TECHNOLOGY
OUTSOURCING IT DEVELOPMENT offshore no longer works for businesses . The argument was that using developers in less expensive markets would save a business a substantial amount of money and yield the same quality result . But the rules of the game have changed . Why ?
Agility and speed are now more essential to a business than ever , and teams needs to be closer to enable the digital transformation required by mobile oriented customers . Offshore outsourcing simply can ’ t keep up .
The need for speed Reid Hoffman , co-founder of LinkedIn and Silicon Valley strategist counts speed as his first principle . His famous line is that ‘ If you aren ’ t embarrassed by the first version of your product , you shipped too late .”
To be at the sharp edge of innovation , to get to market first or to steal a march on your competitors , software needs to be developed fast . It can be rolled out and then iterated afterwards where necessary .
There ’ s also a cost benefit to pace . By releasing fast , agile iterations of software , the cost of change is kept low . Rather than cumbersome , process heavy monolithic software , you have dynamic and nimble apps and platforms that can easily be changed and developed according to market demands .
Leading enterprises are already focusing on pace . Vodafone recently built an intelligent maps app in three weeks . Daimler built its Mercedes Me app with Pivotal to focus on minimal development cycles . Apple ’ s operating systems are built fast and then updated regularly and Amazon updates its retail platform every 11 seconds .
Development offshore is simply too slow for modern business needs . The need for speed makes a more significant business case than the simple face value cost savings from offshoring .
A close-knit team is now vital Developers and customers that work in different territories or even different continents are separated by distance , time , language and cultural nuances . How does this affect the quality of work ?
Teams are unable to collaborate . Effective collaboration is borne out of the constituent parts of a team working closely , instantly and reactively .
18 June 2016