Hi All, In response to the recent posts about hiring developers, I'd just like to report on my experiences of working with outsourced development.
We have been working with in-house and contract developers here in Sydney for 7 years (since starting the business in 2002), but when we were looking at building a new web-based product in 2009, we found that we could not find the skills we need within our budget (familiar story!) - so we started looking at the outsourced (off-shore) development path. We wrote a short (3-4pages) product summary, and started emailing and looking at firms ... and we had a huge range of responses. Ultimately, I think you get what you pay for, and you need to be clear as to what you want. We had a lot of offers of developers ... (hire two - here's their Skype ID and go to it) - this is the cheapest way, but you need to be able to do the project management day to day. If that's what you want, posting on e-lance or Guru or the other job boards will give you that. We had a couple of offers of developers + project management ... but with no clear methodology (they basically wanted us to tell them what to do at each and every stage) We had one company that asked intelligent questions, had a team approach, and could manage the whole R&D process with the various required resources: Architect, DBA, UI expert, Engineers, QA ... with them coming in and out of the project as we needed. This, as I said, was not the cheapest, but it was the best fit for the resources we had here. The firm is Global Logic (www.globallogic.com), and we are working with their Noida (New Delhi suburb) office. The team there is exceptional - the guys are all very experienced and have worked with the leaders in the industry (Microsoft, Orcale, SAP, etc AS WELL as having a well defined engagement model for new products and start- ups !) Getting the most out of your off-shore team may require a shift in your management and thinking. I went to Noida for 10 days to kick start the project, align methods, and build the relationship. We are following a very "lean" or "true" agile methodology, so we get working code to test every three weeks. And lastly, the guys have a great on- line project management tool so you can track activities daily if you like - not that we micro-manage, but it gives the project great transparency. I'm happy to consult (for free - up to a point) with anyone in SB who is seriously interested in outsourcing and looking to work with GL - I can assist you to get organised, understand the costs / benefits and how to get the most from your off-shoring efforts. Feel free to shoot me an email or call on 0417 254 360. Jon -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Guidelines on discussion: http://tr.im/ujKF No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself: http://tr.im/ujMm To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en
