– Outsourcing, if you can make it work, is almost too good to be true. You get excellent access to highly qualified resources, in a scalable model at an attractive cost, says Leif Arild Åsheim, CEO of Promineo.
When Promineo needed developers in 2017, and the Norwegian market couldn't offer the right expertise, they chose to build a dedicated offshore development team in Dhaka through Cefalo.
At the time, Åsheim was not particularly enthusiastic about the idea of finding an external development team.
He had seen outsourcing go wrong before, and heard stories of Norwegian companies that outsourced to low-cost countries and ended up with more frustration than results.
But the alternatives were few. And Cefalo stood out.
Nearly ten years later, Promineo has quadrupled its revenue, increased R&D capacity almost fourfold, and maintained a steadily growing development team in Dhaka with virtually no turnover.
About Promineo
Promineo is a Norwegian software company based in Stavanger. It develops workforce planning tools for large project-based organisations — primarily in oil and energy.
Their clients operate in demanding, international environments with high expectations for both product and delivery. This makes English a natural working language and complex projects an everyday reality.
When the need for development capacity exceeded what the local market could offer, Cefalo was the partner of choice.
Insourced 10 developers
It started with two developers. Today there are ten, split across two teams with their own team leads, QA engineers, and considerable autonomy.
Yet «outsourcing» is not a term Åsheim identifies with.
– I'd rather call it insourcing. We've insourced developers from Cefalo into our organisation. They are our colleagues, just like those we have in Norway. They just happen to sit in Dhaka instead of Stavanger, says Leif Arild Åsheim.
Daily standups, close collaboration, and contact multiple times a day is the norm — just as it would be if the developers were sitting in the office on the west coast of Norway.
Over time, the Dhaka team has taken on increasing ownership — writing the code, contributing to new areas, and now also working with artificial intelligence.
– We've become more reliant on the teams having autonomy, with their own leadership and different roles. It's been a development that has worked brilliantly for us.
TOP FACILITIES AT THE OFFICE IN DHAKA: The code that drives Promineo forward is written here.
The expertise no one could find in Stavanger
For Promineo, the partnership isn't primarily about cost — it's about what they've actually been able to achieve.
– We're completely convinced that we could never have built such a capable team in Norway, no matter the cost. The expertise we have access to now simply wasn't available locally.
It's an experience many Norwegian tech companies will recognise: The shortage of qualified developers is real, and the offshore model provides access to a global talent market that the Norwegian market cannot match.
The numbers back up what Åsheim is saying:
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4x revenue growth over ten years.
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3–4x higher R&D capacity compared to 2017.
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The Dhaka team has grown from 2 to 10 — without equivalent growth in the Norwegian organisation.
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One departure across the entire team in nearly ten years.
Skånevik and an old Volvo Amazon
The biggest concern at the start wasn't expertise — it was communication. Would cultural differences eat up the gains?
– I was worried that the communication barriers would outweigh the benefits. But fortunately, that concern disappeared quickly. Cefalo has understood how to build a cultural bridge between Dhaka and Stavanger, and Norway in general.
THE TRADITION NOONE SKIPS: Riding the old Volvo Amazon is part of the tradition when the Cefalo-team visits Skånevik, the hometown of Promineos CEO Leif Arild Åsheim.
Today the relationship is close — both professionally and personally.
– We know our developers, we know their families. It's like having perfectly ordinary Norwegian colleagues who just happen to be somewhere else.
In-person meetings still play an important role. Every year the entire team gathers in Skånevik, a small village by the Hardangerfjord. It has become a tradition no one skips — complete with a drive in Leif Arild's father's old Volvo Amazon.
– Our week together in Skånevik is incredibly important for building relationships and achieving things that are hard to do digitally. It's a highlight everyone looks forward to.
SOME MEETINGS ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO DO ON TEAMS: Not exactly an ordinary working day – but perhaps the most important?
Next steps: AI, senior expertise, and continued growth
Promineo is now in the middle of a new phase. AI is at the top of the agenda, and the goal is simply stated: get through more of the backlog and get more done.
But Åsheim is clear about what it takes to succeed.
– To realise the gains from AI, you need to work with senior people. That's where you can scale.
And equally clear about what will never disappear regardless.
– We deliver products to people. That means you need a human element in there.
Three pieces of advice from Promineo:
To other companies considering the same model, Åsheim is direct:
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Listen to Cefalo's advice on onboarding. They know what works.
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Treat the developers as your own colleagues — not as an external supplier.
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Invest in being physically together. It builds what's hard to achieve digitally.
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Written by Jens Wahlberg
