Success with offshore development teams: What characterizes the Cefalo model?

Who is Cefalo?

Cefalo is a market-leading Norwegian company that for over ten years has specialized in recruiting and hiring highly skilled full-time developers from Dhaka, whom we then have on long-term lease with our clients. We cater to reputable organizations such as Dagens Næringsliv, NTB, House of Math, and several other Norwegian companies. Many of them are surprised by how well our offshore development works.

Our developers work from Dhaka, Bangladesh. They are hired as offshore development teams in full-time positions. They don't work on a project basis but function as a permanent solution and as regular members of your development team. The cost of a full-time developer from Cefalo is approximately half of what you would pay for a Norwegian developer.

A Cefalo team feels like your own employees

Outsourcing is often seen as handing over an entire development project to a provider and receiving a finished product back with little involvement in the process. That's not how we operate.

Cefalo differs from other outsourcing companies in that we offer regular employees in full-time positions. The Cefalo model is built on paying for the time the developers spend, not the finished product. The offshore developers are perceived as the client's employees and work directly with the developers in Norway without intermediaries. The team is led directly by the Norwegian client.

Those who choose offshore development teams from Cefalo have often first tried to hire developers in Norway, without success. Therefore, we function as much as a recruitment agency as an outsourcing company. You describe the type of developers you are looking for, and we search until we find them. The main difference is that the developers are located in Cefalo’s offices in Dhaka, Bangladesh, instead of on your premises in Norway.

Once the developers are in place, you have a flexible team that feels like your own employees. Your needs will change over time, and a Cefalo team can scale accordingly, both through additional developers and skill development.

- With Cefalo, we gained access to highly qualified developers at a much lower price than in the Norwegian market. In addition, the solution is flexible and efficient, with quick onboarding and offboarding, and the possibility of scaling as needed," says Tor Richardsen from NTB.

A strong employer brand means access to skilled developers

Cefalo gives you access to a large job market with highly skilled software developers. It's no coincidence that we have established ourselves in Bangladesh— one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Every year, around 500,000 students graduate from Bengali universities, approximately 65,000 of whom have IT expertise, and almost all speak English.

Investments in IT and technology have made it possible to recruit highly educated and experienced developers. Our strategy is to take the market-leading position and be the most attractive employer for the best developers. This benefits our Norwegian customers.

Highly skilled developers — with low turnover

The Dhaka office is considered one of the best workplaces in Bangladesh, scoring high in employee surveys. Satisfied employees mean low turnover, which is one of the reasons for Cefalo's success. Stability and longevity in teams give our developers ownership and commitment, providing customers with quality and progress. The culture and working conditions are inspired by Norwegian work culture, and employees appreciate:

• The flat structure
• Transparent communication, respect, and trust-based leadership
• Focus on work/life balance
• HR and personnel functions
• Competitive salaries
• Professional competence development
• Internal benefits such as lunch arrangements and a chef
• Team building and social activities
• Various employee benefits and annual trips where their families are welcome to join

The result is satisfied customers and engaged employees

The combination of access to developers, a good working environment, and stability in teams results in very satisfied customers and employees. Satisfied employees lead to satisfied customers. The good price and smooth collaboration provide profitability for all parties. This works, and our customers are happy.

We score very high in our customer surveys, indicating that our customers are satisfied with the developers from Cefalo and are likely to recommend Cefalo to others.

Our developers are our most valued asset, and they must enjoy their work. Our employee surveys can confirm that. All our developers stated that Cefalo was among the top five percent best employers in the country, and we have also received several awards confirming the same

- Cefalo retains the best people and has gained a very strong reputation, so they easily recruit skilled individuals, says Magne Fretheim, CTO at Spenn Technology AS

Are you curious about offshore development? We would be happy to have a pleasant chat with you by phone, meeting, or video.