Offshore Development In A Global Company

Offshore Development in a Global Company

The Offshoring Decision

• Why investing in creating an offshore Branch if we can:– Work with an outsourcing vendor on

ODC basis– Work with an outsourcing vendor on

T&M basis– Work with an outsourcing vendor on

a project/fixed price basis

The Offshoring Decision

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In house vs. Outsourcing

The Offshoring Decision

• Expect internal opposition to the move– People will feel threatened

• Market the change to the onsite stuff– Advance in the career ladder by being

responsible of an Offshore team/group/project

– Focus on innovative and core activity and not the tedious repetitive work

– Gaining experience in a global company

Location, Location, Location

• Where do we open the branch:– Local Labor cost – Local Universities level and proximity– Local level of English– Corruption – is it feasible doing

business there? – Proximity to international airport– Number of High-Tech companies in the

region• HR Competition• IT Infrastructure

Onsite-Offshore Team Structure

• Horizontal (onsite management-offshore R&D):– High rate of interaction between onsite and

offshore teams– Bitterness of the offshore employees– Less productive

• Vertical (offshore management-offshore R&D)– Risk of loosing control

• Best Practice – vertical teams peripheral projects

Structured Development Process

• Well defined Development Process– Roles and responsibilities– Well defined documentation– Just enough documentation

• Agile Development / Light CMM

Choose Offshore Projects Wisely

• Not everything can and should be offshored!– Minimal interaction with onsite

groups– Well defined interfaces– Loosly-coupled architecture – SOA!

Cultural and Mentality Gaps

• This is the number one problem of offshore in general – a major hidden cost

• Acknowledge the fact that they don’t think, behave and act like us!

• Encourage social activity • Ambassadors exchange program (next…)• Cultivate corporate culture

– Procedures, Intranet and even blogs

• Positive Strengthening - encourage questions

Effective communication

• Number two problem of Offshore Development – yet another hidden cost

• Exchange ambassadors– Send offshore stuff for onsite training– Send team/group leaders to get to

know their offshore stuff– Send business analysts and project

Managers to offshore – Send offshore stuff to customers

Effective Communication

• Every communication tool has its pros and cons – use all of them wisely:– Documentation – E-mails– Voice calls– Audio conferencing– Video Conferencing– Instant Messaging– Wiki– Web Demo Systems (such as WebEX)

Fighting Attrition Rate

• This is the number three problem of offshoring projects – again – hidden cost

• Attrition rate is very high in developing countries

• Provide on-going trainings, preferably ones with world-wide certification

• Provide titles for employees to make them feel significant

• Create personal programs for employees– Housing, Loans– Cars

Q&A

Q&AAviram Eisenberg

[email protected]+972 52 6005161

www.igniteoutsourcing.com