TechWadi and WadiMarket and Entrepreneurship03 Apr 2008 05:11 pm

Should I outsource development?

spunkymasala

Outsourcing

In recent years there has been an amalgamation of many outsourcing marketplaces directed at entrepreneurs for hiring web development and design folks. Is this the right solution?

The answer depends on what you are trying to do, what you are willing to accept, what price point willing to offer, and what trade offs you are willing to make.

So what are you trying to do?

Is innovative technology a key component of your business offering? In general the success of a business based on specialized competitive technology requires a more innovative, carefully screened and informed team which will drive up the costs. If you skip this step, you could be faced with major delays and/or frustration and lack of completion.

If innovative technology is not a key component of your business offering and your unique selling proposition revolves around a new use case or better user experience of existing tech tools, you can create a fully functioning prototype quickly and cheaply by using a outsourcing firm that allocates its design/development resources across a variety of projects. Since such firms split man hours across projects, they tend to be much cheaper alternatives to outsourcing a team.

What performance you will accept?

Two major barriers when working with outsourcing teams are communication barriers and skills scarcity. The communication barriers can be caused by cultural issues, timezone issues, lack of face-to-face non-verbal cues, and lack of clear specification on your part. Sometimes these differences can be very subtle and go uncaught, until results prove otherwise. It is always a good idea to allow time for several iterations.

Skills scarcity can occur simply because of the different business environment abroad. This can mean differences in the technologies/platforms that are popular. It can also mean less experience and understanding of basics like US specific look and feel especially since what works for the business needs of their more local clients may not work for you

but the good news is…

that none of the cons are real barriers.

There are a variety of outsourcing options out there. Cast a wide net and make first cuts based on level of communication you are willing to accept. Post first cuts hire an outsourcing consultant from the culture of the outsourcing firm to coach you on specs and first few conversations with outsourcing firm. My friend Abdulrahman Rafiq provides this service.

You could also hire an internal team known for their communication skills to delegate or to get more ears on your interactions with the firms to make sure more people catch possible miscommunication earlier. Make sure to choose people who are patient.

When faced with skills scarcity question your assumptions. How important is one platform compared to others for your product? Can you compromise with something which has only slight limitations but a big pool of low cost outsourcing resources. Be creative about your process and execution. There are many different ways to slice the outsourcing baby to make it work for you. Here are a few I have heard about:

Outsourcing marketplaces

For coding and some design –

For design–

99designs. I have had technical issues with their site though.

Kluster–fairly new about 3 weeks old at time of this posting. Founder Ben Kaufman says about 10k users and majority of them are graphic designers. I have had technical issues with their site as well.

Programmer Meet Designer–what it sounds like.

Can you think of any options I am missing? If so comment below.

Had prior experience outsourcing? Got helpful tips? Do share on my facebook group associated with outsourcing (Ultralight Startups).

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