In my prior roles, my organization has utilized offshore resources to engage contractors. I have also engaged offshore resources for personal projects. My experience has provided a range of results ranging from good to poor. I wanted to make a list of 10 reasons for and against offshoring resources that have created both sets of results.
Reasons For:
1. 24/7 Working Model - strategically placed resources around the world can allow for a full-day development model
2. Obtain Unique Skill-sets - It could be difficult to find an expert with experience in a specific software, so expanding the resource model to be world-wide allows the ability to find the right person
3. Cheaper - The cost of a software developer in the United States would cost in excess of $100,000 annually; the same labor resource overseas might cost $10,000 annually
4. Provide Work Opportunities - These jobs can change lives and families across the world, who otherwise would not have opportunities to work for great companies
5. Limited Benefits - Another cost-saving area for an organization because they do not have to pay for expensive benefits to the contractor
6. Flexibility - Changing resources is significantly easier due to less overhead required for that position
7. Contractor Model - Contractors in America charge an incredibly high rate and require a minimum of 3-6 months of work to be engaged properly, whereas offshore resources can be used for very short periods of time (down to one week)
8. Work Output - Off-shore resources, in my experience, have a higher ability to execute on complex development tasks - this is because there are fewer distractions in their environment as opposed to an on-shore resources environment
9. Scalability - It is more simple and cheaper to stand-up and scale a team off-shore than it is on-shore
10. Documentation - Creating documentation for business processes and software tools is cheaper; if there is no off-shore model, a lot of times documentation is not completed due to cost and need for production output.
Arguments Against:
1. Exploitation - It is easier to exploit workers and pay them less than their value due to the conditions the resource lives in
2. Communication Barriers - Language, vernacular, and business terms can vary across the world and can create problems in communication
3. Inefficiencies - If off-shore resources do not know how to solve a problem, or do not have a specific task to do, work can be delayed as a full day could be wasted while on-shore resources are asleep and unable to provide guidance
4. Culture Issues - Some actions and behaviors might be appropriate for one area of the world but entirely inappropriate for another, causing work conflicts and tensions
5. Lack of Accountability - Off-shore resources understand they are expendable, so it is not always easy to hold them accountable for lack of work output
6. High Turnover - Resources move around a lot from job to job and area to area, so keeping a good off-shore resource can be difficult to sometimes impossible
7. No sense of ownership - Offshore resources do not feel connected to the company and project
8. Trust Issues - It is more difficult to trust someone when there is a significant geographical gap - is the person really sick?
9. Lack of Motivation - Offshore resources are not motivated towards the project goal as on-shore resources
10. Limited Knowledge - On-shore resources naturally learn on the job and have gained skills from working in an area that off-shore resources have no experience with, causing significant training efforts to be undertaken
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