7 things to consider before outsourcing software development

http://johnreel.com/blog/2008/08/01/considering-outsourcing-development/#comments

by JohnReel • 18 years ago

10 3 18 years ago

adrianwaj• 18 years ago

Well worth the read, but I don't know why you linked to a comment...

There'd also be people that engage in outsourcing arbitrage: present as an outsourcer to a client and then outsource directly to others with the requirements.

rdj• 18 years ago

1st Bob: What you do at Initech is you take the specifications from the customer and bring them down to the software engineers?

Tom: Yes, yes that's right.

2nd Bob: Well then I just have to ask why can't the customers take them directly to the software people?

Tom: Well, I'll tell you why... because... engineers are not good at dealing with customers...

1st Bob: So you physically take the specs from the customer? Tom: Well... No. My secretary does that... or they're faxed.

2nd Bob: So then you must physically bring them to the software people?

Tom: Well... No. ah sometimes.

1st Bob: What would you say you do here?

pjackson• 18 years ago

The slant of this article seems to be mostly steering people away from outsourcing. I understand the motivation, but I disagree in some cases.

Outsourcing is always a touchy topic with hackers and techies like me. Nobody likes to consider sending work offshore that they themselves either used to do, or at least consider critical to their business.

My take on outsourcing is: Don't Outsource Your Brains.

My meaning is: it's useful to outsource pieces of your business that are not core to your strategy. HR, Benefits Management, Software Testing, and Development can all be candidates for outsourcing under some circumstances.

If you're a software or technology company, it may not be a good idea to outsource development. Or, it could be a good idea to outsource implementation of the mundane, easy parts of your application after your Chief Architect has put a solid framework together, so that he or she can move on to solving tougher problems.

If you're a t-shirt printing company, then outsourcing your e-commerce, SEO, and other technical functions could be a great idea, so you can focus on making the business of printing t-shirts better.

Shoot. I am a techie, and I think S3 and EC2 are great ways to get a business started at a low cost. Because managing infrastructure is not my core competence.

It was a great read, thanks.

7 things to consider before outsourcing software development

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