How to Avoid Failure in Offshore Development — The "3 DO, 2 DON'T" Formula to Remember

Offshore development may be the right choice for your company, but to make the project a success, you need to get it right. Here are a few tips to help keep offshore development from becoming an insurmountable mountain.

1. How to Avoid Failure in Offshore Development — "3 DO"

1.1. Build a Relationship of Trust

Maintaining effective collaboration requires trust. To earn this trust, actions, relationships, and culture all need to be right. Getting to know your colleagues' backgrounds helps build trust more quickly.

From the very start of a project, Miichisoft explains each project step to the client, commits to a schedule, and tracks progress. Miichisoft is designed to run client projects with flexibility and security. As a result, clients can use Miichisoft's services with peace of mind.

1.2. Understand the Culture

Good communication is the most important area to focus on for productive offshore work. In my opinion, this is a key success factor for building a high-performing team and fostering effective, trustworthy relationships between different team members.

Vietnam is famous as a Japan-friendly country. Many Vietnamese people study Japanese, and in recent years, more and more engineers have gained Japanese language skills, breaking down communication barriers. In offshore development, differences in language, culture, and customs are often obstacles, but since Vietnam is Japan-friendly, it's easy to outsource development there. Over 30% of Miichisoft's staff have lived and worked in Japan for several years, and we're confident in providing talent with strong technical skills and a deep understanding of clients.

1.3. Use Social Software Tools for Effective Communication

Interacting and working with offshore consultants using traditional enterprise technology no longer has the same impact, and can actually become highly inefficient and unproductive. That's why I believe communication is essential in offshore development, such as in the oil and gas industry.

2. How to Avoid Failure in Offshore Development — "2 DON'T"

2.1. Don't Cover Your Achilles' Heel

The biggest reason IT offshore development projects fail is a lack of preparation. Choose projects and departments that won't threaten your existing staff. An offshore setup should be a way to scale, not to politicize your business. Bring in a project manager skilled at delegating tasks, monitoring workflows, policing, and communicating with external suppliers. Before betting the house, start with small, low-risk projects. In fact, never bet the house at all — core competencies and mission-critical elements are almost always best kept on-site.

2.2. Don't Outsource Your Own Problems

To get the most value from outsourcing, you, as a leader, need to make sure your internal processes and structure are sound. This often falls outside the scope of what a CIO/CTO or VP of Engineering can control alone.

You need to take the time to work with relevant stakeholders to clearly define the goals, processes, and requirements of your offshore initiative. Sufficient internal bandwidth must be allocated to move the offshore program forward and keep it on track. Only once you have the right processes and the right resources in place can you begin selecting an offshore outsourcing partner.

3. Conclusion

The "3 DO 2 DON'T" formula won't make your company the number one in the IT offshore industry. But it can help your company avoid failure. Let's improve your offshore development process together.