Offshore Problems

Offshore outsourcing has gotten a bad name largely due to the over-inflated claims of cost savings. Many companies have found that the real savings achieved from offshore outsourcing are found to be greatly exaggerated, especially once the actual expenses and all the hidden costs are factored in. Hidden costs include travel and communication, project management and monitoring, as well as the cost of delays, errors, and other deviations.
Business Week "The Hidden Costs of IT Outsourcing"

There are also other very real problems that can arise when you send your software overseas, some of which are:

Communications problems due to your developers being 10+ time zones away.
Language barriers. It can be hard enough talking to developers when you speak the same language, but when you don't it can be down right impossible. Most of us have experienced this when we have had to call a support number and then could not understand the person at the other end of the line.
Cultural issues such as customer service expectations being too high.
High employee turnover.
Lack of security & intellectual property laws. In India, for example, there is no theft of trade secret law and other countries are even worse.
CSO Online "Big Savings, Big Risk"
InfoWorld "FBI agent recounts outsourcing horror story"

The FBI suggests asking yourself the following questions before outsourcing to other nations:

Can my company risk loss of this data?
What are my liabilities if I do lose it?
What are your notification requirements if you lose customer data?
Will the company you are outsourcing to go the distance if you need its help to chase down a criminal?
How much could a prolonged legal battle in a foreign country cost?

Return to look at our onshore outsourcing alternative.