Guide to Outsourcing 1: Overview of Outsourcing Software Development
Summary
Conventionally, outsourcing software development consists of searching through the overwhelming number of offshore candidates to for a reliable vendor to send your software development project to.
An abundance of these offshore development teams are located in India and China, and as of late Eastern Europe is becoming more popular as well.
Many of these firms offer developers at incredibly low rates, but have other downfalls that anyone considering outsourcing their software projects should consider. Overseas representatives may not be that easy to communicate with due to cultural and language barriers, may work at odd hours and may not have a full grasp of your business objective; these are only a few of the reasons that offshore developers and outsourcing software development have been getting bad press.
Low quality assurance standards and a lack of enforceability of contracts make conventional software outsourcing potentially harrowing and very difficult to execute successfully. However if you do manage to find an offshore development partner you may greatly benefit from access to a highly talented and virtually limitless talent pool at a lower cost than local programmers.
Logistics:
Typically communication is done through Voice over IP, Instant messenger services, and email, however webcam and other software make meeting “virtually face to face” possible as well. There are also various project management software packages available to facilitate communication and reporting.
Coding can take place on your network or theirs depending on your agreement. Typically all intellectual property remains your property, although with countries like China, this can be historically difficult to enforce.
By far the most common model for outsourced development are dedicated software developers, or a dedicated seat model, where you have an offshore developer working directly for you as part of your existing team. This can be handy to assign non crucial tasks such as maintenance and leave your in house team to the more critical assignments.
Alternatively:
Another option for software development outsourcing is where medium size and larger companies outsource work to smaller local firms when overflow occurs.
This has the advantage of the peace of mind of working with a local firm, where if things go wrong, there are contracts in place, and the ability to meet face to face. This model is significantly less risky, but as with most reduced risk opportunities, the payoff isn’t as large in terms of cost savings.
Conclusion:
In either case, outsourcing software development is here to stay, as so many North American firms can’t resist the financial and labor resource payoffs and demand is soaring. The companies that can offer risk reduced services while still offering a cost savings will come out as the market leaders in this competitive industry.
Laurel Lindsay is the founder and president of Small Planet Software International. A Calgary based Risk Free, Quality Guaranteed Software Outsourcing Firm which provides Local representation and Offshore Access.
Contact Small Planet Software International today to discuss how an offshore development team can benefit you.
See also:
Questions to Ask Before Outsourcing Your Software Development
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Offshore Software Development Teams
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Read about some of our past projects.
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