In North America, due to a white-hot labor market for engineering talent, there’s a fiercely competitive need for finding embedded developers to ply their trade. Because of tech powerhouses like Microsoft and Intel, tens of thousands of positions regularly go unfilled, meaning companies are starving for the requisite personnel to administer a global share of the embedded systems market, something that was recently estimated at 45%.
It goes without saying that if you find yourself in this position of insufficient local human resources, this isn’t earth-shattering news to you. Instead, you may wonder what it is that can be done to ensure sufficient hardware and embedded software services are available in the future as you try to address your deficit of skilled workers. In a relentlessly competitive and tight labor market, fortune favors the bold, and the bold will look for solutions to talent shortages wherever it may take them.
Through fifteen years on the software engineering market, we have found that following such a path to enhancing a business’s talent profile is not only practicable, but can also be entirely beneficial. The reality of the connected world is that where a labor need exists in one place can often be filled in another equally adept locale.
Following are several pertinent questions we have addressed to guide you in your concerns and to help consider your possibilities:
- My core business is embedded hardware development. Can I benefit from outsourcing? Unequivocally, yes. You obviously already have an in-house engineering team, but the truth is you also may have multiple ongoing R&D projects draining your resources – without a certainty as to their outcomes. Whether this is the case or if you have a sudden need to scale your team for other vital circumstances, outsourcing gives you the benefit of saving on your recruitment needs when there’s little help to find or onboard in your local market. Why waste your time looking in your own region when a ready-made solution could be staring at you through international collaboration?
- I’m a startup owner. What are my benefits to outsourcing? If you administer a startup that builds smart products, which may be something like personal mobility or home-care devices, you will most likely only need to have them developed once and then take a good while until you raise sufficient funding for improvements. With that in mind, you probably won’t need to add updates and release new versions of these devices on a regular basis. For this reason, it would be wasteful to hire and train engineers, as well as buy expensive lab equipment. It would instead be more helpful to use professionals like Lemberg Solutions, a company who has the tools and know-how to step in and address your development needs as they arise.
- What specifically should I be looking for in an embedded design company? A reliable partner will be one who works with your choice of hardware, including having the required IDEs and access to development; makes local prototypes in their own lab; has preferred access to suppliers, enabling them to obtain the newest components; helps you establish remote access to hardware through video conferencing during your typical work hours in your own time zone; deals with all customs’ issues and shipment of hardware; has rock-solid security policies to ensure the safety of your IP; makes easily readable manuals in both text and video formats to make certain their solutions are followable; and implements firmware features for control, as with additional logging, input/output checks, LED lights, etc.
- How will a development partner ensure smooth communication? Principally, a reliable partner will employ dedicated code repositories, well-developed and refined documentation, and robust communication, including regularly scheduled meetings, to ensure both your team and your remote embedded engineers are always reading from the same page. Your partner should have the experience and procedures in place to make integration of employees and their work hassle-free and second-nature.
- Should I be concerned about my IP rights when outsourcing embedded development? It is natural to be concerned about such matters when dealing with companies from overseas, but any brand company with a reliable track record from years of similar experience will sign all necessary contracts and NDAs to guarantee your data is safe. Additionally, it is a good and standard practice to work only with partners that hold relevant ISO or similar certifications – thus proving their commitment to high security and quality protocols.
The Right Partner to Solve Your Skilled Engineer Shortfalls
The market for specialist engineers in working with embedded systems is a difficult one, with large deficiencies in hiring and harnessing talent being common in North America. At such times. it is both logical and wise to follow your human resources’ needs to other places, in areas where such talent is available, skilled, and ready to help.
For a prospective partnership to meet your needs, cooperation should bring a bevy of benefits to the table: experience, integrity, skills, hardware facilities, access to proven suppliers, rigid and safe security procedures, and a track record of success with prior clients. Most importantly, they should offer a fit for your business that enhances your company’s prospects due to their added value.
Lemberg Solutions has the means to be a capable partner in this pursuit of skilled talent. We have been providing outsourcing services for your precise needs for more than fifteen years, and we have the knowledge, expertise, and infrastructure to solve any shortfalls you may have in embedded software and hardware development. Contact us today, and we can arrange a workable solution to your company or project.