Re: ANN: Agile Outsourcing

James,
         Your views on putting agile practices in the outsourced 
model are terrific.Some of the considerations on making the agile 
methodologies work in the offshore model are very practical. 

However, in times of pervasive reach of digital communication 
including emails;ip telephony;audio and video conferencing lot of the 
problems of time zone and cultural differences are increasingly 
becoming irrelevant. Therefore, an oblique reference to the relative 
de-merits of locations like India;Russia etc are unwaranted now. 
Indian firms have had the largest chunk of the outsourcing pie for a 
while. What is more important is the increasing customer satisfaction 
and credibility brought about by successful project deliveries over a 
course of time. Firms like WIPRO and Infosys are even managing 
successful ROI on remote network management services which are more 
affected by time zone differences etc. The regular app development 
projects, by this yardstick, should be still better. 

So far as cultural differences are concerned, we should not forget 
that agile methodologies are supposed to bring about a congenial 
cultural melting pot-where people with different frameworks of 
thought patterns(governed by their cultural upbringings) collaborate 
towards common success factors. Moreover, the Indian and Chinese 
diaspora are one of the largest and most successful migrant 
community. They link back directly to not just their families back 
home but an exponentially larger community sharing similar 
aspirations of success and entrpreneurship. The urban youth in these 
locales watch same television programs; movies and listen to similar 
music. Also, while traveling west, you gain 12 hrs-so resources could 
be available the following day onsite should their be any immediacy. 
Last but not the least the 12 hr time zone difference lend perfectly 
to an 'evening discussion of the User stories via audio/video phone 
and levereging the US night time to go about the execution'. It adds 
up beautifully to the 24X7 global delivery model.

Regards,
Saif


--- In [email protected], "James McGovern" <james@w...> 
wrote:
> The idea of agile outsourcing came to me after finishing up my 
latest book:
> Java Web Services Architecture
> (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1558609008/) and in having
> discussions with Scott Ambler. Having received large acceptance of 
this book
> by outsourcing firms overseas such as Wipro, Covansys, Tata, IBM, 
EDS, CSC
> and others, I realized there was a common problem and sought the 
solution to
> it.
> 
> 
> 
> The industry is going down the path of diverging thoughts. Agile 
methods
> (www.agilemanifesto.org) is sometimes viewed as an extreme to the 
principles
> practiced by SEI/CMM believers at outsourcers. Being a person that 
is savage
> in pursuit of excellence, I thought about solving for the answer.
> 
> 
> 
> Outsourcing should not be viewed as contrary to agile principles. 
Instead,
> the two distinct thoughts should be blended. One of the primary
> contradictions is the savage pursuit of CMM and the need for 
comprehensive
> documentation.
> 
> 
> 
> Agile methods empower developers to trust their instincts and build 
software
> creatively rather than mechanically. Many teams found themselves so 
burdened
> by their plan of development that writing any code was almost an
> afterthought. For example, consider the requirement of keeping 
detailed
> on-going code documentation. Developing software is a dynamic 
process.
> Developers will often leave the detailed object diagram behind 
after the
> first month.
> 
> 
> 
> Writing software is massively complex in many enterprises. The 
ability to
> predict how components will interact as lines of code are added to 
a project
> are beyond the masses in the software industry (present company 
included).
> At this stage, it is more important to employ an empirical process 
that uses
> generous feedback and response. Only then will software in an 
outsourced
> model become agile.
> 
> 
> 
> The feedback stage is crucial. Agile enterprises should not be 
caught in the
> vicious deception that documentation at frequent stages in the form 
of
> status reports is wise. The only thing that matters is working 
software. The
> only proof of working software is working software. Pay close 
attention to
> how the software works not what the documentation says how it works.
> 
> 
> 
> When working with an outsourcer once should mandate frequent 
releases of
> software. An agile enterprise will never let themselves not see 
working
> software for any more than two weeks. The more frequent one sees 
working
> software, the better.
> 
> 
> 
> To further consider agile outsourcing one should consider relative 
location
> of the outsourcer. Countries that provide outsourcing capabilities 
that are
> closer to the United States include Barbados, Brazil, Uruguay, 
Philippines
> and Ireland. The cost structures in these countries are similar to 
what can
> be found in India, China and Russia but have additional advantages
> including:
> 
> 
> 
>   a.. Ability to collaborate with offshore resources that are in 
the same
> time zone during the business day.
>   b.. The ability for offshore developers to travel onsite at a 
moment's
> notice without introducing the complexity of securing Visa's.
>   c.. The ability for employees to travel to offshore facilities 
and have
> zero concerns about climate, potable sources of water or a long 
regimented
> set of prescription drugs that must be taken prior to travel. 
Keeping your
> own employees healthy is good for business and helps reduce other 
costs
> associated with health insurance and other forms of liability.
>   d.. India has conflicts with Pakistan, China has conflicts with 
North
> Korea and Russia has been known to aid Iraq. Barbados for example, 
doesn't
> have any of these concerns and will allow for piece of mind.
>   e.. Cultural differences are also more easily bridged if both 
parties use
> the same vocabularies for communication. For example, the American 
culture
> is not filled with formal English but includes slang and words that 
have
> been adjusted over time from their original meaning. In Barbados, 
and other
> South American countries, they watch the same Television shows as 
Americans,
> so communication is easier.
>   f.. The thought of what hit fits the shan is best realized when 
the
> country you outsource to is easily reachable by direct flights that 
can be
> reached in a single business day from major airports such as JFK, 
Miami,
> Chicago's O'Hare, and LAX brings an additional piece of mind.
> 
> 
> Another form of agile outsourcing is to consider building your own
> outsourcing solution. Agile companies like Phoenix (Headquartered in
> Hartford) early on built their own offshore facility in Bangalore 
India to
> maintain control of resourcing and make sure they receive all of the
> benefits a salaried employee in the States would. This allows for 
them to
> have an offshore model yet ensure that people working on the 
project have a
> vested interest in the success and are not simply interested in 
increasing
> the headcount.
> 
> 
> 
> The Phoenix approach also allows for further cost reduction in that 
they are
> keeping the profit margin otherwise given to an outsourcer for 
themselves.
> The side advantage of this approach is that they can leverage L1 
Visa's in
> an ethical manner, something in which other outsourcers cannot 
admit to.
> 
> 
> 
> The goal of this forum will be to further expand the industry's 
thoughts of
> better ways to merge agile methods with outsourcing. I welcome you 
to join
> the Agile Outsourcing Yahoo Group at:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/agileoutsourcing.
> 
> 
> 
> James McGovern
> 
> Father of Agile Outsourcing
> 
> Co-author of best selling book: Java Web Services Architecture
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1558609008/


 

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