Software Sweatshop

Cutting costs is on everyone's mind these days. But before you ship software work over to a 3rd world country, think long and hard... Many companies aren't happy with their offshore team. This is the first in a string of posts about how to find, evaluate, and select a reliable offshore software development team. So if you're thinking about outsourcing software engineering work, listen up...

Outsourcing isn't for everyone. You can't send work overseas and expect to get a quality product without investing a lot of time into it. There are a few steps to outsourcing success: 1) selecting the right vendor 2) Getting executive support  and involvement 3) developing specs 4) having a long-term mentality 5) gettting them up to speed on your industry 6) establishing clear communication guidelines 7) having a good QA plan in place.

Choosing the Right Outsourcing Company

Finding a reliable vendor is probably the hardest part in the whole process of working with an offshore team. There is no shortage of outsourcing companies in India, Russia, Philippines, Vietnam, Ukraine, etc. So how do you actually go about finding an offshore vendor? Ryan Norbauer has a good primer finding outsourcing companies The bottom line is that you have to find someone that you can trust. You have to trust that they can get the job done. You have to trust that they will do what they say they'll do. You have to trust that they'll admit their mistakes. You have to trust that they're technically competent. You have to trust that they actually understand you. Nobody said it's easy...

Global sourcing is great (and profitable), if you approach it with the sophistication it deserves.   Here are a few ways to find the right team.

Thought Leadership - The best way to find a solid offshore team is to look for thought leaders in your field. Are experts in a specific technology or within a certain vertical? Do they publish articles for trade journals, speak at conferences, and blog about their experiences? Are they established experts in their fields? Are they leading the discussion around your industry, the problems you're facing, and solutions they've implemented? If they are, then you've found what you're looking for.

Referrals - Another good way to find your offshore team is to get a referral from a friend. If you're working with someone 10,000 miles away, wouldn't you want to know that they have a solid reputation? Some of our most solid clients came from referrals from current clients or friends. Needless to say, these relationships are usually built on mutual trust and respect.

Freelance Sites - Finding developers on sites like Elance, Odesk, Rentacoder, etc. look easy, but it's kind of a last resort. Ideally, you want to meet your team, or at least talk to them. In our early days, we looked for projects on these sites, but it was difficult to find the large, complex projects that we really wanted to get our hands on. I'm not 100% sure, but I have a hunch that if you have a complex software project and you post it on one of these sites, you'll get a lot of bids with no real way of knowing who to actually choose.

Meet Them - If you're reading this blog, you probably know that I own a Chicago outsourcing company. Most of our deals come from me actually meeting entrepreneurs and tech execs in person. They're based on a trust in our abilities and experience. I think it's safe to say that one of the reasons that we've grown is that we have a local presence, or a "throat to choke", if you will. 

Read - Read blogs, discussion forums, articles, white papers, presentations, etc. to get a feel for how the vendor thinks. Do they have experience in certain verticals? Are they problem solvers or just a body shop? What is their corporate culture? It helps to know how a company thinks long before you ever contact them. Needless to say, this blog is a way of promotion my own outsourcing company, but more than that, it's a way to provide insight. We've seen way too many offshore deals fail because  complicitly sit on the sidelines.