--- title: "What Is an Offshore Development Center (ODC)? | Azendo" description: "An offshore development center is a dedicated team abroad, usually client-managed. Here is how the ODC model works and how it differs from managed delivery." url: "https://azendo.co/blog/engagement-models/what-is-an-offshore-development-center/" --- [Newsroom](https://azendo.co/newsroom/) [Engagement models](https://azendo.co/blog/engagement-models/) # What an offshore development center is, and who actually runs it. An offshore development center, usually shortened to ODC, is a dedicated engineering team set up in another country to work exclusively for one company. The detail that varies, and the one that matters most, is who manages it. By Mikkel Schmidt 18 September 2026 An offshore development centre is a structure. Who runs it is the real question. ## How the ODC model works The provider handles local infrastructure, meaning recruitment, employment, office space, equipment and compliance. The client gets a team working only on their products, typically under their own direction and processes. The pitch is that you get the benefits of your own foreign office without the cost and delay of establishing one. ## Two kinds of ODC, and they are not equivalent A captive centre is owned outright by the client. Maximum control, maximum setup cost, and a multi-year commitment before it pays back. A provider-run ODC is operated by a third party on the client’s behalf, which is faster to stand up and involves a standing fee. Both usually leave day-to-day management with the client. That is the defining characteristic, and it is where the model differs from [managed delivery](https://azendo.co/blog/engagement-models/staff-augmentation-vs-managed-services/). ## ODC compared with managed delivery | Compared | Offshore development center | Managed delivery | | ---------------------- | --------------------------- | -------------------------- | | Who manages daily | Usually the client | The provider | | Who answers for output | The client | The provider | | Typical size | Ten or more people | From one specialist upward | | Setup time | Months | 4–6 weeks | | Best fit | Large sustained programmes | Roadmaps of any size | ## Who an offshore development center is actually right for It fits organisations large enough to justify a permanent foreign engineering function and willing to manage it. If you are planning a team of thirty and have an engineering director prepared to run a site abroad, an ODC is a reasonable structure. It fits poorly when you want the capacity but not the management, or when you need eight people rather than eighty. That is usually the point at which managed delivery is the better structure. The two models are frequently confused with a third, because a vendor-run ODC and [offshore staffing](https://azendo.co/offshore-staffing/) can look identical on a rate card and differ entirely on who answers for the work. Where the answer is a team rather than a site, a [dedicated development team](https://azendo.co/services/dedicated-development-team/) is the same capacity without the fixed overhead of a foreign entity. ## A client-managed ODC against a managed service. An ODC and a managed service can look identical on an org chart. These are the places they differ. What stands behind the person doing the work Both models put a specialist on your roadmap. Only one of them puts a programme behind that specialist, and that is what decides whether they are still there — and still improving — in year three. Client-managed ODC Your teamdirects the work Assigned specialist Behind the specialist Employment and payroll. The provider's obligation usually ends there — development, coaching, review and retention are yours to run, or nobody's. Your side carries * Priorities * Scope * Technical decisions * Acceptance * Sprint planning * Quality gates * Performance reviews * Training * Retention * Continuity Azendo managed service Your teamsets the roadmap, reviews output Azendo service delivery manageraccountable for what ships Assigned specialist Talent Success programme, around every specialist * Talent Success and Workplace Experience managers Two per specialist * Well-being check-in Every 2 weeks * Coaching and development Monthly, in-house * Development plan Reviewed monthly * Client delivery score Every Friday * 360° performance review Quarterly * Growth track and promotion readiness Live skill profile * AI certification Before assignment 3.3 years Average time a specialist stays with Azendo — which is what protects your product knowledge Your side carries * Priorities * Scope * Technical decisions * Acceptance __What stands behind an assigned specialist in each model__ | Element | Client-managed ODC | Azendo managed service | | ------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | Who directs the work | Your team | An Azendo service delivery manager, accountable for what ships | | Talent Success and Workplace Experience managers | Not part of the arrangement | Two per specialist | | Well-being check-in | Not part of the arrangement | Every 2 weeks | | Coaching and development | Not part of the arrangement | Monthly, in-house | | Development plan | Not part of the arrangement | Reviewed monthly | | Client delivery score | Not part of the arrangement | Every Friday | | 360° performance review | Not part of the arrangement | Quarterly | | Growth track and promotion readiness | Not part of the arrangement | Live skill profile | | AI certification | Not part of the arrangement | Before assignment | | Average specialist retention | Not published | 3.3 years | What the monthly fee actually covers Both models solve the employment problem. Only one of them solves the delivery problem, and the gap is where the hourly rate difference goes. | Covered by the provider | Client-managed ODC | Azendo managed service | | ----------------------------------------- | ------------------- | ---------------------- | | Recruitment and selection | Yes | Yes | | Employment, payroll and local compliance | Yes | Yes | | Office, equipment and network | Yes | Yes | | Sprint planning and day-to-day management | No — stays with you | Yes | | Quality gates and code review standards | No — stays with you | Yes | | Training and development | No — stays with you | Yes | | Performance management | No — stays with you | Yes | | Knowledge retained if a specialist leaves | No — stays with you | Yes | | Accountability for what ships | No — stays with you | Yes | | Total covered | 3 of 9 | 9 of 9 | ## Questions people ask. What does ODC stand for? Offshore development center, sometimes written offshore development centre. Both describe the same model. Is an ODC the same as outsourcing? Not quite. In most ODC arrangements the client still manages the team, which means the accountability has not really been outsourced. The provider supplies the infrastructure around it. How large does an ODC need to be? Providers usually quote from around ten people, because the fixed costs of a dedicated facility need spreading. Below that, an assigned team under a managed agreement tends to cost less and start sooner. Does Azendo run ODCs? Not in the client-managed sense. We run a managed model where our service delivery manager is accountable for output. For some companies an ODC is genuinely the better structure and we will say so. ## Tell us what the roadmap needs and we will tell you what it takes. A service delivery manager replies with the disciplines we would assign, the monthly capacity and what the first month looks like. [Get in touch](https://azendo.co/get-in-touch/) [How it works](https://azendo.co/how-it-works/) ## Not sure which engagement model fits your roadmap.