Off Shore development has become an issue that all IT organizations need to address, whether they use those
services or not. The issues that must be understood are not those of global trade but of whether IT can deliver the "Promise."
IT must understand its value to the organization and the cost structure for its operation. In
those attempts to understand the IT mission, they must also understand what are core competencies and key weaknesses as well. All of
these concepts feed into any decision to off shore a project.
To outsource - that is the question
- Is this a key IT delivery issue? I do not like to release control on a KEY issue, but I may still outsource it
if I beleive that the contractor can deliver AND I can keep a close eye on their progress...
- What is the corporate competency relating to software development?
- What are the corporate sensitivity to security issues?
- Is the application a one off or could we buy it?
- What is the price sensitivity?
- What is the standard relationship with contractors?
Dynamics of the project
- Communication is key. Most project fail because of communications breakdowns in the concept phases, failure to articulate
constraints in the design phase or poor implementation/follow up. If there is an organizational issue with communications, it
will be exacerbated with any outsourced project.
- Manageable pieces - can the units of work be partitioned effectively and their resulting integration be tested to ensure
that the integration is successful? If you can not conceive of the project in small peices the success may be difficult anyway.
- Schedule concerns - if there is a tight schedual on a project, then off shoring it may be a bad idea.
There are additional steps that are naturally inserted in the hand-off process to get work completed. Those steps take time. Therefore,
unless there is the budget to cover a much wider team effort.
- Costs While cost may be the primary reason to off shore a project, a focus on apparent cost exclusive of a real sense the the
resulting products will be usable is very dangerous. Any project that does not deliver is costly indeed...
Some keys to effective Off Shore Projects
- Get a local partner that fronts the off shore work. The local partner must be able to communication effectively and you must trust them
to deliver as a front to the off shore team. The local partner can then deal with the dynamics of the off-shore team. Additionally, they are
working to make sure that the project schedule and deliverables stay on time with the cushion they need to confirm that intermediate results.
- Do not let language be an issue. Make sure everyone understands the goals and issues relating to the project.
Language and cultural issues can be very different in off shore projects. The dynamics of a
sassy internal programmer challanging the assumptions of the project is not likely in most outsourced projects but is
VERY unlikely when the project is sent off shore. Everyone must focus on clearly articulating what they really mean thatthe system
should do and HOW it must do it if there are constraints.
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