FAQ : Frequently Asked Questions
About offshore outsourcing of software development and Accelerance services
I don’t like the idea of sending jobs offshore. Aren’t we shooting ourselves in the foot by using global outsourcing?
No. Global outsourcing of software development enables you to create more for less cost. More software, more value and more jobs. It gives you access to global brainpower and innovation that creates more jobs than it destroys. See the How We Work page for more details on why Accelerance believes global outsourcing is an opportunity for our clients and not a threat to our economy.
Yes, but isn’t it better for me to have my own development team as employees?
Yes, ideally it is. But these days it is an expensive luxury. The average hourly rate for employees in the U.S. is about $65 including benefits, overhead, etc. Individual consultants and consulting firms in the U.S. charge at a much higher hourly rate, often over $100 per hour. In comparison, competitive global outsourcing vendors charge between $20 and $40 per hour for experienced programmers, and sometimes less, depending on the skill level of the programmers, their country location and the size and length of your engagement.
Offshore outsourcing gives you the opportunity to cut your software development costs by at least 60%, more in some cases. In addition to lower cost, global outsourcing provides several major benefits including:
- Fast ramp up of your programming team
- Technical expertise that may be difficult for you to hire locally
- More flexible at growing and shrinking the team as needed
- Expanded work day when offshore developers are several time zones away.
Many companies prefer to have an internal development team because of the easy communication possible with team members. Today the Internet enables similar communications capabilities between your company and an outsourced team, giving you tremendous cost savings when development is done offshore.
I already have offshore connections. Why do I need Accelerance?
Accelerance provides you access to a wide spectrum of global outsourcing choices. It’s one thing to get a referral to one or two offshore vendors from friends. It is another to select from the several dozen pre-qualified vendors in the Accelerance Global Partner Network screened down to a short list of excellent choices that match your selection criteria. You will have to judge on your own if your handful of vendor referrals has the right technical skills, business experience and global location that best fits your needs.
OK, maybe I don’t have referrals, but how difficult can it be to find vendors? Aren’t there thousands of them?
Well, yes, but that’s the problem – there are thousands of vendors and it is hard to sort through them to find the one that is the best fit for you. You can do it but it takes time and experience to know what to look for and what to avoid. On your own it can take months to carefully source, screen and select an offshore vendor. And you still have the risk of making the wrong choice. Read the true outsourcing horror story about Jeff Shules (name changed to protect the unfortunate) for example. Accelerance helps you find a pre-qualified vendor in days instead of months.
Why can’t I just hire InfoSys, Wipro, TCS, or some other large Indian vendor?
Those are fine companies in many ways. But look at their client lists and the size of the deals they do. These large Indian mega-vendors are not able to give you the attention you need when you are a small company that needs just a small programming team. But go ahead. You can include these large vendors in your evaluation along with Accelerance global partners and judge for yourself.
Did you say $25 per hour?! I was told anything more than $15 per hour is a rip-off.
If you want a couple of junior programmers working from home, or together in a room at a far off location that you manage yourself at a distance, then yes, $15 per hour and lower is definitely possible. You can post a project on the multiple job boards out there to find these individual freelance programmers and “body shop” vendors. It is an appropriate solution for small programming projects.
However, if you need a team of professional software developers that work for a reliable vendor with the physical infrastructure, project management and experienced with software development methodologies, the cost is a little higher. The cost of $25 per hour is still much less than what you would pay to local programmers in the U.S. and other countries. And remember, the bottom line is it doesn’t matter how cheap the programmers are if they can’t deliver you the software you need in time to meet your important major milestones.
Are Accelerance Global Partners really qualified to develop my software?
Each Accelerance Global Partner has been evaluated, qualified and characterized to determine the specific technical and software development methodology skills that make them an excellent choice for Accelerance clients. Accelerance also checks reference checks with the partner’s previous clients before being accepted as Accelerance Global Partner Network member.
Not every offshore vendor that applies for membership in the Accelerance Global Partner Network is accepted. Applicants are rejected for several reasons – they may lack technical focus and be a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none. Or they may not have enough of a track record and lack sufficient references. Another deal-killer is when a vendor offers their own software products in addition to software development services. No client wants to risk their IP becoming intermixed with the vendor’s own source code. Accelerance global partners only offer custom software development services.
Do I have to create a complete specification before work can start?
Not necessarily. You have a superior amount of expertise in your application domain. If you can express this expertise in written form then you have a good head start on getting your software developed properly. The most successful projects have the right balance of documented requirements and specifications along with good interactive communication to maintain a high level of development team productivity. Your goal is to create high quality functional software that provides value to your users or customers – not to write the perfect specification.
Accelerance partners are ready to collaborate with you to create your software in situations when you do not have a complete specification. You can use experience with collaboration, agile software development experience and overlap with your workday as selection criteria to select the best global partner when you have limited specifications.
How can I protect my Intellectual Property (IP)?
Accelerance global partners are professional development vendors that are strictly committed to the security of your ideas, intellectual property and source code. Accelerance global partners protects your IP in three broad areas:
- Technical – use of VPN, encryption, firewalls & secure networks
- Procedural – limit access to your IP only by team members that need to know
- Legal – contractually committed to protect your IP though contacts and copyright assignments
The Accelerance Mission is to help our clients quickly build great software products in the most risk-proof and cost effective way possible. Fierce protection of your IP is an integral part of a business relationship with Accelerance and our global partners.
Want to Learn More About Accelerance?
To learn more about why Accelerance is the leading offshore outsourcing company, please explore our site, browse the Global Software Outsourcing Network directory, and take advantage of our rapidly expanding collection of blog articles, videos, webinars, and e-books.
Also, be sure to download a FREE PDF copy of the book “Software without Borders: A Step-By-Step to Outsourcing Your Software Development” written by Accelerance’s CEO Steve Mezak.
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