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OFFSHORE DEVELOPMENT PROS & CONS |
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> The benefits and risks of offshore outsourcing |
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Offshore Outsourcing: The Benefits and Risks
by Ed Yourdon, Howard Rubin, and Navyug Mohnot, executive
director of the Quality Assurance Institute (India)
"Picture this: While you're busily trying to manage yet another
application development project that's six months behind schedule, the
marketing VP of an Indian outsourcing firm is meeting with your CIO
upstairs in the executive conference room. " 'How many development people do you have in your organization?' the
marketing VP asks. 'Three hundred? Fine, no problem. We'll dedicate 300 of
our people in Bangalore to work on your projects. We'll replicate your
hardware, your operating system, your database, and network environment,
and whatever procedures and methodologies you're using. You can be
confident that we'll do all of this properly, because we're ISO-9000
certified, and we just got an SEI level-4 assessment.' " 'So what you're telling me,' the CIO says, a smile spreading from one
ear to the other, 'is that I don't have to deal with the visa problems and
headaches of having a bunch of low-cost programmers camping out here at my
own facility - and I don't have to try to achieve the cost savings on a
project-by-project basis. I can move the entire software development
organization overseas, and cut my costs in half. Is that what you're
telling me?' " 'Absolutely,' says the marketing VP. 'Trust me!' "
-- Ed Yourdon, from Offshore Outsourcing: The Benefits
and Risks
Is your software development project behind schedule and over
budget? Why not send the whole project overseas, to a vendor in India --
or another country where programmers are paid a fraction of what they earn
in North America or Europe?
Proponents of offshore outsourcing argue that it saves them money and
helps them cut time to market, avoid capital expenditures, and access a pool
of programmers with specialized skills, rather than having to train in-house
people or hire new employees.
Opponents of outsourcing make strong claims of their own. As information
becomes a more and more important asset, companies may find that outsourcing
their application development is giving away the store. Others may encounter
problems with less-than-competent vendors, or unexpected logistical or
cultural barriers.
Offshore Outsourcing: The Benefits and Risks can help you weigh
the pros and cons, and come to a decision on outsourcing that is right for
you and your organization.
Based on a 1996 issue of Ed Yourdon's newsletter Application Development Strategies,
this report draws on software benchmarking research conducted by Yourdon and
Dr. Howard Rubin, editor of IT
Metrics Strategies.
It explains why languages (both computer and spoken) are among the most
important factors in outsourcing, while ISO 9000 certification and a high
SEI rating are among the least important. It discusses the political element
of outsourcing, as it affects the potential loss of jobs. And it includes a
list of 7 outsourcing vendors and sources, complete with phone and fax
numbers and e-mail addresses.
Offshore Outsourcing also features an outline approach, first
presented by Dr. Rubin in IT
Metrics Strategies, for using metrics to assess an outsourcing project,
including an "oversight metrics control panel." Finally, it includes an
article published in American
Programmer by Navyug Mohnot of India's Quality Assurance Institute,
describing the high level of development expertise now available in India. |
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