Feature
Article #60
The Seven Deadly Sins
of Offshore Outsourcing
Gluttony, sloth, and lust are sins for real-world interactions, but sinning against offshore outsourcing means breaking a special set of ideals. To help you avoid an eternity in the fiery pits, here's a handy guide to the seven deadly sins of offshore outsourcing.
1) The Seat Of The Pants (SOTP) approach is often taken by those who have been successful and become over confident or those who are overwhelmed and not sure where to start. Every offshore project or change to the current engagement requires a certain level of planning, regardless of how simple it appears. But just having a plan is not enough; failing to follow the plan is another common and costly mistake. Remember, the mantra of all successful offshore projects is “Plan the Work... Work the Plan”.
2) You fall in love with your results. It takes a tremendous amount of effort and skill to put together a solid engagement or project plan. The blood and sweat that goes into the planning phase makes it difficult to listen to constructive criticism. When it comes to plans, remember to be ruthless on the evaluation. Edit and re-edit communication, requirements, scripts or other activities involved in the engagement. Question everything. Ask everyone involved to collaborate on planning major activities.
3) You treat everyone involved the same. Remember you have many different cultures, skill levels, and interests involved in an offshore engagement. Make sure you communicate with each set of stakeholders appropriately so that you give them what they need, when they need it.
4) Two options are a choice, three options are a dilemma. Understand what you are asking your offshore team to do. Provide enough flexibility to allow your provider to apply their best practices without being so vague that they do not understand what you are asking.
5) You don't follow the same system, process and program. The plans you build should follow the framework established through your governance program. Maintain processes with incremental improvements, which allow you and your provider to build consistent results. Ensure you follow through on executive visibility and gate keeping activities.
6) Not following the numbers. Earned value analysis is your window into outcome predictability. Past performance is key in estimating. Don't promise to deliver results in unrealistic time frames and don't send the message that activities are on track if they are not, no matter how much pressure is applied. In the worst situations, results can always be delivered, as long as expectations can be renegotiated.
7) Something for nothing. There are countless expressions: “you get what you pay for”, “there is no free lunch”, “invest in yourself”. In Texas State’s outsourcing strategies, they specifically call out the value of paying for outsourcing expertise:
- “External sources may be considered to assist the agency in managing the complexity of an outsourcing arrangement. Companies are available to help with defining statements of work, evaluating internal needs, negotiating, evaluating vendor performance, and providing quality assurance. While these services represent additional outsourcing costs, they can enable the agency or university to reduce outsourcing risks and accomplish agency goals."
The Promised Land for offshore outsourcing holds 24-hour processing, low prices and endless highly skilled resources. Few will ever reach the promise land but the rewards can be significant for taking the journey and avoiding the seven deadly sins along the way.
