Software Development: It's About the People
Choosing the right outsourcing partner involves the consideration of a number of factors - and "people" should be at the top of the list.
By Serhiy Kharytonov, SoftServe
Oct. 06, 2009
Anyone involved with software development projects knows they have a very high rate of failure. According to the Standish Group's 2009 Chaos Report, which tracks IT software project success rates, less than a third of surveyed IT software projects undertaken in the past two years were rated successful, meaning they came in on time, on budget and with required features. Forty-four percent were challenged, meaning they were late, over budget, or lacked required features, and 24 percent failed completely, meaning they were cancelled or never used.
Software vendors aiming to outsource development face the same challenges. One way to improve the chances of success is to seek out a development partner that goes beyond typical mainstream certifications. Ideally an outsourcing partner should provide its own structured, effective system for training and developing its employees with the education, certifications and experience they need to acquire the most advanced hard and soft skills.
Choosing an Outsourcing Partner
As if the risk of failure wasn't great enough for software projects, many of today's software projects are outsourced to overseas partners as a way to cut costs, speed time to market and focus an organization's internal resources on what it does best.
When handled intelligently, outsourcing can be a very successful way to build new software quickly and inexpensively. However, when companies outsource solely as a way to cut costs, they invite failure. Why is this? Because there's much more to successful software development than low cost, technical expertise and intelligent processes. Perhaps more than most undertakings, successful software development depends on people.
Software development remains a predominantly collaborative, creative endeavor requiring just the right mix of hard skills, such as software programming, architecture, and engineering, and soft skills, such as communication, collaboration, and project management. When teams are separated by oceans, the value of both soft and hard skills is magnified. The following measures should be considered when choosing an outsourcing partner.
Hard Skills
Hard skills are about more than the requisite Java or .NET skills and certifications. A growing number of today's development projects require expertise and experience in complex software architecture and engineering. Resulting applications must be able to scale appropriately to meet a client's shifting and often unpredictable needs in the Internet age.
A software company with very mature operations and in-house expertise can outsource successfully to just about any competent overseas partner. However, many vendors will not succeed without the benefit of equal partners who come with the education, experience and confidence to ask the right architectural questions, point out missing or conflicting requirements and suggest improvements in the process or solution that benefit usability, functionality, scalability or security.
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Software vendors aiming to outsource development face the same challenges. One way to improve the chances of success is to seek out a development partner that goes beyond typical mainstream certifications. Ideally an outsourcing partner should provide its own structured, effective system for training and developing its employees with the education, certifications and experience they need to acquire the most advanced hard and soft skills.
Choosing an Outsourcing Partner
As if the risk of failure wasn't great enough for software projects, many of today's software projects are outsourced to overseas partners as a way to cut costs, speed time to market and focus an organization's internal resources on what it does best.
When handled intelligently, outsourcing can be a very successful way to build new software quickly and inexpensively. However, when companies outsource solely as a way to cut costs, they invite failure. Why is this? Because there's much more to successful software development than low cost, technical expertise and intelligent processes. Perhaps more than most undertakings, successful software development depends on people.
Software development remains a predominantly collaborative, creative endeavor requiring just the right mix of hard skills, such as software programming, architecture, and engineering, and soft skills, such as communication, collaboration, and project management. When teams are separated by oceans, the value of both soft and hard skills is magnified. The following measures should be considered when choosing an outsourcing partner.
Hard Skills
Hard skills are about more than the requisite Java or .NET skills and certifications. A growing number of today's development projects require expertise and experience in complex software architecture and engineering. Resulting applications must be able to scale appropriately to meet a client's shifting and often unpredictable needs in the Internet age.
A software company with very mature operations and in-house expertise can outsource successfully to just about any competent overseas partner. However, many vendors will not succeed without the benefit of equal partners who come with the education, experience and confidence to ask the right architectural questions, point out missing or conflicting requirements and suggest improvements in the process or solution that benefit usability, functionality, scalability or security.
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