How to Conquer Internal Barriers to Outsourcing Software Development

Barriers to Conquer Culture � Address impact to organization and management styles Scope � Outsource to optimize strengths and weaknesses Control � Maintain control through continuous communication Risk � Expect risk and plan for mitigation

Internal Barriers to Outsourcing

Selecting software products or projects for outsourcing and mitigating impact to the organization is challenging for companies large and small. The companies that have outsourced the most successfully address barriers to outsourcing prior to identifying what to outsource. Four issues commonly arise when a company is considering an outsourcing strategy. They include effect on corporate culture, determination of project scope, project control, and risk management.

Barrier #1: Culture � Include key stakeholders in the process. People and process are commonly impacted by outsourcing. In fact, internal groups may view outsourcing as competition rather than an opportunity to grow the capacity of the business. Include critical managers from the beginning in the sourcing evaluation. Internal groups may view outsourcing as a failure rather than an opportunity to take advantage of a new focus. Include team members in the decision to outsource and involve critical managers from the beginning in the outsourcing evaluation process. Evangelize the outsourcing relationship with key employees to ensure success.

Barrier #2: Scope � Optimize for strengths and weaknesses. It can be difficult to distinguish good outsourcing candidates from projects that are too core to the business or too complex, and therefore not ideal for outsourcing. Take stock of and balance strengths and weaknesses of the internal team and the outsourcing team with the business priorities of the company to guide scoping the outsourced projects.

Barrier #3: Control � Clarify roles and responsibilities up front. Managing an outsourced project is different than managing an internal team. To maintain control, ensure a clear and continuous communication flow is in place between internal and external members. Support internal ownership for the business domain expertise and external ownership of the engineering processes.

Barrier #4: Risk � Create an ongoing process for risk management. No project is without risk. Discuss and reach understanding of the expected risks and prepare mitigation plans to limit downside exposure. Close collaboration, protection of intellectual property, clear expectation setting and a disciplined approach to knowledge transfer are just a few ways to mitigate risk.

One recommended approach is a hands-on work shop that helps companies overcome these barriers common to outsourcing software engineering projects. The key to moving ahead is identifying the nature of these barriers within the organization and dealing with them directly.

Using a Guided Workshop to Address Barriers

One method for clarifying and remedying internal barriers is through an outsourcing workshop. The guided workshop assists clients identify and prioritize projects appropriate for outsourcing. The outsourcing workshop as described below is approximately a six-hour session where companies gain clarity on outsourcing opportunities, assess outsourcing readiness and get educated on outsourcing processes.

During the outsourcing workshop, it is critical for the CXOs, and the vice presidents of engineering and product management to participate alongside core project/product managers to arrive at strategic outsourcing decisions. And it is during this process that expectations are leveled regarding outsourcing potential and then balance the various high value activities against activities that can be outsourced.

Once a company, through the workshop, addresses their internal barriers to outsourcing, the focus shifts to defining outsourcing benefits specific to business goals. It's vital to understand the state of current outsourcing candidate projects. Assessments of project organization, application/software product inventory, processes, service level agreements (SLAs), standards, budgets and costs, and required and available skill sets are brought into the introductory discussion.

There are four stages to an outsource workshop. Once the introduction to outsourcing has been conducted, the group is lead through an identification brainstorming session to capture processes, products, applications and functions that represent outsourcing candidates. The evaluation stage scores outsourcing project candidates on six factors to summarize opportunities and reach agreement on what to outsource. The six scoring factors include execution, cost, modularity, simplicity, reality of implementation and distraction from core business.

Finally, the implementation stage further evaluates project candidates for their implementation risks and next steps required to execute. Risk review helps tie final decisions to outsourcing and closes out the previous barrier discussion by addressing project oversight, security, licensing, change management, communication and integration.

In a relatively short but concentrated effort, the outsourcing workshop assists a company's core technical leadership in aligning outsourcing project candidates to corporate objectives and strategies. By knowing what to outsource and completing the preparations, workshop participants are ready for rapid outsourcing implementation at minimal risk levels and maximum value.

About Agilis Solutions

Agilis Solutions, a business unit of Corsource Technology Group, Inc., specializes in software development projects and services, across the entire software development lifecycle. Our technical depth, and breadth coupled with our ability to meet demanding timelines, provides clients with predictable, cost-effective solutions (Agilis 91/95 Factor) to their software application delivery and support needs. Our offshore development center is rated as one of a handful of commercial software development organizations in the world to achieve CMMi Level 5.

We deliver projects using a blended team of onsite and offshore resources, a highly effective approach that results in excellent quality and value. Onshore, Agilis Solutions employs the most talented, local, senior-level people to lead our client teams. On average they have twenty years of experience with relevant skills in the full life-cycle of software development and deployment. Our offshore development center is in partnership with FPT Corporation. Partly owned by Intel Capital, FPT is the largest IT services company in Vietnam. Our dedicated, secure, development center is located within FPT's Hanoi facility.

To learn more about Agilis Solutions visit: www.agilissolutions.com and feel free to contact Brian Scully (360) 213-2849 [] or Russ Kuhn (503) 726-4577 []. Contact us today to learn about "The Agilis 91/95 Factor" or to schedule a workshop as described in the above article.