Software Development Outsourcing

[luke_]

Greetings UK mates.

Not to bother you much but what is your experience regarding software development outsourcing? Have you ever used it? Would you recommend?

The background is that in Georgia (republic, not the US state ) software development outsource companies are profit tax exempt, hence they offer prices much affordable than of any EU or Ukraine/Russian/Belarus similar agencies.

In fact. I'm an owner of such remote developer hub company located in Tbilisi. You could view our portfolio here: www [dot] anyware [dot] ge

And the reason I opened this thread: if offshore development is positively regarded in UK and as per your experience, what is the starting point from me to reach out to UK potential clients? Can I find any registry of companies seeking soft dev outsourcing?

Thanks in advance for any advice and/or bright idea

 

[fisicx]

A lot of software development is outsourced. Some of it is outsourced outside the UK. You just need to do what every other developer does and market your services in the UK. There is no registry of companies seeking outsourcing. Companies search google, get referrals or use the same person they last used to do development.

Outsourcing =/= overseas developers. Outsourcing just means not doing it in-house

 

[luke_]

Ah yes, forgot to put emphasis that I'm interested in potential clients willing to outsource overseas. Thanks for pointing it out

Google search does not give much. I mean not the results, they are ample, but point of engagement. So far my clients from US and eastern Europe are from personal reference.

However, I do have an advantage - my crew is one of the best low level C/C++ Assembly team. To give you an idea, we did an IPTV and Lawful Interception solutions from scratch to product by 70% cheaper than any other same scale development would have cost in EU. I don't take India and China into account, since their credibility is under big question.

So my main problem is not the development expertise but reaching out guys who would love to work with us. Obtain great products with less expenditures.

It's not a trap. It's because living in Georgia is cheap and law favors outsource agencies, freeing them from profit tax. Hence the price is awesome.

 

[fisicx]

What I meant was if a company needs an IPTV and Lawful Interception solution they will use Google to find a developer. If they see your business in the results and they think you can do the job they will get in contact.

Your problem seems to be marketing. And being cheaper isn't a good USP. People have had plenty of experience of cheap developers and they often weren't impressed.

PS: your website is sloooooow. 2.6Mb homepage and 10 seconds to load. That doesn't bode well for your coding skills. Testing from the USA and it's 20 seconds to load.

 

[luke_]

Yes I should change the website hosting provider and hire a marketing manager, however I have some trouble finding anyone with specific experience in development.

I'm also aware of being cheap is a tricky thing to advertise. It might have a counter effect. I'm planning to visit embedded world exhibition in Nuremberg this month, hope to obtain new contacts there. Just so far due to being a small team, although highly qualified, big companies do not find us credible, as if even GE or IBM was not a small initiative at startup

Isn't there any online place, similar to physical exhibition, where I could put some notes about my company and specific products?

 

[Paul Murray]

Your problem seems to be marketing. And being cheaper isn't a good USP. People have had plenty of experience of cheap developers and they often weren't impressed.

One of my clients outsourced the development of a web-app to a web studio in Manchester years back. That company (one of the biggest) just outsourced it to India for a literal fraction of the cost my client paid. When it came back, unsurprisingly, half the features that were requested/expected didn't work and my client just found someone else locally that could actually do it themselves.

With a service, it's often not a good idea to base your marketing solely on price. If there's one thing I've learnt about design/development it that cheap prices attract cheap clients.

 

[luke_]

Yes, I know that backdoor outsourcing and in my opinion such activities put shade to every offshore development agency.

However, I'm not doing that. Will never outsource any LI functionality to 3rd parties, that would totally kill my reputation.

My problem is that my team is specialized on such soft dev that has very small audience. I mean the security applications we do, such as LI, telecom firewalls, IP monitoring tools, etc. attracts only 1 out of 100 client, due to business specificity. And this 1 out of 100 client is someone as big as Dialogic in example, but I can't prove my credibility. I'm restricted by NDAs to showcase my success stories, etc.

So my dilemma is, I'm good at my job, just how should I deliver this info correctly to clients and vendors? I'm not sure Google adwords or sponsored FB posts will do the job.

Any ideas regarding point of engagement for me? Ok, I won't put emphasis on price affordability, but what's next then?

 

[MathSpire]

My problem is that my team is specialized on such soft dev that has very small audience. I mean the security applications we do, such as LI, telecom firewalls, IP monitoring tools, etc. attracts only 1 out of 100 client, due to business specificity.

This is a serious advantage not a problem. It means you can be where they are, know who they are and reach them much more easily. Forums, github, stackoverflow, trade shows. You can even contact them directly and they may be interested if you are specialized in their area.

 

[MathSpire]

Yes I should change the website hosting provider and hire a marketing manager

Just do the former for now. Your website is ludicrously slow to load.

 

[luke_]

Thanks guys for comments!

Today, the Prime Minister of Georgia announced that for small business revenue tax will decrease from 5% to just 1%!

Come and do business in Georgia!

 

[steishen]

I'd recommend such web and mobile app development teams: Axisbits, Cleveroad, Sombra

 

[Alan]

The background is that in Georgia (republic, not the US state ) software development outsource companies are profit tax exempt

Also 0% in Romania, in fact my nephew has emigrated from the UK to Romania and is providing service to the Dept of Education in the UK, tax free.

Before soon all us UK IT people will be living in Romania / Georgia and you locals won't be able to afford your own homes any more. (of course after 2019 or will it be 2022 we will all be doing it on our dubious Irish passports )

 

[Page]

Is it easy to move to Georgia and work there. If a uk national

I watched a tv programme and it looked lovely to me.

 

[dexterash]

Also 0% in Romania, in fact my nephew has emigrated from the UK to Romania and is providing service to the Dept of Education in the UK, tax free.

Before soon all us UK IT people will be living in Romania / Georgia and you locals won't be able to afford your own homes any more. (of course after 2019 or will it be 2022 we will all be doing it on our dubious Irish passports )

I'm not sure what do you mean by tax-free. VAT? Income? What form/incorporation?

Also, does the differences in infrastructure/health/services etc worth the "savings"?

 

[Cromulent]

As a programmer myself I am working on an open source project that I eventually want to release so I can put it on my CV to hopefully increase the chances of getting those software development jobs.

Furthermore, I use open source software all of the time, so I thought I'd try and give something back.

 

[miyajames]

There are many companies in the UK outsource their work to India. Outsourcing ensures that your business is not lagging in technology, and renovating old apps adds creativity and freshness, and outsourcing may perhaps turn your app into the next big thing.

 

[Chi Doan]

In my country, it's around $10-$15/h for a Senior or Principal software developer.
We're working with a lot of big companies in both US and UK.... they're all satisfy with us.

 

[Orilord]

It’s painful when you can’t find good talent in your city, and even worse when you have to let go skilled team members because you need to reduce your team size. These situations are not uncommon in the current market. It happened to me some years ago, and I found myself distracted from my core activities to the point that it was affecting my own productivity. I asked my contacts for advice and the most common answer I received was: “Christian, if you can’t find talent willing to work in-house, then outsource”.

Although initially, I was skeptical, when I started contracting experts for comprehensive agricultural development projects in Peru or Ukraine: , I discovered the real benefits of outsourcing work for which skill is key. However, I noticed that the advantages of this practice were only relevant when the contractor worked closely with the vendor and when there was a proper bidirectional knowledge transfer.

While our main concern was to take care of the businesses, we were also saving money. One hour of my work was more valuable doing something I was good at than exploring unknown activities. Even recruiting and training turned out to be a demanding proposition, not only because of the financial and time resources I was going to spend but also because at some point I would have to let go the people I had already engaged with my company and with myself.

I know that some people might still be skeptical about how much money could be saved by partially or fully outsourcing core or support tasks. But I think that in terms of software development, a highly skill-based type of work that requires very effective communication and knowledge transfer, outsourcing can be the right choice. In truth, hiring in-house developers can be more expensive than you think.

Hope this helps.

 

[winwinweb]

IT outsourcing is good if you are working with a good company who have IT specialist team. You can get a better result from outsourcing companies. Do some R &D before assigning projects with them. Now, there are many companies and consultancies are offering IT outsourcing services. The small and medium company are taking benefits from outsourcing consultancy and focusing on their core business.

I and my team working with many international client many years from AUS, US and UK. Here are some tips which help us.

1. Clear scope of the document
2. Weekly discussion
3. Financial delivery based on work