Customer Reviews

Software without Borders: A Step-By-Step Guide to Outsourcing Your Software Development

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As someone who has managed hundreds of technology projects, I can say that I wish I had this resource years ago. This book clearly spells out everything you need to know about successfully outsourcing software development. This is a step-by-step guide that helps you navigate though the complexities of choosing the right vendor, staying on schedule and within budget, as well as protecting your intellectual property rights. This is a must read for CIOs, IT Managers, Product Development Professionals and Outsourcing Executives.

Written by experienced outsourcing businessman Steve Mezak (founder and CEO of Accelerance Inc), Software Without Borders: A Step-By-Step Guide to Outsourcing Your Software Development is not a computer programming guide per se; rather, it is a business guide to making offshore outsourcing computer programming projects a success, especially given that over half of all offshore outsourcing projects do not achieve their cost-saving goals or timelines, if they succeed at all. Chapters outline how to choose the right vendor, stay in control of outsourced software development projects, achieve results on-time and on-budget, protect one's intellectual property, choose when to create a subsidiary for greater savings, and much more. Occasional black-and-white diagrams illustrate this no-nonsense, "must-read" guide for every executive before they commit thousands or millions of dollars' worth of resources to an offshore outsourcing software project.

I originally reviewed this book in December of 2006, and just took another look at it. I think the review is still applicable and the book is still a worthwhile read.
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It seems everyone is writing a book on outsourcing these days, but I recently finished one of the better ones that I have read in a while. Published this year, Software without Borders by Steve Mezak of Accelerance, is a good primer for those not familiar with the process of offshoring.

Every outsourcing book contains a chapter on offshore locations and usually they are all the same, there is only so much that can be said about the different countries involved in the outsourcing industry. However I think the author has presented his analysis differently, from a commercial perspective. He presents a "Who should go" and "Who should hesitate" analysis, based on his experience of course, but still it takes the analysis to the next step which will be very helpful to those who are not familiar with any of the offshore locations.

The author has developed a Decision matrix that a company can use in order to determine if offshoring is right for them and if so, what type of structure is appropriate. The breakdown of the criteria used in the matrix is detailed; however, always remember that the assignment of ratings, to the criterion, is subjective. You would want to assign a higher weight to the criteria which is more important for your company. In order to make it more meaningful, you may want to do two ratings, the first one to weight each decision against the others, and the 2nd to rate the choices against the other choices (for example: Assigning a weight for each of the budget choices: in-house, onshore, and offshore. Also assign a weight to how much the budget choice means to your firm versus the long-term need versus the need for expertise, i.e. which of these is most important). [..]

There are several areas that the reader will find familiar because they relate to software development and how projects should be done, no matter where they are done. Chapter five describes how you can define your software when you are going to outsource development and Chapter six deals with controlling the development of that software. Some readers, especially those in start-ups, may find the details of developing your own prototype and defining your beta version particularly useful. The author advocates the use of Agile development methodologies which is currently much talked about as a "newer" method of software development.

As many outsourcing books do, the author touches on intellectual property rights and how to protect yourself when outsourcing offshore. The description includes an excellent explanation on exactly how rights should be assigned from the programmer back to the buyer, the exact flow. It is written out very plainly for anyone to follow, something usually not seen in outsourcing books.

Included is a section on metrics for your software outsourcing project. A good list is provided, but they are typical outsourcing metrics, to be used for any type of project, whether it is done in-house, or outsourced offshore or onshore. The metrics are also very IT oriented, not business oriented. I prefer measurements for projects which include how much revenue can be generated by adding these new features, or how much money can we save by saving customer support time, etc. I do agree whole heartedly with the sharing of a projects financial goal with the offshore team. Let them in on it so they can feel the value of what they are doing.

Accelerance is a prime contractor and chapter one ends with a discussion of why it is better to work through a prime contractor when deciding where and with whom to offshore. Since this is what Accelerance does, no negatives of working with a prime contractor are included. Some aspects to think about, if you do decide to go through a prime contractor include the impartiality. It may not be as impartial as you think. The companies in the network have agree to pay a fee to the prime contractor to bring them business. They have gone through some due diligence by the prime contractor, but the actual type of due diligence should be reviewed by you. Will the vendors be the "best" ones to work with in an offshore location, or are they the only places to work with? Probably not, they will be the ones that agreed to pay a fee to the prime contractor. However, will they provide you with enough of a choice for you to look at when deciding with whom to work, probably yes.

Overall Software without Borders has a good practical feel to it; the author is able to give many good insights from personal experience as well as current examples. The appendixes provide additional checklists for anyone contemplating offshoring software development.

Software Without Borders helped my company avoid costly detours along the path to success. I am not an engineer, but the book is easy-to-read and gave me the information I needed as a manager to make the right decisions. It also provided great insight into the development process overall. Written with a business leader's perspective in mind and covering topics ranging from the selection of countries and vendors, to IP, to the day-to-day management of a project, Software Without Borders is a must-read for anyone looking to maximize the return on a software development investment.

Steve Mezak's new book is a highly accessible, highly useful guide to outsourcing product development. For someone tasked with sourcing and managing outsourcing relationships, particularly in a small or midsize organization, Mezak's methodology is a proven path to success.

Expanding an organization offshore is non-trivial. Software without Borders proved to be an indispensable guide to my company in our search for the right offshore partner and in implementing our agreement. The book is pragmatic, insightful, and helped us focus on the right questions. Highly recommended.

This book overlooks some major pitfalls that have cost companies millions on failed projects. One, as an example, is differences in the knowledge of target-country business culture. If the off-shore technicians don't have a minimal knowledge of the subject matter AS PRACTICED IN THE COUNTRY FOR WHICH THE SOFTWARE IS BEING CREATED then the requirements have to be perfect. And really, a user or business requirement isn't a usable vehicle for conveying the nuances of business culture needed to bridge the cultural gap between even developed countries, let alone, say, the EU and India. That's just one example, fresh in my mind from having written off a lot of wasted expense over the last two years. I'd like to find a book that is a real read map to offshoring development work, but mostly I'm finding war stories about failed attempts.

Mezak's book tries to capitalize on the passing fad of outsourcing software development overseas. Over the past several years outsourcing overseas has proven to be a fad that is rapidly declining. What Mezak doesn't tell you is that offshore companies will typically assign three to five times as many software developers to a project as would be the case domestically. There is also the extreme difficulty of accurately communicating requirements to another party for development. There are real language, communications and time zone problems that are very hard to overcome. Next, particularly in India companies cannot keep their employees. There is as much as a 50% turnover in these companies. Why? Because salaries have been steadily increasing. Even people in India want to make more money and that drive is increasing costs dramatically. As a consequence it is no longer cheaper and certainly not easier to outsource software development. In short Mezak's book is as outdated as outsourcing itself.

Except a frustrating experience. Our company tried offshoring, and it was a failure. Nearly everything the previous reviewer said was true in our case. The book is based on a passing fad which, like "the dry look", should pass..