7th
Offshore Development & Fundamental Political Risks
I’m involved in a personal project where I’ve inexpensively offshored the tasks that are not within the range of my expertise. Here are some thoughts:
Offshoring is NOT always cost effective
There is an inherent notion amongst entreprenuers that offshoring tasks is cheap. This can be true, but the market does not lie when the average iPhone developer charges $150.00/hr.
Communication is absolutely vital
Working around the sun means you need to wake up at odd hours of the day (3AM skype calls) to get status reports, discuss features, and everything else that is project related. Failure to communicate will indefinitely result in a poor quality product, unless you really nailed your business requirements. Let’s get real though, 62% of IT projects fail before they are even completed for a reason.
Political risk will screw you over
China blocked access to popular social networking sites on May 2, 2009 to prevent a backlash on the 20th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square. My project has elements of social networking, which can’t be tested offshore anymore. Always have a backup plan because anything can go awry. Political risk is HUGE when you are working with countries outside of the US.
