There are a number of famous companies that have used offshore custom software development or offshore application development to fuel their success: Alibaba. The company took advantage of offshore custom software development services provided by a US firm. Skype. The company leveraged offshore application development services from a team in Estonia. WhatsApp. In 2012, to keep costs down, the company used offshore custom software development services from a team in Russia. Opera. To launch the product in a cost-efficient way, the company leveraged offshore custom software development from engineers in over 25 locations around the world.