Woes of IT Outsourcing

Benefits of Choosing a Local Software Company VS. Outsourcing Overseas.

So you have a database, website or software project that you want developed. Who should you have develop it? You can find very cheap options overseas. But as with any service, a lot of the time you get what you pay for. Before making a decision consider the following. A lot of companies I have worked with have outsourced overseas at some point and fully regretted it. Stating they felt like they didnt have control of the programming project and they were not getting the results they wanted. It can work if you have senior level IT programming staff in your office to plan everything and create complete project specifications (from database design to page/form layouts), but fully outsourcing a project can be a pain. And if you do have IT staff on hand to plan everything, why not just have them work on your project. Here are a few cons and "hidden costs" of working with overseas IT companies:

• Time Zone differences: There is a short window of common work time, and everything is delayed 24 hours. One team on the other side of the world may have to wait for the other team to wake up. When either engine is idling, it‘s burning fuel and wasting time. Both contribute to rising costs.
• Cultural differences and language barriers Development of a project takes constant dialog, and most of the teams overseas do not have perfect English or may not understand requirements if not clearly defined. It can be hard to communicate ideas over the phone or email in the first place, but it is even worse if you cannot understand an accent or tricky translation of words between languages. Any assumptions development teams have in the U.S may not apply overseas and you may find yourself saying: "I just assumed that they understood that was one of the requirements". Cultural differences can also impact a project in seemingly harmless ways. For example, in some cultures questioning authority is frowned upon; even though the offshore team may have a better solution, they may not broach it and instead just follow the specs.
• Slower response and resolution times: Response times can be slower with overseas developers. You want a change made and it can take days to get a response. Again this can be related to time zone issues. But some overseas companies are underdeveloped and there can be environmental factors getting in the way.
• Company closings and employee turnover: There is no guarantee that the company will stay in business, a lot of outsourcing arrangements are terminated when they run into financial difficulties or are acquired by other firms with different policies. Of course this can happen in the U.S. but our economy is stronger than some overseas countries. Also you will not be a world away if something like this happens. Employee turnover rates climb as high as 35 percent in India, according to the National Association of Software and Service Companies. If an employee that is working on your project leaves the company for whatever reason, there is more cost and time involved to teach a new employee the system.
• Loss of control: Outsourcing means giving up a lot of the control over management and processes, will they adapt to your changing needs?
• Customer service: Overseas outsourcing companies take on A LOT of projects at once. I take on only a few projects at once, giving you more personal experience. And you will always only talk to me, vs trying to explain the same issues over and over to different customer service representatives that answer the phone.
• Piracy and intellectual property: You are dealing with a different country with different laws, will your private data and ideas stay yours? If something happens to your intellectual property, the cost can be astronomical. You will need to investigate what security measures are in place to protect your data.
• Post deployment maintenance and support: Most likely you will receive an application and database that is written and documented in Hindi (or other language), and will have to go overseas again for any future changes. This is where SOME overseas teams will pad on hours at their lower rates for small changes (something that will take a US pro 1 hour, they will say took them 3 hours, costing more in the long run). And programs written overseas has a higher percentage rate of being "buggy", so chances are you will need them to make changes. This not because developers overseas are not as smart, they usually just do not have enough work experience, and managers are more focused on meeting deadlines than delivering a 100% quality product.
• Scandal: Of course U.S. companies are notorious for scandal. But one of the largest software development companies in India had a pretty large scandal. If you want you can lookup information on Satyam Computer Services.
• U.S. economy and job market issues: Another reason for the increasing opposition to outsourcing is the concern that the American economy will suffer since not only the low-paying jobs but the high-tech ones are moving away from America. There is also a concern that in the future, America will lose its edge as the technical leader.

Now I was not trying to bash other countries here. I respect and enjoy experiencing other cultures. It can just be difficult to WORK with a company in a country half way around the world with a different culture. If you work with Fronsee Technology Solutions (or probably other local companies), I will work with you, answer questions and explain what you need along the way. We can also meet in person and discuss everything if you are in San Diego or Southern California. I can work with you on cost. I want both parties to be happy with a reasonable cost and have you come back with any work in the future.