Ways to Keep Software Outsourcing Engagements on Track

Outsourcing is a cost-effective solution, especially in the software development industry, where rates for onshore teams can be sky-high. However, one of the challenges for businesses working with an outsourcing partner is engagement.

Outsourcing engagement has many hurdles, the least of which is overcoming issues related to different times. Even working in similar time zones, the development process can breakdown without ongoing practices that sustain engagement.

Below we'll discuss the pros and cons of staff augmentation models and how you can get the most out of outsourcing software development. We'll cover what your in-house team members need to know and what you need to communicate to your outsourcing team to promote more robust outsourcing engagement.

1. Good Business Processes Start at Home

Working with a remote partner will never work in the long term if your in-house team members don't understand the development process. Project managers should ensure that the in-house team understands:

• How the development process leads towards achieving business goals

• How their work integrates with that of the outsourcing team

• The purpose of the software product

• Why the outsourcing engagement is critical

• How to communicate with the software outsourcing company

• The pros and cons of outsourcing models (and how to address the cons)

Project managers must work as if in-house team members and the software outsourcing company are working under one roof. It's no use using nearshore outsourcing models to work in similar time zones if you don't make full use of that advantage. It means that whatever you communicate to your partner must also be in the communications to your team members, and vice versa.

Furthermore, team members should fully understand how the software development projects they put hours into will achieve the company's business goals and benefit them. Communicating this mutual benefit can promote engagement within the team: people work smarter and communicate more effectively when they understand that they will also benefit in the long term.

2. Strong Project Managers Are Vital

The staff augmentation model is a profitable outsourcing strategy, but it requires deft management to succeed.

Successful product development rests on your project managers coordinating the development process between in-house team members and your outsourcing partner. You need project managers at both ends. Someone needs to be personally coordinating software development projects at your software outsourcing company, and that individual needs to be on the same page as your in-house project managers.

Good communication between project managers means that:

• You can keep up to speed on issues with product development.

• You have channels to coordinate a response between in-house team members and staff working on the outsourced projects.

• You won't have the outsourcing team fixing the same problem as your regular team using a different method.

• You've set realistic expectations for meeting business goals and constantly re-assess these goals.

• In the long term, your software product will be the result of streamlined product development.

Project managers working at your software outsourcing company are every bit as important as the project managers who work for you directly. A successful outsourcing strategy recognizes that you are working with an outsourcing partner, and your business goals are their business goals.

The development process is more remarkable still when you utilize project managers in your outsourcing team to their full potential.

3. Partners in the Short and Long Term

To hammer home to point, treating your outsourcing partner with the respect they deserve means treating their team members as partners in your business goals. Their success is your success and vice versa.

Successful software development projects cannot be successful when you have team members who don't care about the development process and see no long-term benefit in it for them.

It is why staff augmentation is such an intuitive outsourcing strategy: it recognizes that the remote team is your staff.

It's not the simple convenience of working in similar time zones. The staff augmentation outsourcing strategy relies on business owners and project managers recognizing that the development process won't work without team members committed to outsourced projects.

The benefit of nearshore models like this is that you can continue to work with a software outsourcing company in the long term. Future outsourced projects will benefit from having project managers who mutually understand your business processes and team members who show passion for product development because it is in their long-term interest.

The pros and cons of outsourcing models like staff augmentation often hinge on mutual respect, so don't let this item go overlooked.

4. Use Diagrams & Developer Tools to Overcome Language Barriers

Diagrams and paper prototype models are a vital part of product development in software development projects. They are also helpful in an outsourcing strategy such as staff augmentation, as they can help overcome language barriers that team members may experience.

A software product developer is a developer, regardless of which time zones they work in and what their native language is. They will recognize the same methodologies and be able to interpret the same diagrams to ensure better software product development.

Project managers should utilize tools and methods that the outsourcing team will recognize as part of their work. It can help to convey business goals better and harmonize business processes.

Shared electronic calendars are also a must. Product development charts and diaries can use shorthand notes intelligible in both languages to indicate problems and suggest product development solutions. This promotes communication between team members in your long-term in-house staff and your outsourcing team.

5. Use the Agile Development Methodology

Agile product development doesn't just work when you can all be in the same room. It's an essential component of many outsourcing models, including staff augmentation.

With agile methods, you can achieve software development frameworks and practices that evolve with a project. You can benefit from cross-functional teams collaborating and refining the goals and completing tasks that work toward the same end.

An outsourced development process benefits from using agile product development because:

• It improves communication between in-house team members and staff from your software outsourcing company.

• It encourages identifying and addressing problems collectively.

• It enables your outsourcing partner to identify themselves as a crucial part of software development projects and not simply an outsourcing engagement.

• It encourages team members from your outsourcing team to communicate the pros and cons of product development or various tasks. Your in-house team may have missed these, and without the agile method, your outsourcing partner may be hesitant to identify these issues freely.

• It necessitates continuous communication, which is vital to the success of staff augmentation teams.

• It helps build and maintain communications between project managers at home and in the outsourcing team.

• It aids with harmonizing time management between time zones by working in sprints instead of setting vague long-term goals and hoping the outsourcing team ends up in the same place.

Outsourcing software development works when you implement the same business processes in all time zones. The agile methodology sustains this in the long term.

6. Use Continuous Integration and Test Like Your Life Depends on It

Continuous integration is an agile outsourcing strategy that streamlines software development projects by automating the integration of code. It's so valuable for the staff integration outsourcing strategy because it means that all code by developers in all time zones inheres through automatic integration at set intervals. As well, it incorporates routine testing for efficiency and bugs.

As any developer knows, having multiple teams working on the development process can be a nightmare without continuous integration. More code is usually a bad thing, and more code by different parties who aren't communicating effectively means that product development in the long term risks broken or missing code, bugs, and other issues when it goes to market.

Furthermore, you need to test and test until it seems ludicrous that you're still testing. Otherwise, you can kiss goodbye to your business goals. Of course, you only need to test the software you create and not the software you use for your software development process. Some overenthusiastic agile fans skip the pros and cons of testing software and get a little trigger-happy.

Still, relentless testing with continuous integration is the best way to ensure that team members are communicating properly and that the final software product won't bug out. It's especially vital with outsourced projects.

7. Discuss Expectations with Your Outsourcing Partner from the Start

Outsourced projects work best when all parties are honest and realistic. Your outsourcing engagement will benefit from starting with a very frank conversation between project managers about what everyone can achieve in what timeframe realistically.

You don't want to work with a software outsourcing company that promises you the moon in the long term without having actionable steps for delivering on that promise. Expectations need to go through analysis, agreement, and constant re-assessment.

Start by having project managers analyze your business goals and the capabilities of team members. Are they a realistic match-up? Your outsourcing strategy should make realism a priority, and you need an outsourcing partner who is also honest and realistic.

The development process only works in staff augmentation if everyone has the same business goals, regardless of time zones or language barriers. Your long-term goals should be the same, and your short-term understanding of how product development is proceeding should always be in sync.

Conclusion: Outsourcing Engagements

The staff augmentation model works as well as the people implementing it. You'll notice that we haven't made communication a distinct point—why? Communication between you and your outsourcing partner underpins every single point outlined above.

Communicate well and communicate often. If you do this, working with an outsourcing team is a fantastic way to achieve your business goals.

Contact us to learn more about how staff augmentation can help you.