teams outside the European Economic Area require. Nevertheless, you still sign a data processing agreement, and your legal team should review it.
- Contracts are governed by EU law, which makes intellectual property assignment and confidentiality straightforward to enforce.
- Access follows your security policies, including your devices, VPN and identity management where you require them.
- Screening to your standard, for example the background checks many banks require, is agreed before anyone starts.
Who already works with ITDS nearshore teams?
More than 60 international clients work with ITDS, including Fortune 500 companies. Three stories show what nearshore delivery looks like in practice, from one engineer to a team that runs a bank.
- CreditPlus: a German retail bank built from scratch. ITDS helps a German bank run every day.
- Transient AI: a Wall Street startup asked for one engineer. He built the platform from Warsaw, and the team has since grown to five.
- SS Payment: the client let a Lisbon-based engineer go during a hard patch, then called to ask for him back.
Two delivery hubs, one contract, one account manager. Poland for depth, Portugal for Western hours and French speakers.
How do you choose a nearshore software development company?
Choose a nearshore software development company by testing its access to people, not its brochure. Many vendors describe the same capabilities, so the useful questions are the ones a brochure cannot answer. Ask them of every shortlisted partner, and ask for evidence rather than assurances.
- Where exactly are the engineers? A company registered in one country may staff from another. Ask which cities your team would sit in, since that decides your overlap.
- How many engineers in your stack has it placed in the last year? A number, not a list of technologies, shows real access.
- How long from brief to a working engineer? Our own average is 20 days; ask others for theirs and how they measure it.
- What happens when someone leaves? Replacement terms should be in the contract, with a timeframe.
- Which client in your industry can you speak to? A reference in a similar regulated environment is worth more than any case study.
The same test applies whether you call it nearshore development, nearshore software outsourcing or an extended team. What changes between vendors is the answer to these five questions, so write the answers down and compare them side by side.
Nearshore software development in 2027: the short version
If you remember four things from this page, make it these. In fact, they are also the questions worth asking any nearshore partner, including us, before you sign anything or agree a start date.
- Count shared working hours, not kilometres: that is what makes nearshore work.
- Choose the engagement model before the country, because it decides who owns the result.
- Inside the EU, the GDPR applies directly, but a data processing agreement is still needed.
- Judge the first 30 days: a good partner reviews fit with you at day 30 without being asked.
Nearshore software development: frequently asked questions
Nearshore teams work in a nearby country with most of your working hours in common. Offshore teams sit several time zones away, so collaboration depends on handovers rather than live work.
Poland is the leading tech hub in Central and Eastern Europe, with around 500,000 IT specialists. Portugal adds London's time zone and French-speaking engineers. ITDS combines both under one contract.
On average, 20 days pass from the start of sourcing to an engineer integrated in your team. Larger teams are staffed in stages.
Teams in Poland and Portugal work inside the EU, so the GDPR applies directly and no third-country transfer mechanism is needed. You still sign a data processing agreement.
Yes. Clients often staff one team from both hubs when a role is easier to fill in one country, and it still runs under one contract.
People and delivery. Depending on the model, that means individual engineers in your team, a dedicated team for your product or a delivered project, all from a nearby country.
Tell us what you are building and which role has stayed open too long. We will tell you which hub fits, how fast we can staff it and what we cannot do.
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