On Tue, 2004-10-26 at 07:14, Ken Elliott wrote:
> >From upFront.eZine:
> <quote>
> CAD vendors are emphasizing outsourcing to their customers.
> That's to sell more software, and especially to create a market
> for collaboration software.
> Last Friday, we listened as PTC executives boasted to financial analysts
> that they are advising companies to replace $100K/yr American engineers
> with $20K/yr Indian engineers. It occurred to us that maybe nearly all of
> its employees -- and those of any other software company -- could get
> outsourced enmasse to India, Russia, China, wherever -- software
> programming, marketing and public relations, IT and tech support,
> accounting, whatever. All an American software company needs in
> the United States is a ceo and local resellers.
> </quote>
> I've always had a dislike for PTC for this kind of crap.
> PTC makes a product known as Pro/Engineer or Pro/E.
And you think PTC is the _only_ vendor doing it?
Major software is already being developed overseas.
Heck, India is "expensive" compared to Ireland and Israel, among others.
What comes to bite companies in the @$$ is when they let _all_ of the
code be developed overseas. That's a problem because the end-user
software is _still_ used by Americans. Locale, business and other
considerations are still a factor. Those are approaches, flows and
other features that _must_ be "added" when the product comes back.
I've written requirements documents for software being outsourced. You
have to tell these guys _everything_ -- right down to the data format,
interfaces, etc... They will cut corners if you don't, you have to put
it in the design document. So, unfortunately from a business
standpoint, there _is_still_ a "threshold of overhead cost" in doing
this, as well as "fixing the code" when it comes back.
So here's the golden key.
American companies _do_ need a better approach outsourcing software
development. It's not the "hand it off savings" like many companies
want, and they _are_ learning the "hard way."
One, project management is US based. You _can_ have a remote project
manager, but you need someone who reports to US engineering resources.
The US based portion defines requirements explicitly, and dictates what
portions -- and I stress _portions_ -- of the code will be written by
the outsourced partner. Strict function and parameters definitions,
strict structure and data formats. In fact, it really helps to have
support files and documents written _before_ you outsource.
[ SIDE NOTE: Unfortunately, I've seen companies abuse their developers,
sending an American developer to Indian for a projected 3 weeks only to
end up 3 months. That's just cruel, unprofessional and wrong -- I don't
blame American engineers for quitting, and I _do_ want to see some
lawsuits ]
Two, you still need an engineering staff in the US. This staff will be
responsible for "cleaning up" the code when it comes back. This will
vary from interface changes, various subsystems, etc... Ideally these
should already be determined in the initial requirements documentation,
and those portions given to the American staff. The idea here is to
reduce the American staff to focusing on the more "consumer facing"
aspects of the software, leaving the "meat" to the outsourcing partner.
Which brings me to my final point. This approach, when implemented
correctly, will result in a cost savings of around 50%. The idea that
you can get a "direct savings" of 60-80% by using foreign software
developers who work for only 20% (more Ireland/Israel) and 40% (more
India) of what Americans software developers is a joke. They often have
no concept of business and American locale. And in many cases, they are
"hackers" who need a _lot_ of direction, because they do _not_ get the
training in the software development cycle, quality assurance, etc...
Such things _will_ come in time in their regions, just as their standard
of living comes up, and American companies move yet again to "cheaper"
markets. Sigh, the cycle continues.
Lastly, customer support for American consumers and businesses should
_never_ be outsourced. Companies are learning this the "hard way." The
best way to lose a customer is to have them hear a foreign voice for
support -- be it in America or _any_ other country. This is where Linux
and other Freedomware shines, because it is developed globally, but
refined and supported locally (Red Hat ~ US, Mandrake ~ France, SuSE ~
Germany, etc...)
-- Bryan
P.S. PTC is one of the major vendors putting Linux on the engineering
desktop. It sells one of the leading CAM packages used in the
mechanical and aerospace engineering fields. Main reason? It does 3D
for simulation, modeling, packaging and component layout far better than
that "popular civil engineering" application with add-ons that's really
only designed for 2D (did we have that discussion on this list or
another? ;-). Again, don't assume they are the only ones doing it.
-- Bryan J. Smith b.j.smith@ieee.org ------------------------------------------------------------------ "Communities don't have rights. Only individuals in the community have rights. ... That idea of community rights is firmly rooted in the 'Communist Manifesto.'" -- Michael Badnarik----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
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