Offshore software development services

IT outsourcing is more popular in 2009 than it has ever been. Many companies are choosing to outsource to an IT provider, rather than maintain an IT department. But how do you choose a reliable supplier? If you aren't an IT fanatic yourself, how do you know whether your systems are up to scratch or not? Whether you're being given appropriate advice? Or whether you're getting value for money?

In Gartner's 2009 outsourcing study, it was reported that many companies are developing outsourcing strategies to help them through tough times, but that organizations need to regularly assess their service levels and contract terms to achieve greatest return on investment. Allie Young, Vice President of Gartner, explains: "The well-educated buyer and provider will have the advantage. The potential for outsourcing to address immediate cost pressures as well as long-term recovery goals will be unprecedented...Many organizations that are not outsourcing will consider or move aggressively to outsource their IT or business processes to focus on their core business.

Company Size How many engineers does the company have? How many full-time members of staff? Where are all these staff members based? Do they sub-contract or outsource any work? If so, what? If they are a very small company or a one-man band, what happens in the event of a crisis at another client's premises? Do they arrange cover if they are sick or on holiday?

As a software developer, my industry is in a state of flux. Is offshoring software development a good thing or a bad thing? The jury is still out and the discussions are usually quite lively. Over the years, I've heard the following snippets in the discussions "quality vs. cost", "you get what you pay for", "we tried offshoring software development once and now we spend all day fixing offshore developers code", "we saved a boatload of money by offshoring certain tactical aspects of software development", etc. In my experience, these points have more merit in big company circumstances compared to small business.

Clients for website development expect to pay lower fees than they did in the 90s regardless of their company size. As a small business owner, I'm unable to maintain a sustainable profit margin with lower client fees. What can I do? Simple. Hire offshore developers at lower rates, so my profit margin allows the projects to be worthwhile. The opportunity for me is to spend more time on clearly defining technical architecture, project management and communicating regularly with developers and clients rather than writing code.