Solutions for sending money abroad have varied from Western Union and MoneyGram to smaller startup companies.

Viamericas (www.viamericas.com), a Bethesda, Maryland-based company, is one of the more innovative companies that have emerged to provide services for international remittances in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Read More . . .

Point number one in the counter presentation: open source software is safe – safer than proprietary solutions, such as Microsoft, which are often rife with security loopholes (noting of course that it does depend a lot on how the application is built).

Hundreds of security and financial transaction applications have been built using open source development tools and frameworks, and supported by open source operating systems, application servers and web servers.

Read More . . .

One of the most common questions I get from new clients is: How does Accelerance choose its partners? My answer is that we know all the plays of the global IT outsourcing game and how to execute our strategy (since all three of my children play competitive soccer, soccer analogies are a natural way for me to explain what we do).

We always do our homework first and check off the boxes to ensure a potential partner possesses the basics. Specifically, we ensure they have the infrastructure to handle the work, a track record of completing projects on time and to spec, quality references, strong intellectual property protection, and healthy finances. These are absolutes, the foundation of a healthy relationship – consider them the fundamental skills of any successful team. We may offer advice to companies that don’t meet these requirements and follow-up later with companies that show promise, but we consider building partnerships only with the companies that get a 100% on the essentials. If their fundamentals aren’t sound, I don’t care how flashy their game is, they won’t be a winner in the premier leagues.

After looking through the nuts and bolts of the basic operational requirements of a potential partner, we get to the substance of the company. It is all about the relationships and the communication. Do they understand the importance of the assist, and can they effectively pass the ball back and forth? That is, do they work as a team or a bunch of individuals sharing the same uniform? This is certainly true when partnering with a company across town or in the next state, but it is imperative when working with a company half a world away.

Specifically, we ensure partners will listen to their coach. Can they deliver a direct and reliable answer/feedback/clarification with a US company? Cultural idiosyncrasies are expected, but we need companies that can give a solid nod for “yes” and mean it, not a “yes” that means “hopefully we can figure that out” or worse, the figure eight nod that could mean anything at all. I look for an extroverted nature to communication that is rare amongst software engineers. These are the superstars that push the team to the next level. They are the folks that have mastered the bicycle kick, and I find them.

The stakes are huge when outsourcing any part of a business. Mistakes are expensive both financially as well as in effort and time. Careers are on the line with decisions like IT outsourcing. I get that, and I never make a partnership decision lightly. Beyond the check-boxes of talking about a service provider’s infrastructure and finances, management, and case studies, I need to have assurance that the partner and service provider with whom you will be doing business is someone you can speak with, someone who gets you, someone you can trust, someone who trusts you, and someone that you can have a relationship with that goes beyond the simple transactional-process oriented, type of relationship.

I’m looking to establish long-term, mutually successful relationships that reap all the cost-saving and high quality skill set rewards of outsourcing – building a team strong on the fundamentals but also able to place that header just out of reach of the competition and into the corner of the net.

Goooooooooooooooal!

Contact us today to learn more about Accelerance’s global network of IT and Software Outsourcing Firms.

Shocking statistics? Maybe. But it is a great business opportunity for savvy financial services firms who want to make life easier for employers who hire unbanked employees.

Firms such as an Atlanta, Georgia-based PayPartners which offers large companies the ability to pay their employees with pre-loaded debit cards are one such company.

PayPartners provides unbanked employees with a safe and inexpensive alternative to check-cashing firms and pawn shops, who often charge between 1 and 6 percent of the face value of a paycheck, in order to cash it.

Read More . . .

Wait, it gets weirder. Although many folks claim fortune cookies were first invented in American Chinese restaurants in the early 1900s, research indicates they actually were popular during the 1800s … in Japan. That’s right: Chances are fortune cookies are Japanese, not Chinese.

I’m favoring you with this Cliff Clavin-worthy trivia not just so you’ll win more bar bets, but to illustrate a point: Sometimes the most head-slappingly obvious notions are just plain wrong.

Here’s a more pertinent example of truth flying in the face of what we “know”: A software company’s core competency isn’t necessarily software development. Think about it: The process of developing software — recruiting, training a team of developers, communicating the project to them, et cetera — probably isn’t what most software companies are best at. Believing otherwise is a common mistake among software companies. (Other mistakes: hiring the cheapest programmers possible, providing programmers with too little or too much information, and not smoothing over cultural issues that can hamper communication.)

What are successful software companies typically best at? Marketing. Customer development. Quantifying the benefits of their value proposition with their customers. Designing an intuitive user interface so users will naturally know what to do with it.

Assuming, then, that those businesses could be helped in other areas, what competencies could an outsourcing partner bring to the table? Quite a lot, actually. Beyond recruiting and training, there’s getting the right ROI for the people who are hired, aligning the technology with business goals, writing specifications that encourage an adrenalized collaborative process among developers, maintaining lines of communication with programmers, and working with the team to make sure it stays on track.

For companies lacking in any of those areas — and the following is anything but counter intuitive — a fast, effective way to improve efficiency is to define their core competencies and simply outsource all the rest.

It reminds me of something a boss once told me back in 1991 when we were working on a startup. I was the first tech guy at the company, all psyched to hire a technical team that would work together, have our own T-shirts, all that stuff. The first day, the CEO said, “We’re going to outsource.” I said, “Out-what?” He then explained that he’d already found a consulting firm with experience using the software we wanted to use, and that we’d be able to get to marketing much faster if we outsourced. I said, “Well, gee, I wanted to create my own team.” His response? “Well, do you want to be a nerd or a millionaire?”

What would you say?

In our 3-part series on transitioning from offshore to nearshore, we are highlighting those challenges and benefits.  In our first post, we covered the benefits behind the transition, which you can read about here.  In this post, we are looking at the 4 common mistakes companies make during the transition.  Our goal is help you make the transition as smooth as possible to avoid any disruptions to your business.

In the exciting rush of transitioning your projects to a vendor that is 1 or 2 time zones and a short plane ride away, it is easy to overlook details.  As we have discovered over the years, the following pitfalls can really throw a monkey wrench in that move.

1. Not test-driving the vendor. The first step that will ensure your transition to a new vendor goes smoothly is to test-drive them with a project.  You need to make sure your potentially new nearshore vendor will actually deliver better results than your existing offshore vendor. Just as you will do your research to find a potentially good fit, throw a few small projects their way before committing to the whole ride.
2. Compromising in-process deliverables. Your top priority is to transfer work from an offshore provider to a nearshore provider without compromising in-progress deliverables of the offshore provider. Make arrangements in advance for products currently in production to continue on a smooth course.
3. Ignoring the bottom line. Moving is expensive. You’ll need to budget for the additional expense of working with two vendors during the knowledge transfer and do your best to ensure continuity in your ability to support applications during and after the transition.
4. Winging it. No matter how much time you spend deciding whether or not to move, it’s all for naught if you don’t plan out each step in advance. Make sure each project’s transition is planned down to the last detail and that all the key players are aware of their parts.

Just follow these tips to ensure that your transition goes as smoothly as possible, guaranteeing that you get the most out of your decision to move nearshore.

In our final post in this series, Part Three: Making the Offshore to Nearshore Move will provide you with a game plan to make transition as smooth as possible.  If you missed Part One, click here to read “Why Move Offshore to Nearshore“.

Accelerance has partners throughout Latin America, including Mexico, Colombia, and  Argentina who are available to help you meet your IT and Software Outsourcing Needs.  Contact Us today to learn more.

“Between 1999 and 2009…the U.S. share of global research and development (R&D) dropped from 38 percent to 31 percent, whereas it grew from 24 percent to 35 percent in the Asia region during the same time.

In China alone, R&D growth increased a stunning 28 percent in a single year (2008-2009), propelling it past Japan and into second place behind the United States.”

NSF Director, Subra Suresh, expressed his concern about this change in R&D growth, saying, “This information clearly shows we must re-examine long-held assumptions about the global dominance of the American science and technology enterprise…And we must take seriously new strategies for education, workforce development and innovation in order for the United States to retain its international leadership position.” Seems like a bit of an overreaction, doesn’t it?.

Why the US Shouldn’t Worry About the Decrease in R&D Spending

While it is true that R&D growth declined in the US, that doesn’t necessarily mean that R&D is stagnating or decreasing, or that we need to be concerned about the shift. Despite the fact that there was less R&D spending in the decade leading up to 2009, the US nearly doubled its R&D investments in Asia, as noted by the Brain Gain at the Economist. Even though American firms spend less money on R&D at home, that doesn’t mean that the US can’t benefit from R&D developments in other countries.

Take the prevalence of outsourcing, for example. Every year, there are more and more outsourced workers available to American companies, especially when it comes to software development. The fact that the US is not constrained by its borders in finding talent for R&D will actually be a benefit rather than a hindrance to America’s position as an international leader in the science and engineering world. Not only that, but the availability of offshore talent is increasing, so even the smallest of companies can take advantage of that resource, in turn producing and innovating at a faster and more efficient rate.

Overseas R&D is an Investment in Our Future

It’s a shame that the NSF is taking a bleak view of decreased R&D spending in the US in lieu of noting the increase of US spending on R&D in Asia. Perhaps they’re just worried about competition from foreign companies, but competition will be good for development in the long run, ensuring that American firms stay on their toes. Besides, the US isn’t seeing a decrease in innovation at home; so in all likelihood, smarter spending and R&D investments abroad are probably accounting for much of the decrease in R&D in the US.

In that same article mentioned above, the Brain Gain makes a really good point on this topic: “Merely counting pennies is no way to measure national prowess. Research spending is an input, not an output.” It doesn’t matter where our research spending goes, but what it goes into. We could spend billions of dollars at home trying to develop a new product, but if it never goes anywhere, what good will that percentage increase in R&D spending do for us? Absolutely nothing. So instead of worrying about where the US stands in spending compared to Asia, it should just continue to focus on better development and innovations, just as the country always has.

The top three most popular subjects are:

I think these show the concerns people have for managing the results of global software development. Those who have done it no doubt have experienced challenges and those thinking about it are worried.

The exception to these concerns is the elusive search for innovation in software development. Or is it? I’ll include a chapter that will define various kinds of innovation (an overused word in my opinion) and which kinds have a chance of being enhanced by global software development.

Now for the clunker topics! Actually, I don’t think any of the topics were seriously rejected. If you combine the first two columns you can see that more than 75% of the respondents would be either hugely or possibly interested even in these bottom three rated chapters if they are in the book:

I think these topics ranked lower because they are somewhat peripheral to the global outsourcing of custom software development. Application Management is more about configuring and supporting packaged apps like SAP, Oracle and Microsoft Dynamics – not the main interest of custom software developers. IT Governance is more of a big company IT department topic that may be less relevant to the audience surveyed. And they don’t call Economics the “Dismal Science” for nothing!

But I may write about some of these lower-ranked topics anyway, even if I don’t dedicate an entire chapter to them.

Finally, there also a huge number of Other responses, from over half of the respondents. They cover several areas including:

• How to estimate schedules and manage a global team
• Handling cultural differences
• Options and pricing of outsourcing engagement models
• Legal and IP issues
• Additional details of vendor selection, including avoiding scams

Most of these are likely to be included in chapters already planned. One topic I was not planning to include is the increased popularity of mobile app development. But this was mentioned several times in the Other field so I will reconsider.

Did we miss anything?  Add your comments about these topics below…

All survey responses are below in order of the most popular (a lower Rating Average is better):

Over the last 2 years, the term cloud storage was used more and more in the business world, as companies began storing information and files electronically using an Internet provider instead of a hard or flash drive.

As cloud computing and storage have become popular, a lot of companies have made the jump, while many more are flirting with the idea of going from hard drive to cloud storage after seeing Google and Microsoft try it out themselves.

Some of the more popular cloud storage solutions out there, which you have probably heard of, include Amazon S3, Dropbox, Egnyte and Google; several more are listed here.

If you have decided that cloud computing is the way to go for your company, be sure to approach the move like you would any other kind of internal infrastructure change.  Make the transition go as smoothly as possible by taking the following steps:

• Assess your options. Decide where your company’s priorities lie. How does hard storage affect your life, or how would you like to start utilizing cloud storage? Do you have more than one location that uses the same information to be accessed at the same time?

• Plan your attack. Consider using consultants to make the transition easier—many Software as a Service (SaaS) companies exist to help companies small and large through this kind of transition and can offer valuable insight and advice into making it a seamless switch.

• Test it out.  Like switching any provider or vendor, it’s important to try out a few alternatives before you settle in for the long haul. Pick out a few small projects and assignments that would benefit from cloud storage. Make a note of things that work and don’t work, things you like and don’t like. Then stick with the winner.

• Keep learning. Once you have test driven a few services and decided on a winner, be sure to keep track of your process.  How has moving to the cloud positively and/or negatively affected your teams and business processes?  Evaluate what is working and what isn’t and make adjustments. Use that information to reap as many benefits from your set up as possible to ensure that the move was worth the investment for the long haul.

It feels like we have tried all the cloud storage options at Accelerance. Google Docs is good if you need to share and control access to individual word processing and spreadsheet documents. We also use Dropbox for sharing files with external partners and clients too. Dropbox has served us well except we don’t have control over who can add or delete files in folders we share. That’s not a big problem for internal use (unless we start deleting each other’s files!) but it’s a bigger weakness when sharing externally.

Recently we started using Egnyte which does offer more control and we are willing to pay the relatively low account fee to get this feature. You’ll have to decide what are the features, functions and costs you need.

In addition to end-user cloud storage solutions, you can also write application that store information in the cloud. Amazon Simples Storage Service (S3) and Microsoft Azure are two major examples. This is a more sophisticated use of cloud computing. For example, we have clients using our partners to develop web applications where large numbers of video and audio files are uploaded for music sharing, online job interview videos and photo sharing and printing. Go to our cloud computing page to see the partners expert at developing these techniques.

Good Luck!

Of all the cities that I’ve visited in India, Jaipur was the cleanest and nicest. I wasn’t drenched from the monsoons of Mumbai, choked by the smog of Bangalore, or wilting in the heat of Chennai – Instead, I felt like the Maharaja as I spent a day touring the exquisite palaces (the Indians know how to honor history!) and I laughed out loud as I watched a whole herd of sacred cattle walk down the middle of a busy street. I also enjoyed the fine, spicy cuisine where my only decision was veg (vegetarian) or non-veg (with chicken) and the exceptionally generous hospitality of my host and Accelerance preferred business partner.

If a business is considering outsourcing IT services to India, I absolutely recommend Jaipur as the host city.

As one of the possible highlights of this trip, my host could have recommended an overwhelming immersion in India’s culture with a bus or train ride to Agra. They could have even opted for a camel (yes, they are in the streets with the cows, though the life of a camel is a bit more laborious than the pampered life of a cow). Instead, I was treated to a very comfortable cab ride to Agra. The four-hour ride passed quickly with so many sights to see out the windows. At one stop, there was a guy with small monkey doing tricks like back flips. I took a photograph, which was apparently a de facto contract – He claimed I owed him a tip of 500 rupees ($10) for a monkey twirl!

Upon arriving in Agra, one must surrender to the city. People walk in the streets with the cars, buses, camels, somersaulting monkeys, and of course the cattle. It is just a day in India, and my reading of Shantaram prepared me well. But then I look up and there is a gem rising from the city: The Taj Mahal in all her splendor and moods. The locals say she has a different mood for each time of the day, depending on the angle and quality of the light. For the jaded Westerner, we may think it is the thickness of the smog; for the enlightened traveler, we see that it is simply inspired.

While the British took any and all rubies from the mausoleum centuries ago, the delicate semi-precious inlays of jade and jasper remain with the swirling calligraphy and organic reliefs. The masterful work is a glorious representation of love, truly a treasure for the world. It is said that the master craftsmen of Persia that came to build the Taj Mahal settled in Agra and passed their closely guarded craft along to their children. Any tour guide can take you to a craft shop to marvel at the beautiful tabletops these artists now create, and the shopkeepers are happy to “ship it for free”. I’m a bit embarrassed by how much I spent at one of these shops, but then I remember the magic of that day as I enjoy a masterpiece of Persian-Indian art in my home back in the United States.

To hear more about my adventures India, or to learn about outsourcing your software or IT requirements to one of our partners in India, please contact us today.