Common Challenges When Outsourcing Software Development to the Philippines
What do we do as an outsourcing company? We help businesses create the best products in the most effective ways possible. By extension, we help end-users, customers, and clients experience great software. Our clients are startups, multi-million dollar businesses, and any size in between.
Outsourcing custom software development to the Philippines has done wonders for many businesses. However, outsourcing is far from being a magic fix. Things do not automatically go well when you hand over the work of software development to an external team.
In this post, we break down some of the most common outsourcing problems and ways to mitigate them.
Slow turnaround time
Problem
Missed deadlines can bloat the cost of software development. It can also derail the momentum of your project.
Solutions
Sufficient human resources. An outsourcing partner needs to allocate a sufficient number of people and technological resources towards your project. If your project requires a fast turnaround time, you can benefit from hiring a dedicated software development team. As an outsourcing company, we assign domain experts to projects.
Domain expertise. An outsourcing partner should ideally be domain experts in your field. For example, as an EdTech business, you can derive more value working with an outsourcing partner that has significant experience and a solid portfolio in education technology.
Better software requirements. Software requirements help developers understand what you need for a particular feature or piece of software. It requires skills to write a good software requirement document. A reputable software company will provide you with a template or have their chief technology officer (CTO) assist you.
Timezone differences
Asynchronous communication drives productivity despite timezone differences.
Problem
Timezone differences present a unique challenge. Meetings may be delayed or missed because of poorly calculated daylight savings time. Delays in response time can stall a project. Calls might need to happen outside of business hours.
Solutions
Asynchronous communication. Real-time communication is when you tap someone on the shoulder and together you can work on the same problem. Asynchronous communication is when you write an email and someone goes to work five hours later to work on it.
Asynchronous communication is an exchange of information that is not real-time. Emails, chats, forums, and project management boards are examples of asynchronous communication. Communication does not always need to be real-time to be effective. The main thing is that information is received and acted upon promptly.
It is important to distinguish which communication requires real-time interaction; and which ones can be delayed. Our success in overcoming timezones is built on communication and project management tools. We also plan for days when real-time communication is needed.
Collaboration tools. Using tools like Google Docs allows collaborative work to happen while reducing the need for back and forth emails. On the development side, we use version control systems to allow multiple people to work on various aspects of the same project. Project management tools allow our development team to manage work efficiently. At the same time, it gives them a sense of accomplishment for work that has been completed.
Regular sync-ups. Every week, we meet in-office or in virtual spaces to communicate real-time. This brings everyone on the same page -- it is also an opportunity to make everyone feel that they are part of a team, of something bigger than the tickets they are working on.
We encourage our offshore clients to attend regular discussions. Sometimes, the entire development team meets with the client. Sometimes, it is just between the client and the project manager--or chief technology officer (CTO); or account manager (AM), depending on what is most effective for the context of the meeting.
Transparency of schedule. Setting boundaries is important for productive work. Developers who are available 24/7 are rarely productive developers. That is why we encourage time off of work. We inform clients of holidays, work schedules, and time offs so they know when to expect us to be around.
Data Security Issues
Problem:
Offshore breaches are harder to track and deal with. You may lose business advantage or compromise client information because of unauthorized access to your data.
Solutions
Use review websites. The first and most crucial step is to find the right partner. You can use research websites like Clutch to read verified client reviews.
Not all countries implement data protection laws. In the absence of such laws, the reliability and reputation of an outsourcing company are your best guard.
Review an outsourcing partner's security capabilities. A certification like ISO 27001 certifies that an organization has reached a sufficient level of security management system.
Ask a potential outsourcing partner about the security measures they put in place to protect your business data.
Ask about a company's disaster recovery and business continuity plans. Data can also be lost due to disaster. Business continuity plan (BCP) and disaster recovery plan (DCP) are measures that software companies put in place to prevent business interruption in the event of human-made or natural disasters.
Intellectual property issues
Problem:
Ideas have a massive power to generate profit when transformed into working software. That is why, as a software development company, we treat clients' intellectual property with special care.
Solutions:
Non-Disclosure Agreement. A reputable software company will have a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in place. They will also safeguard their business by proactively protecting your intellectual property.
Limited access to business information. Only the information needed to pursue development should be given to employees. Plus, employees sign their non-disclosure and non-compete agreements, which provides a second layer of intellectual property protection for the client.
Quality
Problem:
Poor software performance can lead to loss of current clients or potential revenues.
Solutions:
Personal accountability. We encourage personal accountability instead of micro-management. Micro-management is wasteful because it means hiring one person to do the job; then, hiring another person to make sure person A does their job. Personal accountability encourages everyone to take responsibility for the quality of their own work.
Testing methodologies. No app is built bug-free. Our post about the different levels and layers of testing introduces you to the various tests we implement to produce quality software.
Continuous integration or Agile methodologies. Although different in practice, the core principles of continuous integration and agile development are similar. They emphasize releasing software fast, incrementally. This allows for continuous code improvements and quick bug fixes.
Outsourcing your custom software development is a risky process -- but one that pays off if you find the right partner. Do you have questions about outsourcing your software development to the Philippines? Schedule a call with our chief technology officer (CTO).
