In the Software industry, quite often development and testing jobs are outsourced and a small percentage of the team is placed at the client location to coordinate between client teams and offshore teams. This presentation talks about specific challenges faced when teams are geographically distributed and some of the best practices that have helped in my experiences as onsite coordinator as well as offshore project manager.

1. Onsite Offshore Coordination
Project Management in IT Industry
Mahesh Dedhia

2. Offshore Outsourcing Model – Overview
Team Structure and Key Challenges
Perceptions and Expectations
Most Optimum Practices
Contents

3. Offshore Outsourcing Model – Overview
• Key Characteristics
• Business organization hires another organization in another country
• Team is located in time-zone different from the customer
• One or more team members are located at customer site
• Promoted by GE in mid 1990s. Jack Welch, former CEO of GE and industry
thought-leader, had announced the ‘70-70-70’ plan –
• 70% of GE’s IT work will be outsourced
• 70% of the outsourced work will be done offshore
• 70% of the offshore work will be done in India
• Today:
• 43% of IT Services companies in the US outsource their work offshore
• India tops the list of preferred countries for outsourcing!
• Primary Benefits of Offshore Outsourcing:
• Reduce costs
• Gain access to IT resources unavailable internally
*Statistics taken from http://www.statisticbrain.com/outsourcing-statistics-by-country/

4. Offshore Outsourcing Model – Overview
Team Structure and Key Challenges
Perceptions and Expectations
Most Optimum Practices
Contents

5. Team Structure
Delivery Lead
Onsite
Coordinator
Offshore Team
(70-100%)
Client Manager
Onsite Offshore
Client Team Onsite Team
(0-30%)
Customer
Service Provider

6. Key Challenges
Delivery Lead
Onsite
Coordinator
Offshore Team
(70-100%)
Client Manager
Onsite Offshore
Client Team Onsite Team
(0-30%)
Customer
Service Provider
Cannot correlate
to the
environment at
customer site
Doesn’t have the
exposure that
Onsite
coordinator has
Cannot correlate to
the challenges/
limitations faced by
Offshore
May not be aware of
the efforts put in by
Offshore to solve a
problem
Tends to speak
the language of
the customer
Communication
gap

7. Offshore Outsourcing Model – Overview
Team Structure and Key Challenges
Perceptions and Expectations
Most Optimum Practices
Contents

8. Perception from Offshore
Offshore
team
Customer
Onsite
Coordinator

9. Perception from Onsite
Onsite
Coordinator
Customer
Offshore
team

10. CHALLENGE EXPECTATION - OFFSHORE EXPECTATION - ONSITE
Requirements are not
clear/ stable
Provide relevant estimates
and inform about any
deviation sooner than later
Provide requirements as
granular and in advance as
possible
Needed resources
(installers, licenses, etc.) are
not available
Share accurate updates of
progress/ roadblocks
through the day
Make the required
resources available to work
on a story
Delay in flagging risks
(No Surprises principle)
Share questions and
concerns as early as
possible
•Convey the roadblocks/
pain areas of team to
customer
•Avoid over-optimism or
fear of escalation from
customer
Lack of motivation/ focus
on Client Satisfaction
•Strive for improvements in
product/ services/
processes
•Exceed expectations by
providing value-added
services
•Fetch customer
appreciation!
•Provide insights to
increase customer
satisfaction
Challenges vs. Expectations (1/2)

11. CHALLENGE EXPECTATION - OFFSHORE EXPECTATION - ONSITE
Short interactions during
daily standups only
•Interact with Onsite and
provide support during
overlapping hours
•Revert to queries in timely
manner
•Have one-on-one calls
with team members for
specific tasks/ issues
•Ask specific questions to
understand and help with
the situation
Lack of Email etiquettes •Pay attention to old emails
too in forwarded email
threads
•Do not delete old emails –
move them to apt folders
•Do not share internal
email chains with
customer
•Consolidate and
summarize info gathered
through the day instead of
forwarding FYI emails
•Avoid sending large
attachments – share them
through FTP/ shared
folders
Challenges vs. Expectations (2/2)

12. Offshore Outsourcing Model – Overview
Team Structure and Key Challenges
Perceptions and Expectations
Most Optimum Practices
Contents

13. Most Optimum Practices – Offshore
• Schedule a daily sync up with Onsite coordinator
• Adjust the work hours to provide as much overlap as possible
towards the end of day
• Share the details of activities/ progress through the day, so
that appropriate good/ bad news can be conveyed to the
customer
• Make maximum but efficient use of messenger and phone
calls during the overlap hours
• Be sensitive to the onsite bandwidth – investigate adequately
and present smart alternatives to arrive at a solution quickly
• Be prepared to accommodate urgent requests from the
customer
• Have adequate test/ demo environments at hand

14. Most Optimum Practices – Onsite
• Start the day as early as possible to increase the overlap with
Offshore
• Sync up with the offshore team first thing in the morning
before facing the customer
• If possible, go through the emails from team before sync up
• Clarify any doubts about the emails, questions from team
over the sync up
• If a topic needs deeper or specific discussion, do that on a
one-to-one call
• Prepare a list of action items based on the sync up and
prioritize as per the impact on the sprint (immediate needs)
• Try to address as many action items during the day and share
the findings/ actionable items through email at the EOD
• Have adequate test/ demo environments at hand

15. I would like to conclude with…
• Every successful individual knows that his or her achievement
depends on a community of persons working together.
• Paul Ryan
• The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may
have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if
they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.
• Babe Ruth

16. Thank You