Outsourcing development outside UK - pros and cons
Many companies are developing relationships with outsourcing companies. Corporates are managing development by bringing in Business Analysts and producing highly detailed requirements to Indian development houses, and small businesses are hiring staff from online exchanges, such as Elance or Odesk.
We’ve experienced both scenarios within our business, and also acted as an outsourcing agency in that regard to our clients. We believe that there is definitely a place for outsourcing, but that the key is not that you outsource, but what you outsource and how you do it.
Expertise
It’s often overlooked that the skills that are outsourced require a certain amount of expertise. We have in-house expertise to manage any outsourcing requirements, but the worst thing to find is when outsourcing is taken on without the understanding to be able to manage the quality and properly test what is returned.
There are many things that have been good and many things that haven’t worked. Here’s a quick checlist of pros and cons to help you figure out whether it’s right for your project.
Pros
- Genuinely cheaper daily rates
- More resource and more available resource
- Quick turnaround times
- Will often accommodate changes more readily (generally for a fee)
- You get what you ask for (!)
Cons
- You get what you ask for - if you don’t scope properly and provide a comprehensive specification, you will end up with an incomplete product
- Quality can be very hard to assess
- Design work (for websites especially) can sometimes be of a significantly low standard that it’s better to design in the UK
- Following accepted methodologies (agile, Prince2, UML etc) is no guarantee of ability
- Can be difficult to manage remotely
- Relationship between yourself and supplier can be very complex
- Language can cause an issue (if the supplier does not have a native English speaker for example
- There are a lot of companies out there, and not all of them are good - finding a good one is worth taking time over
Is this your experience?
We are experienced in this area, and these are just some of the things that we take into account when looking at outsourcing outside the UK. It can definitely work, just go in with your eyes open!
Paul you make an interesting comment about testing, I know a number of large companies who have outsourced both development and testing, sometimes to the same company!
October 22nd, 2008 at 10:10 amThis is just a recipe for disaster as you are letting go of any real control over the final product.
Sam - outsourcing testing to someone else? That’s a big recipe for disaster! It’s the one thing you need to be in control of to ensure that what you get is what you asked for.
You are right though - control is the most important thing and that’s why outsourcing is so tough.
October 22nd, 2008 at 10:48 amWe have a different system at overnightapps.com. We create an app immediately that users can start using and testing. and in place they can note customizations. It builds trust immediately, and makes clients almost responsible for the entire cycle.
October 22nd, 2008 at 9:56 pmYou can visit http://www.iplazza.eu for Free computer based trainings: eg
PRINCE2 Process Model Training
October 23rd, 2008 at 5:58 amPRINCE2 Process Model PodCast
PRINCE2 Introduction
PRINCE2 Processes
Suggest to Start with the PRINCE2 Introduction and then the Process Model Training
Michael - interesting and I like the idea, although that requires a system that can have a build every night, or has a significant amount of infrastructure already built in. When you start to look at corporate level IT, it just isn’t possible unless you start with an expensive, already built app.
October 23rd, 2008 at 9:01 amFrank - While I like Prince2 (I am certified as a Prince2 PM) I have seen situations where Prince2 is used rigidly (and correctly) and outsourcing still fails. I have also seen very poor project management with outsourcing succeeding.
Prince2 imho is no guarantee of quality or success - it’s just a useful framework.
October 23rd, 2008 at 9:03 amInteresting post. Good discussion about do’s and dont’s about outsourcing.Thanks for the information.
October 23rd, 2008 at 2:06 pm