From the other side of the ocean

I thought of writing the following after going through Sandeep Sood's article on 5 rules for hiring offshore IT teams. If it reads more like a rant, please excuse it as I have based the following on my experience over the last 6 years of having worked with Indian companies to whom work is outsourced from companies in USA.

1. Please pay up gracefully

Companies in India need to find a partner in USA who do NOT start bargaining when they have to pay up the money at the agreed upon rate.

The work is generally delivered (agreed majority of the time it is with hiccups) on time. And, when the companies have to cough up the money and pay up, one should see them swinging into action. They get on chat and on phone to try and bring down the agreed-upon rate. They will go over ALL the issues that came up during the project. The resources will be blamed for doing shoddy work and not being up to the mark.The managers will be blamed for not getting the work done properly. There will be a lot of to-and-fro and everybody will get upset.

And, the best thing is that it is the companies owned by Indians in USA do this as they believe they know the mind-set and treat the IT company like any 'kiryana' (grocery) shop, and get the best bargain. The companies that are owned by Americans still tend to be fairly reasonable.

The done thing for the company outsourcing would be to at least pay up at the agreed upon rate. They are already paying reduced rates compared to rates in US. Also, they need to respect the fact that they are working with intelligent, hard-working people who are engineers and well educated. They are not dealing with riff-raff with whom one can bargain and get away with.

With reference to the dating paradigm, please make sure that when one signs up for the date, the guy will pay up for the dinner without quibbling about it (this is from the female's perspective!). Otherwise, it may leave one with the feeling of throwing up. And, that is not a pleasant sensation, trust me! (been on a couple of such dates!)

2. Requirements

A typical attitude generally seen in companies that outsource work is here we have got you this project and now let us know the date of delivery. e.g. a client may say "an ecommerce site is to be built and now let me know by when this can be delivered". Typical reaction this side of the Atlantic Ocean would be "Uhh, excuse me, can we know the profile of the client and get clarification on the umpteen number of details that are required before we can do such a thing. Without that, we are helpless."

And, the best part is that the companies outsourcing the work will not put you in direct touch with the end-client, also. And, they will also hesitate to get the requirements clarified from the client! Koi kare to kya kare (what is one to do in such a situation!?!)

3. Pay premium

In my last 6 years of working with Chandigarh-based IT companies, I don't think I have ever come across any company that has paid a premium. They would have been asked to bring down the rate but to pay a premium rate for quality services, that is unheard of (at least, I haven't heard of it)! The work is to be done at the cheapest rate, even if it may be done by trainees and take double the time. One does hear of a box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates and a bouquet of flowers that may come up the team's way for a well done job!

4. Trainees all the way

In an effort to keep the cost down and knowing the squeeze that the company outsourcing the work is going to put in at the end, Indian companies tend to hire trainees to do the work. The belief is that they will do as good work as trained and qualified people will do. They don't realize that the work is going to take more than double the time and it would cost them nearly the same besides causing a schedule overrun on the project, as the time estimates would have gone through the roof.

Happy dating!