Outsourcing Q&A

Starting small as a test on skill, professionalism and attitude is the best first step.

The whole probation (or prove your worth) thing applies to most new contractor experiences, as it would in the traditional word too.

Hi Fleur, we've been outsourcing technology work overseas for several years. The experience differs depending on the type of project. I think the most important thing for successful outsourcing is to develop the policies & procedures *in-house* rather than outsourcing to a team and hoping for the best. There are people with success stories of outsourcing to a "company" overseas, but anecdotally I can tell you they're far outweighed by stories of heartbreak and misery.

Basically, if you don't know how to do something (or at least know the basics of how it works), it's going to be very hard for you to consistently get good results when outsourcing. This is the value that a "local expert" can add - either as a consultant or a separate business - when getting your project outsourced.

It's very easy for miscommunication to creep in, and for projects to seem on track when they're completely not on track.

Hiring is hard to get right, but if you put in the yards you can get amazing people who deliver very high quality work consistently.

Anything and everything that some-one else can do better or more efficiently providing it doesn't compromise the integrity of your business and level of service to your clients. Front line customer related activity are the ones which are higher risk to outsource.

Non frontline customer related tasks as much less risky to outsource.

Great question Hazel! We know that we can't do it all ourselves, but the first step is always the hardest. Love to hear what other savvies come back with! :)

Henrik Hi,

Having just appointed an OS development company to build a new Software application, here's my learnings:

1. Issue a detailed RFP for your project, requesting key points of information in the response, to include: Recent clients, recent sample work, detailed profiles of the team members who will work on your project, number of projects the vendor currently has in progress, what is the value of these projects, how many other new projects will the vendor be starting during the period of your development. 
2. As part of the RFP provide a detailed scope for your project and request that the vendors responding to the RFP work up circa 5 pages of the site (best you identify the 5 pages, so you can compare the results easily later)
3. Ask the vendors to write some code against a brief so you can access their approach and audit their coding capability.
4. Speak with references, if possible ensure some of these references have used the vendor for projects of a similar size to the one you are looking to place.
5. Request for confirmation of accreditations, e.g. Microsoft Gold partner, and ensure you cross check these with the partner.
6. Request a copy of the contract the vendor will be expecting you to sign if you appoint them. Key points to look for in the contract are around ownership of the final source code and how this will be transferred to you, with no copies retained by the vendor.

That's hopefully given you some direction, my advice would be stick with it as you are likely to generate significant savings. On the project I"m currently outsourcing the cost will be circa 30% of what Australian development teams where quoting on alike for like basis.

Matthew,

I have seen this in some of my previous work experiences, however, I think it vastly depends on how well you vet or verify the people you outsource work. I believe that you you conduct your due diligence you're more likely to find a good long term partner. The next part is working on that professional relationship in an ongoing manner. Constantly working on the relationship helps surface areas of frustration before they lead to problems (like them trying to steal your clients).

Speaking specifically about one of my ventures, children's books. I can say I did my due diligence in getting a solid illustrator. I've worked with him on a platform for about a year. Then we took it off that platform so he could give me better pricing and make a bit more money himself. We've been working together for almost 2 years now and it is a great relationship.

If you're looking to find skilled workers, then oDesk/Elance are not ideal as you probably know. Granted, there are some excellent contractors there, but you'll likely have to wade through quite a bit of less than ideal candidates to get to them. Take a look at Hubstaff - they have time tracking like oDesk but it's not an open job site for finding work. They only recommend contractors that they have retained in the past so you know you're getting quality