What one needs to know about offshoring web design work

[SG1]

I am actually considering offshoring some of my web development work to India. I am going to start off with some basic web design needs first.

I've done a considerable amount of research and have talked to colleagues who have tried this and they rave about it. But only if you do it right.

When I started looking for quality web designers overseass, I made note of some of the obstacles that I would run into. They are as follows

• english language barrier- easily accounted for when you converse over email because you can see how well they communicate via email. I will then follow up via phone to see how well they communicate via phone.
• time zone difference- from here in the east coast of U.S, it's roughly a 10 hour time difference. So, 10 am here, is 8pm over there. This can be tough sometimes, especially when the client needs questions answered. I communicated this upfront to my future web designers that they may need to stay up a little to answer any questions that the client may have.
• prior experience working with other non-Indian Web Design Companies.- it really helps to know that the applicant has worked with other web design that are outside of their country. In doing so, they understand the protocol and what is to be expected.

These 3 critiria are the toughest and obviously very important.

I think it's important to note that you will always have hitches when considering offshoring work, but setting expecations about the above can go a long way to minimizing the headaches you might have in the future.

I welcome any thoughts from those who have offshored successfully or even unsuccessfully.

Thanks.

[bboy]

Contractual/legal concerns - Another thing to be concerned about is whether you can hold them accountable for any deviance from contractual obligations, etc. They are, after all, in another country and you may not be able to hold them to anything.

No face to face - With no face to face meeting you do leave yourself open to misinterpretations when communicating your web design ideas and goals. To get around this make good use of the good ol' telephone. I wouldn't rely fully on email to make things clear. Of course, email is good for keeping a trail of all your discusssions where things tend to be 'forgotten' when said only on the phone.

*phone = skype or other voip type service (you can't be blowing your $$ when you are starting up!

[fishball]

I'm from the Philippines and i'm an freelance ASP.NET designer/developer but more inclined on the design part. I have tried working offshore for a Greek shipping company who have an office here in Manila who was reffered to me by a friend. I work at home and i coordinate with their programmers in Greece via Internet. They actually commissioned me to design their php web application.

Yes it's quite cumbersome at first considering as you point out the language barrier and timezone but later on you will learn to adust and you will find a common system to work on.

What i really find really difficult is the attitude of the employer who really insist on what they want even though it's inappropriate for the given situation and it makes me dissappointed most of the time. They lack a consultative attitude and just insist to what they seem fit.

But all-in-all it's a nice experience because i was paid more dearly as compared to local work

[altima]

this topic was discussed here in past, you maybe interested to view f.e. http://www.sitepoint.com/article/con...anagement-made

also (little self promotion) last year I wrote article about offshore outsourcing "Working with offshore web developers. Advantages and pitfalls", here is link - http://altimawebsystems.com/resource...3&cid=84&lid=3

Specifically about this discussion:

With no face to face meeting you do leave yourself open to misinterpretations when communicating your web design ideas and goals. To get around this make good use of the good ol' telephone. I wouldn't rely fully on email to make things clear.

I have opposite opinion - phone may be good for some clarifications, quick question/answer, but most issues better have discussed by email, because it saves your time to keep track of what you have agreed. With phone you should write scripts of discussion, and send it via email for confiramtion, otherwise after f.e. 3 months rather easy to forget what you have agreed.

[japonica]

Both parties can use Vskype and now you can communicate face to face!

[ses5909]

[list][*]english language barrier- easily accounted for when you converse over email because you can see how well they communicate via email. I will then follow up via phone to see how well they communicate via phone.

This is hard to verify through email in my opinion. Someone can spend a lot of time constructing an email to make their English sound as proficient as possible. I think the follow-up over thee phone is crucial. Even when dealing with a native-english programmer, sometimes on the phone you find out they can't back up the skills they listed in their resume.

[SG1]

This is hard to verify through email in my opinion. Someone can spend a lot of time constructing an email to make their English sound as proficient as possible. I think the follow-up over thee phone is crucial. Even when dealing with a native-english programmer, sometimes on the phone you find out they can't back up the skills they listed in their resume.

Sara is right. Sometimes phone is better.

As for my situation, I just interview a few qualified candidates via email. Once the email interview is over, I then move on to phone and grill them with more questions and see what sort of personality they have. It may sound corny to some, but I do believe in developing a relationship with my designers, albeit thousands of miles away.

[priyanka1]

Hi,

i represent an outsourcing business management consulting firm,and we have 58 affiliated centers to cater to any kinds of business verticals.We can help in any kinds of outsourcing needs,speacially on ..

PROCESS MIGRATION --> PLANNING THE MOVE OFFSHORE
Benchmarking and reviewing of current in-house functions
Evaluating various business models: 100% Outsourcing / JV / Subsidiary or Acquisition
Identifying and managing risks ensuring seamless process migration and integration
Vendor selection and evaluation
Setting up and testing PILOT projects
Formulating and negotiating commercial and contractual arrangements
Managing outsourcing project and transition teams .

Please send me a mail or PM me so that we can take it further.

Regards
Priyanka Ghosh
Manager-Business Development
www.tranzitioninternational.com
priyanka.ghosh@hotmail.com

[nemanja_nq]

Yes , phone is good. When someone call me , I know I can get few $$ more. LOL