Build Operate Transfer Model

The main benefits of the BOT model over outsourcing are quality, control, ownership and long-term cost-effectiveness. Outsourcing is typically more cost-effective for short-term and project-based work, but the costs increase at scale and over time. In addition, outsourcing usually attracts worse quality employees who don’t have ownership of their work, leading to lower quality output. In contrast, BOT models give you full ownership over your employees who report directly to you from day one and eventually are employed in your own legal entity. Once fully transferred, there are no additional costs, so you gain the full benefit of the lower overhead costs offshore. 

The idea is to educate on when it’s worth doing. It’s tricky because it depends on the exact nature of the team. For some technologies and industries, around 20 employees starts to be the point where it may be more financially advantageous to transfer ownership, but it’s typically closer to the 40 or even 60 employee mark. If you’d like a more accurate estimate, contact one of our advisory team members. 

The BOT model works the same for large enterprise companies as it does for smaller organisations, but with a difference in scale. It requires more resources to help recruit and onboard your new team and the operate phase typically lasts longer to ensure every employee is properly onboarded and the long-term stability of the offshore centre. Due to the vast talent pool in Bangalore, scaling larger teams is still possible even for larger offshore teams. For example, Preqin managed to scale to over 450 employees before they transferred out.

Yes, BOT services are highly customisable. At The Scalers, we tailor the team structure, recruitment profiles, technology stack, and operational protocols to meet the specific demands and regulatory environment of your industry (e.g., FinTech, Healthcare, E-commerce). In addition, due to the massive talent pool in Bangalore and India, we can usually hire employees who have experience within your specific industry, and so are already familiar with the nuances of your business.  

The BOT model helps scale engineering teams by providing rapid access to offshore talent pools with quality engineers at cost-effective rates. This enables companies to stretch their budgets further than they could in UK, US, and EU tech hubs to accelerate delivery. The BOT model enables you to start recruitment immediately, build a strong foundation, and scale smoothly without high up-front costs, making it the go-to choice for many organisations seeking to establish a long-term development hub.

The build phase consists of two parts: the first is establishing the foundations for the rest of the cooperation, and the second is the actual recruitment for the roles to be filled. The second of these two phases typically extends into the operational phase for larger offshore projects to ensure staff are onboarded correctly and to acquire more difficult-to-fill positions. The first phase involves consultations with the partner to obtain their specific job descriptions and protocols for onboarding staff remotely. In the meantime, the Scalers’ on-the-ground staff assign a dedicated office space in our office complex and procure the necessary equipment, including employee branding.

During the Operation phase of our BOT model, you have complete control over the workload and workflow of your offshore employees. They report to you and work on the tasks you assign. The difference is that The Scalers’ operations team handles all of the on-the-ground requirements like procurement, payroll, admin and HR. Once your core team is established, we can start building out those functions for you until everything is transferred under your control. 

The transfer phrase works based on your specific requirements and needs. We can start discussions as soon as your core delivery team are in place, or we can continue with the operation phase for longer until you are ready to transfer ownership. Once initiated, we will start recruiting for the support functions you need on the ground and can help advise you as to the steps and processes required to establish your own legal entity. With everything in place, we finalise the transfer plan for documentation and assets and do so to minimise any operational disruptions for the company and employees.

The BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) model for an ODC is an engagement where an offshore partner sets up, runs, and then transfers full ownership of your dedicated offshore development centre to you. It reduces risk and accelerates time-to-market, with the key difference being the predetermined final transfer of the entire entity to your full control.

Typically, companies only engage the BOT model if they have 40 employees or greater, as it is only at this point that the costs associated with supporting a team start to become more financially beneficial than delegating to a third party. There are, however, expectations as some roles make smaller teams financially worth transferring out, for situations where a company needs to legally own its offshore team even though it is smaller and less cost-effective.