Can you give me an example of a recent project that you outsourced offshore?
In a recent project we had a tight deadline and a very busy team. To help get the project started we sliced off a piece of development and engaged a local project manager to have an Indian development company implement that part of the project.
Overall the experience was marginally successful. The cost of employing the project manager negated the less expensive hourly rate of Indian developers, meaning that commercially there wasn't really any advantage to doing this.
The quality of the code delivered was probably on par with an average developer in Wellington. We were fortunate that our project manager had experience dealing with this Indian provider before and this helped overcome the communication difficulties that usually handicap these sorts of arrangements.
What are some of the different ways you've found the companies or individuals that you've outsourced work to offshore? And how have you assessed that they'd be a good fit for the work you needed done and that you could work well together?
We've either found people through personal connections or the free international job marketplace of indeed.com. In several cases we've contracted someone from overseas and given them a small starter project to work on with us. This gives us a chance to test the relationship and the competence of the individual.
So, for example, late last year we got in touch with a developer in Argentina and worked remotely on several small projects with her. We enjoyed working with her and were delighted to hear that she was interested in moving to New Zealand. Now she's on her way over here to Wellington to work with us on a fulltime basis in our office. I think that's a great example of how outsourcing can provide benefits beyond just a lower hourly rate.
Once you've established an outsourcing relationship offshore, what's been your experience of making the partnership work on an ongoing basis?
Keeping the relationship going is really hard and it requires work from both parties. I think frequent communication is the key. In some cases we're the outsource provider for clients in Australia and the US. I'm well aware that in these situations I need to be on my game when it comes to organising regular video conferences and keeping the customer updated at all times.
So how have those Australian and US clients connected with you to outsource their work?
We've connected with them through referrals from our own personal networks or, more rarely, through our website. Obviously referrals result in a much longer and beneficial relationship, though. Protip: Make lots of friends.
What would be three key pieces of advice you'd have for making outsourcing offshore work?
1. Leverage the excellent reputation that New Zealand has internationally. In a lot of cases skilled overseas contractors will go the extra mile just to have the chance to work with a New Zealand business, so look for people who are motivated by this.
2. Use collaborative web tools like Trello, Dropbox, Google Drive, Hipchat, Skype, Harvest and so on to make sure everyone is working from the same page.
3. Have a process about how the engagement is going to work, stick to that process and don't be afraid to enforce that process.
Coming up in Your Business: What's happening in the franchising market and what tips do some small business franchisees have for success? If you've got a story to tell as a small business franchisee, drop me a note: nzhsmallbusiness@gmail.com
