The New Frontier of IT Shoring: 10 Emerging Delivery Models Reshaping Global Delivery

For years, “shoring” meant choosing between on-site, nearshore, or offshore.

But enterprise expectations have changed — and global delivery models are evolving with them.

Today, shoring is no longer defined by where teams are located, but by how they collaborate, scale, and deliver value. Around the world, forward-thinking IT providers are experimenting with new, outcome-oriented, flexible, and domain-driven delivery structures. Many of these models are still relatively unknown — yet they are shaping the next era of global IT operations.

Below is a breakdown of 10 emerging shoring models that every digital leader should be aware of.

A shift from selling capacity to delivering measurable, contractual outcomes.

Instead of hourly billing, providers commit to  KPIs, SLAs, and business impact.

Why it matters:

• Focuses on results, not effort

• Reduces delivery risk for the client

• Drives continuous improvement

Shoring moves from “body leasing” to  ready-made delivery packages. Examples include:

• Regression-as-a-Service

• 12-week MVP Delivery Pod

• Cloud Migration Quickstart

Why it matters:

• Clear scope and timelines

• Faster onboarding

• Business problem → ready-made team

A cloud-inspired model where teams scale up or down based on delivery demand.

Why it matters:

• Eliminates lengthy hiring cycles

• Predictable cost control

• Instant “burst capacity” during peak phases

Not follow-the-sun — follow the  deepest expertise.

Work is routed to domain hubs (e.g., SAP AMS, Data Engineering, QA Automation).

Why it matters:

• Higher quality and consistency

• Low onboarding friction

• Knowledge stays centralized

The client and provider jointly manage delivery, performance, and even career development.

Why it matters:

• Stronger team ownership

• Better cultural alignment

• Higher retention and stability

A single team with both on-site and shore-based members, working as one unified unit.

Why it matters:

• Builds trust with partial on-site presence

• Maintains scalability of shoring

• Enhances collaboration quality

Clients gain access not only to assigned team members, but to  entire expert communities (guilds/chapters).

Why it matters:

• Access to dozens of experts behind the scenes

• Proven best practices and reusable assets

• Faster delivery and decision-making

A curated, marketplace-style interface offering multi-country teams, packages, and SLA options.

Why it matters:

• Unified vendor and delivery management

• Transparent selection and pricing

• Rapid scaling across geographies

Purpose-built delivery for Life Science, Finance, and Public Sector — aligned with  GxP, TISAX, ISO, GDPR  and other regulations.

Why it matters:

• Reduces regulatory risk

• Ensures audit-readiness

• Matches domain complexity with qualified talent

Teams structured from day one with AI pair programmers, automated testing, prompt guidelines, and ticket-triage bots.

Why it matters:

• 20–40% higher engineering velocity

• Better quality via AI-generated tests

• Emerging roles like “AI Orchestrator” improve consistency

At adesso SmartShore, we view these emerging models not as trends, but as the natural evolution of modern engineering.

With more than  1,400+ experts  across Bulgaria, Hungary, India, Romania, Spain, and Turkey, our global delivery model is built around:

• Domain-driven expertise  instead of location-driven staffing

• Flexible Elastic Delivery Pods  that scale with demand

• Outcome-oriented collaboration  supported by transparent KPIs

• Strong cross-country alignment  in standards, tooling, and engineering culture

• Continuous integration of AI  across development, QA, and DevOps workflows

Many of the models above already exist within SmartShore — from regulated delivery setups to domain hubs and AI-augmented engineering practices. And as global delivery continues to evolve, we continue to invest in our people, processes, and multi-country collaboration approach to ensure reliability, predictability, and excellence across every engagement.

Because global delivery works best when people work together across borders — with shared standards, shared vision, and a shared rhythm of delivery.