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Outsource It!: A No-Holds-Barred Look at the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Offshoring Tech Projects
If you need to expand your business but not your budget, if your group has an intense but short-term project, if you don't have the skill set to get a job done-it's time to think about outsourcing. Starting from the first step (should you outsource part of your tech work?) to the last (how can you protect your intellectual property?), you'll learn everything about setting up projects overseas.
Sending your prized assets halfway around the world-or halfway around the country-takes a lot of courage for technical leads accustomed to doing things themselves. This book is full of real-life examples that show you how outsourcing really works.
Learn how to choose your outsourcing destination by defining selection criteria tables and applying weights to them. You'll see how to pick the right vendor and understand why recommendations aren't the right way to do it. Then calculate the quality of the code your offshore developers turn in. You'll find out how to adjust your waterfall or agile project for an overseas team, and you'll see why outsourcing QA is not always the prudent approach. Your offshore team will never be as productive as your local team-you'll learn why that doesn't always matter. Finally, you'll discover how much money you'll spend to outsource and how much you can save-which is sometimes more than you'd think and less than you'd like.
Written by an expert who's seen it all, Outsource It! will help you avoid mistakes and give you the confidence and the skills to take your project wherever it needs to go.
Sending your prized assets halfway around the world-or halfway around the country-takes a lot of courage for technical leads accustomed to doing things themselves. This book is full of real-life examples that show you how outsourcing really works.
Learn how to choose your outsourcing destination by defining selection criteria tables and applying weights to them. You'll see how to pick the right vendor and understand why recommendations aren't the right way to do it. Then calculate the quality of the code your offshore developers turn in. You'll find out how to adjust your waterfall or agile project for an overseas team, and you'll see why outsourcing QA is not always the prudent approach. Your offshore team will never be as productive as your local team-you'll learn why that doesn't always matter. Finally, you'll discover how much money you'll spend to outsource and how much you can save-which is sometimes more than you'd think and less than you'd like.
Written by an expert who's seen it all, Outsource It! will help you avoid mistakes and give you the confidence and the skills to take your project wherever it needs to go.
- GenresManagementBusiness
264 pages, Paperback
First published January 22, 2013
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October 20, 2019Very good coverage of topics related to outsourcing IT work. Can be used as a reference when thinking or working on outsourcing projects. Covers many topics, maybe some are not too deeply presented but at least you know what to look for.
March 29, 2016
I wish this book had been published when I was involved in offshoring and outsourcing projects - it would have saved me lots of time and grief! Nick Krym brings his 20 years of offfshore outsourcing experience to full effect in writing this book.
The book is useful for both outsourcing novices as well as seasoned veterans. It is equally useful for companies on the receiving end of outsourcing as well as outsourcing vendors.
The book consists of 16 chapters and 7 appendices divided into 5 sections: 1) How to Outsource; 2) Finding the right vendors; 3) Negotiating contracts; 4) Leading distributed teams; 5) Keeping risks under control. The book is also interspersed with some serious, but amusing cartoons.
Every chapter and every appendix is a gold mine of nuggets for those intending to outsource IT services to an outsourcing vendor. The author frequently cites examples of the gap between what the outsourcers tell you, and what actually happens in practice.
The author classifies vendors into 5 personality types (process focussed, customer-focused, technology focussed, ideals focussed, hybrids) and suggests that you find the right personality for your organisation. He provides detailed step by step advice for selecting vendors, negotiating the contracts and then managing the vendors.
According to the author there are three fundamental laws of outsourcing: 1) Nothing is as easy as it looks (Murphy's first law); 2) Entropy always increases - manifesting itself as a deterioration of processes, performance and environment; 3) If an order can be misinterpreted, it will be - any ambiguity in any communications, documentation, specifications etc will be (innocently) exploited! He provides tools, approaches and checklists to overcome these and to make your outsourcing effort successful.
The first three appendices consist of 30 pages packed with advice and guidance on selecting outsourcers based in Asia (India, China, Southeast Asia), Europe (Russia, East Europe, Ireland and Israel) and The Americas (Brazil, Mexico, Latin America and Canada). The remaining 4 appendices are 20 pages of very useful checklists for selecting and managing vendors.
A must have book for anyone involved in outsourcing in any shape or form.
Review by Kawal Banga
Originally posted: http://www.bcs.org/content/conWebDoc/...
The book is useful for both outsourcing novices as well as seasoned veterans. It is equally useful for companies on the receiving end of outsourcing as well as outsourcing vendors.
The book consists of 16 chapters and 7 appendices divided into 5 sections: 1) How to Outsource; 2) Finding the right vendors; 3) Negotiating contracts; 4) Leading distributed teams; 5) Keeping risks under control. The book is also interspersed with some serious, but amusing cartoons.
Every chapter and every appendix is a gold mine of nuggets for those intending to outsource IT services to an outsourcing vendor. The author frequently cites examples of the gap between what the outsourcers tell you, and what actually happens in practice.
The author classifies vendors into 5 personality types (process focussed, customer-focused, technology focussed, ideals focussed, hybrids) and suggests that you find the right personality for your organisation. He provides detailed step by step advice for selecting vendors, negotiating the contracts and then managing the vendors.
According to the author there are three fundamental laws of outsourcing: 1) Nothing is as easy as it looks (Murphy's first law); 2) Entropy always increases - manifesting itself as a deterioration of processes, performance and environment; 3) If an order can be misinterpreted, it will be - any ambiguity in any communications, documentation, specifications etc will be (innocently) exploited! He provides tools, approaches and checklists to overcome these and to make your outsourcing effort successful.
The first three appendices consist of 30 pages packed with advice and guidance on selecting outsourcers based in Asia (India, China, Southeast Asia), Europe (Russia, East Europe, Ireland and Israel) and The Americas (Brazil, Mexico, Latin America and Canada). The remaining 4 appendices are 20 pages of very useful checklists for selecting and managing vendors.
A must have book for anyone involved in outsourcing in any shape or form.
Review by Kawal Banga
Originally posted: http://www.bcs.org/content/conWebDoc/...
July 7, 2018
I'm not a big fan of outsouring. It's all about CEO fantasy about cutting costs while expecting the same quality and delay. The truth denied this idea. Nick Krim knows better. He especially know what we can expect, what kind of much less glamour benefits we can expect, what kind of prerequisits are needed and the process required to select the provider and work with him. Yes, it's not simple and it doesn't works by magic. And it's what this book is all about.
There is no less than 5 parts in this book, each one target a phase of the outsourcing process, from the selection of the project to outsource to the rick management during the project !
The book doesn't makes me a fan of outsourcing, but at least, we have here real stuff and everything on the table, not hiding any gory details ! Good work !
Ma note de lecture en Français ici
There is no less than 5 parts in this book, each one target a phase of the outsourcing process, from the selection of the project to outsource to the rick management during the project !
The book doesn't makes me a fan of outsourcing, but at least, we have here real stuff and everything on the table, not hiding any gory details ! Good work !
Ma note de lecture en Français ici
October 22, 2013
Very honest book with lots of practical advice. If you have never hired or managed an offshore team, you need to read this. But remember the best advice in the book - if you have any chance not to outsource, don't do it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews