Software Sweatshop

"I've f@#%ing had it... I'm about to throw in the towel with outsourcing"

Here's what we've noticed; it's soooo hard for the SMB market to find good offshore development partners. An unfortunate consequence of the offshore outsourcing boom in India. As more and more companies sent work offshore, the really good developers got hired by desirable employers like Big Blue, Microsoft, Infosys, and a myriad of smaller firms. Add that to the fact that turnover is such a bloody problem, it's no wonder that so many smaller firms are disgruntled with their offshore partners. Another reality is that you've worked with your offshore partner for years, but all of a sudden they gets larger clients, or get bought out by another firm... all of a sudden you're a small fish in a big pond. Not to mention the fact that you're being billed for a senior developer when your dog could do better quality work.

There's such a need for software and IT outsourcing among smaller firms, less reputable companies with shotty track records are filling the void. So even though they're unhappy, clients are left with few options. And since it's so hard to discern who you can trust and who you can't, chances are that most likely you won't be satisfied with the first vendor that you work with. Case in point:

http://www.geeknewscentral.com/archives/007340.html

The fact is that you're probably not going to find the perfect offshore partner the first time... but guess what? THAT'S OK.  An offshore relationship is all about trust and committment. Expecting to find the perfect offshore partner is like expecting to find your soul mate on a blind date. To protect yourself as a smaller firm, make sure that you get referrals from people you trust. If you're outsourcing a finite project (perhaps a website or a shopping cart) then you can use companies like Elance, RentaCoder, etc. But if you're trying to create a fullblown product, you need to be a bit more judicious. Try segmenting your project out and evaluating not only the technical skills of the vendor, but how responsive they are, how they respond to deadlines, and how they deal with unforseen obstacles. You want to look for progress, not perfection. Software sweatshops are everywhere, but with good judgement, you can avoid getting burned.

Small and medium businesses, startups, and ISV's need to find someone they can grow with to help them innovate. Lift and shift will not produce innovation.