Offshore / Outsourcing Checklist

Offshore outsourcing is a partnership that needs to be nurtured. So make sure you do the following:

An offshore vendor who should have

• Technical knowledge
• Up-to-date processes
• Enough people resources
• Management bandwidth
• Effective communication processes
• Great management support
• Strong adherence to schedule

Here is a checklist to assure success:

1. Define scope and deliverable from outsourcing engagement such as:
   • what to outsource
   • why outsource
   • who will outsource
   • time to outsource
2. Expected benefits from outsourcing
   • success factor
   • metrics in discussion with Internal stake holder
   • share the success factor metrics with outsourcing vendor (one preferably with experience)
   • Check reference of vendor
3. Requirement definition and Tracking
4. Project schedule tracking
   • should be done periodically
5. Agile mode of development, with continuous testing
6. Defining review frequency
7. Test Driven Development
   • tests should be written first, before the feature is implemented.
   • Writing the test first helps clarify what the software should do.
8. Proper documentation of bugs and development process
9. Knowledge transfer should include
   • Design document
   • Coding guidelines
   • Problem and resolution option
   • Installation instructions and architectural documents that can facilitate the learning process and enable client team to deploy and support software

Hiring offshore can help cut down cost, augment staff, and cut marketing time down significantly.