Local Sourcing

July 24th, 2009 Chris

OK, I know it’s software…Outsources!

So, about two months into the development of our software application, we had the inevitable one month slip once everyone understood the requirements. And it was pretty much all my fault…

Because we kicked this off while we were still in Miami, I went through great lengths to define requirements in gory (ie. requirements document) and somewhat intuitive (wireframes) ways.

However, two months in, we realized that myself and the small team here in Ottawa weren’t quite on the same page. What it took was a long white-board session in which each major functional area was walked-through and dissected.

Again – not a huge surprise that there are hiccups in the development of a new app. But what struck me is the only reason this got back on the rails was the fact we could sit down in person and sort it all out.

That lead to another question: how does a micro business not blow their brains out outsourcing development. I mean at the end of the day someone needs to be local who understands what you’re trying to accomplish. Perhaps that’s why often it’s more often Q&A work and more “mundane” dev work that gets farmed out…

All I can say is saving on outsourcing, 30% (maybe). Looking your developers in the whites of their eyes… priceless.

C.

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