Return to Archive Runtime - The Software Outsourcing Newsletter for Executives and Investors from Accelerance and Steve Mezak In this issue: A huge number of software outsourcing vendors from around the world want you to use their services. How will some be able to rise above the noise of a crowded market to win your business? Outsourcing Vendors Rising Above the Noise The highly educated software expert was a little nervous, but he dialed the long distance number anyway. The phone half a world away began to ring. An answer! The software expert went quickly into his pitch. "Hello, Mr. Jones? I am glad I could reach you tonight, I mean today. I have an interesting idea to present to you and I think you will find it of great value! Our clients are saving a lot of money with our services and I would like to..." Click! Another hang-up in mid-sentence. "For this I went to the best technical school in the country?" He says aloud to the uncaring dead phone. The country this unlucky outsourcing vendor is talking about is not the U.S. or Canada. He does not mean MIT or Stanford. He is a well-educated software engineer in another land, offering the services of his company to prospects in the U.S. Did the vendor say the wrong thing? Maybe. He might try asking a few questions to build rapport with Mr. Jones before launching into a sales pitch. Otherwise, his message just gets lost in the noise. But actually there is a deeper issue at work here. Outsourcing vendors have trouble getting their message across. On the other hand as the client, you are struggling to choose between all the vendors. It seems like everyday you get a call from an outsourcing vendor that wants to develop your software. They compete in a crowded market and are desperate to get your attention. With all these choices, you’d think it would be easy for you to hire one. But it’s not. In his book, The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, author Barry Schwartz points out that too many choices can be bad for your brain. You think more choices (Brazil, Bulgaria, Belarus) will make you happier, but the opposite is true. Too many choices actually adds confusion and damages your sense of well-being. Similarly in Blink, Malcolm Gladwell reports on the experiment of selling multiple varieties of jam in a California grocery store. Shoppers purchased more jam when offered only six flavors and less when they could choose amongst twenty-four. How do you make a choice when you are faced with twenty-four outsourcing vendors? That’s what the new Outsourcing Jumpstart services from Accelerance are all about. You get a reasonable number of choices to consider (between three and five vendors) based on your specific needs. You make your choice with expert help from Accelerance. But where to these vendors come from? They are in the new Accelerance Global Partner Network. Accelerance has just launched the expansion of this new global network. You could say this expansion gives you more vendor choices. But Yuk! Who wants more choices! Instead, you immediately get a short list of vendors from across the entire, carefully categorized network condensed down to the vendors that match your specific needs. To deliver you good choices, Accelerance is searching for more highly-qualified and experienced outsourcing vendors to join the Global Partner Network. We use rigorous criteria and extensive reference checks to carefully select highly-capable vendors from around the globe. Qualifications for Accelerance Global Partner Network membership include: * A staff of between 10 and 2,000 engineers * Technical focus in one or two key areas * A track record of success with multiple satisfied clients * A website in English * The ability to communicate in English via phone and in writing * A good value proposition with a reasonable cost for specialized skills * High integrity & honesty Members of the Accelerance Global Partner Network receive leads from companies in the U.S. and Europe that come to Accelerance searching for rapid access to qualified outsourcing resources. They won’t win every deal, but at least the competition is fair and focused. Finally, their message will rise above the noise. And you get to pick between just a few delectable vendor choices. *** The Runtime Bottom Line: When you are looking for a good offshore software development vendor, you will be flooded with choices. Meanwhile, the message from good outsourcing vendors gets drowned out in a confusing market. Accelerance gives you a bridge to a short list of vendors that are a perfect match to your specific needs. Until next time, Steve Mezak Accelerance, Inc. Risk-Free Outsourcing P.S. If you want to find a great outsourcing vendor quickly then use the new Outsourcing Jumpstart service from Accelerance. You get contacts with five excellent software development teams and a downloadable guide to help you make your final choice. Outsourcing Jumpstart is offered at a low introductory fee for a short time only. See if this service is the right size for you: http://www.Accelerance.com/services.htm http://www.Accelerance.com 213 Garcia Avenue Half Moon Bay, CA 94019 1-650-712-8990 Contact me by email (c) 2006 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."