The Issues of Outsourcing Offshore

From rttsweb.com

Many companies today are outsourcing offshore. However there are ramifications and bigger impacts that come with this decision. This list highlights factual data gathered from real-world experiences we have encountered on client site and from published articles relating to this subject.

Infrastructure

Many offshore countries lack the network bandwidth for fast communication and many experience intermittent electrical outages.

Security

Not all foreign countries have the high-level concern or the laws, such as those for privacy or intellectual property, to protect your company's assets.

Skill Set/Quality

We have encountered poor or unacceptable quality of work in test automation, regardless of the CMM level touted.

Objectivity

Is your offshore partner performing your development and your testing? Will they keep your best interests at heart (and provide adherence to functional, performance, reliability and usability testing standards) when it conflicts with meeting their deliverable date?

Geopolitical Climate

While recent events have proven that the US is not immune to terrorism, Asia and other underdeveloped areas experience instability caused by unstable government, political unrest, terrorism, etc.

Culture

Cultures are different. It is possible to insult offshore partners inadvertently or simply to miscommunicate. Business conduct, greetings, forms of address, gestures, value systems and punctuality vary widely around the globe.

Language

Barriers Unquestionably many offshore resources provide communication challenges, especially over a forum that does not allow you the ability to view facial expressions - and e-mail can be worse.

Time Zone Clash

Many of the firms in Asia have as much as a 10-hour time difference. The outsourcing firms try to spin this as a "good thing" for you. Is it good to not be able to have your team discuss issues with their team as they arise?

Difficulty Visiting Their Site

Because of the cost and length of travel (as much as 20 hours each way), visiting your partners with any frequency becomes much more unrealistic. Also, foreign ground transportation is not like that in the US.

Difficulty Bringing Resources Here

There are possible Visa issues and heavy expenses with bringing your partners to where you do business.

Increasing Price Trends

Many offshore providers that have been successful are increasing their prices due to fact that competition for local human resources is pushing up the cost of labor.

Labor Backlash

There is a groundswell of backlash against the current trend toward exporting jobs outside the US. This backlash may cause negative publicity for your firm.