Return to Archive Runtime - The Software Outsourcing Newsletter for Executives and Investors from Accelerance and Steve Mezak It's What You Know AND Who You Know Without established relationships, it can take months to find, evaluate and select the best outsourced software team to meet your needs. But how do you objectively select the best outsourcing team for you? How can you get beyond the strong influence of relationships, or lack thereof, to clearly select the team that will guide and travel with you on the road to success? When I was a teenager, my mother told me "It's not what you know, it's who you know." Naturally, as a teenager, I decided to fight against this alleged pearl of wisdom, and use "WHAT I know" to become successful. Wouldn't it be better to learn as much as possible and not have to rely on other people? As I grew older I discovered this is not true. Intelligence is more than what you know and there are multiple ways to define it. (For examples, see 7 Kinds of Smart by Thomas Armstrong and Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman). Just being intelligent does not always lead to success. There are other ways to define success besides having a brain stuffed with facts and information. An aphorism I heard a few years ago captures it well: "No one cares how much you know, unless they know how much you care." A CEO I met recently told me he was introduced to a Russian outsourcing company by one of his angel investors. The investors want the CEO's company to start using offshore outsourcing to conserve cash as they develop their product. The CEO thought it was a good idea too, but there was something about the Russian team that rubbed him the wrong way. Their presentation lacked a consistent story about software quality. He was uncomfortable moving forward. He also did not like making a major decision about outsourcing his software development with a choice of only one vendor. Even though the vendor came recommended by a trusted friend, the CEO wanted more choices. Sometimes it works the other way. Recently I had my business cards redesigned and a friend recommended a graphics designer to help. I was halfway into the process with the designer and things were going well. Then I suddenly realized I had not met this designer or seen many examples of her other work. It was the strength of my friend's recommendation that gave me the confidence to hire her. I didn't even question it. Of course if the designer failed miserably, I would only be out of a few days of time and maybe a few hundred dollars. The stakes are much higher when you are selecting an outsourced software development team. One entrepreneur I met recently said he spent $300K on an outsourced team in India and had little to show for it. Whether it is $300 or $300,000, relationships play a big role in hiring decisions. Several VC firms are helping their startups by providing connections to offshore development teams. Usually there is a partner originally from India that takes the lead in forming these relationships. It takes more than business contacts in a single country to give you the choices you need to make a wise decision on where and how to outsource. Think about the process of hiring engineering employees. It's terrific if you can hire great people you have worked with in the past. I find this works for only a few hires because of people's availability, technical skills and personal fit with the rest of the team. Sooner or later you face looking for good engineers beyond the strong links of your social network. It is not hard to do, but it takes time to find, interview and hire the right employees. A stable outsourced team has done this to find the individual members of their team. Now how do you find those teams? When hiring for your own employees you should create a job description listing the key criteria for filling each engineering position. Then you interview candidates and use your best judgment to decide if they are qualified and will be a good fit with your company. Similarly, when hiring an outsourced team, you need to have a good list of the technical and business requirements. It is a description of everything required in the great team you need to develop your software. You can divide the criteria into two categories: technical and business. Technical criteria includes expertise with the specific technology "stack" you need for your product. Examples are Java, Microsoft .NET, or LAMP. Can the team adapt to your software development methodology: RUP, Agile, Test-Driven Development, etc. Business criteria certainly includes cost but also the number and size of projects performed for other clients in the US. Is this team big enough (or too big) to handle your projects with the importance they deserve? The outsourced team must show respect for their client's intellectual property by using appropriate technical, legal and personnel procedures. Ask if they have had situations where a client's IP was at risk, what actions they took and what were the final results. Above all, you must contact references at each team's past clients to verify claims and judge if you will get similar satisfactory results. The bottom line is hiring an outsourced team is like hiring employees. You need to do the necessary work up front to determine the kind of team you need. Out of the dozens of technical and business criteria you must select the key factors that will winnow down the choices. Then verify the truth by careful reference checking. Relationships are important but cannot be relied on alone. For both you and the outsourcing team, use a combination of What and Who you both know to make a good decision about who will help you develop your software products. Vision Resources Are you wondering how you will select an expert offshore team to develop your software? Use the Accelerance Vision Resources(sm) outsourced vendor selection service and cut the time of your vendor selection process by as much as 90%. Vision Resources leverages members of the Accelerance's 17 teams in 14 countries around the world. Click here to learn more about Vision Resources Accelerance, Inc. delivers impartial & expert strategies and services for risk-free outsourcing of your software development. Visit our web site at www.Accelerance.com   Until next time, Steve Mezak Accelerance, Inc. Risk-Free Outsourcing www.Accelerance.com 213 Garcia Avenue Half Moon Bay, CA 94019 1-650-712-8990 Contact me by email (c) 2005 Accelerance, Inc. All rights reserved. You are free to use material from the "Runtime" eZine in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including live web site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear. The attribution should read: "By Steve Mezak, CEO of Accelerance, Inc. Please visit the Accelerance web site at http://www.Accelerance.com for more information and resources on outsourcing and creating great software products."