Offshoring Development - Testing The Water

nies the UK over have been flocking in their droves tofor the offshore operation to work within and as far
offshore processes such as IT services provision, callas possible, will help to limit errors.
centre work and HR administration. From India to China,With offshore risk management, it is critical that quality
the Philippines to Mauritius, it seems that every countrygate controls at the customer organisation are
in the developing world has an offshoring proposition toestablished and an airtight quality plan is developed, led
tempt UK and European countries to engage withby the onshore operation. This is essential in order to
foreign suppliers. Offshore software development isensure that all parties involved on the supplier and end
another area that is taking off. Rather than resourcinguser sides are singing from the same hymn sheet and
a development capability in house, or outsourcing it to aup to speed with what is expected from them from a
local supplier, more and more IT houses, attracted byquality deliverance perspective.
considerable cost savings are turning to offshoreThe local operation also needs to concentrate on
suppliers for their development requirements.acceptance testing and business integration testing.
Opting for offshoring with cost savings in mind is allAnd if the offshore operation is not as up to speed as
very well, but companies are often too absorbed in thenecessary with the business issues, it is vital that the
economies of scale to judge the risks and threats oflocal operation has some procedure in place to
offshore development from an objective standpoint.mitigate this risk – this can often involve having
The risks can be multiple, which highlights the necessityrepresentatives on site, in order to oversee
for sound testing and quality assurance procedures.development, or at least regular visitations and
The geographical distance makes offshoringmeetings to ensure the project is on track.
development a far riskier prospect. The timeIn our experience, the geographical distance in
difference, the language and cultural differences can alloffshoring arrangements means that managing
impact on the quality of service that is being delivered.defects and deliveries back into the offshoring
There is also the argument that development that isorganisation can be really problematic. By the time the
handled at an offshore location is much more difficultonshore operation assesses the work and feeds back
to control and manage. The disconnect between theto offshore operation, the offshore set up will have
local and the offshore operations can be considerablemoved on to the next stage, as is typical of a
therefore it is essential that the company has stringentproduction line. This means that both parties can be on
management practices in place and it increases thethe back foot with regards to dealing with defects
need for thorough specification and failsafe project– this can hinder the whole operation and can
controls.make the process very costly. Having appropriate and
Offshoring also limits a “workinghighly visible quality assurance in place will ensure that
together” ethic, which can be useful inall defects are spotted and dealt with as effectively as
development projects – where it comes topossible and all deliveries are managed tightly. An
analysing prototypes, for example, it can be difficult toinfallible defect management system and clear
bridge the gaps between local business analysts andcommunication about defects are also vital.
offshore developers. Other risks arise from the factBefore the project is even embarked upon, it is
that where offshore suppliers are very adept from aessential that quality assurance and testing procedures
technical perspective, they are rarely au fait with theare outlined in the contract. It is highly beneficial if the
business issues that the organisation may be facing.offshoring contract details quality assurance and
Therefore due to the distance between the local andtesting at each stage of the lifecycle linked to formal
remote operations, there can be a substantial risk thatacceptance criteria. It is key that the offshoring
the business application and the requirement could beoperation is transparent so the local customer
misunderstood in design, development and testingoperation retains some control over the project
terms – there can be lots of to-ing and fro-inglifecycle, so they can have visibility of the project
between the disparate offices, which can bedesign, development process and also, critically, of the
problematic when you take the time difference intotesting procedures. This will ensure the end user
account.organisation can review or witness the test and test
Whilst the issues around outsourcing are evident, theaudit trail to increase assurance before the product is
benefits are undisputed. So how can organisationsdelivered.
improve the way they do offshoring? When mitigatingWhilst the benefits of offshoring are undisputed in
offshoring risk through sound testing and qualityterms of cost and quality of service, it is essential that
assurance procedures, the first rule of thumb is toironclad quality assurance and testing procedures are
establish an onshore, local operation that deals with theput in place. Cost effective offshoring may be, but if a
end user organisation as well as the offshoresoftware development project goes awry due to bad
developer.management and insufficient testing, it could cost the
They can ensure that the project undergoes thoroughlocal customer organisation a good deal more in the
specification, which should then be clearly documentedlong run.
and communicated – this will give tight guidelines