Best Practices and check in Offshore engagements

So many times and in so many research's do we here outsourcing companies executive say one of the things below

1. The Software developed by offshore vendor was not up to the mark
2. Testing done by offshore partner was not complete
3. The project was not delivered on time
4. Too much management bandwidth was used in offshore engagement
5. We never got benefits we anticipated from offshore engagement
6. The engagement was a flop show

Offshore engagement just like marriage or any new relation needs to be nurtured with defined, measurable expectation of acceptable deliverables.

The two most important things which can go wrong in an outsourcing engagement include

1. Choosing an offshore vendor who is not apt to fulfilling the project requirement due to lack of
   
• Technical knowledge
  
• Immature processes
  
• People resources
  
• Management bandwidth
• Effective communication process
2. Inefficient project management and non adherence to schedule, leading to escalating cost and time slippage
   

This blog is an attempt to put forward few right things which can prevent an offshore outsourcing engagement from going awry

10 Point checklist for Outsourcing success

1. Define scope and deliverable from outsourcing engagement
   
• Defining expectation from an outsourcing engagement including
  
• What to outsource
• Why to outsource
  
• Who will drive the outsourcing initiative
• Time line to measure outsourcing success
• Expected benefits from outsourcing
  
2. Define measurable success factor
• Define metrics in discussion with Internal stake holder
• Share the success factor metrics with outsourcing vendor, metrics should never be prepared in isolation
• Outsourcing vendor, with experience would be best to validate success metrics. At the end of the day, transparency in engagement always pays.
  
3. Religious reference check of vendor
• Reference check of shortlisted vendors to understands how they have worked in past
  
• Look specifically for how outsourcing vendors had managed project challenges
  
4. Requirement definition and Tracking
   
• "If I have 8 hours to cut the tree, I would spend 7 hours in sharpening my axe", Offshore engagement fail because of unmanaged requirement. I an event where requirement can not be frozen Xtrement programming mode, or Agile mode of development, or pair programming should be encouraged. But give a chance, requirement should be frozen and modular development encouraged
  
5. Project schedule tracking
   
• You cannot improve, what you cannot measure and track. Strong project management skills on part of offshore vendor and from client side, to check project schedule. Project reports, review should be done periodically.
  
6. Agile mode of development, with continuous testing
   
• For software with fewer bugs, continuous testing as development proceeds is always recommended.
  
7. Defining review frequency
• Project review and meeting between different stakeholder at a period not later than every week, to ensure problems if any in project completions are nipped in bud.
  
8. Test Driven Development
   
• Development team should perform unit tests of their programming work. Tests should be written first, before the feature is implemented. Writing the test first helps clarify what the software should do.
  
9. Proper documentation of bugs and development process
• One of the most important feature, which ensures that support and maintenance problems do not go over head
  
10. Knowledge transfer
• Should include
  
• Design document
• Coding guidelines
• Problem and resolution option
• Installation instructions and architectural documents that can facilitate the learning process and enable client team to deploy and support software
  

Off shoring can help cut down cost, augment staff, faster time to market but choosing the right outsourcing vendor and using a checklist to control outsourcing engagement is also very important.

Blue Star Infotech, has been in the business of Offshore development, support and maintenance services for its clients for the past 23 years. Contact Blue Star Infotech to ensure that your outsourcing engagements are success and not a nightmare.