May 22, 2007As part of its Financial Technology events series, DataArt organized an executive Webinar, “How to Make Software Outsourcing Effective” which provided key insights on what works and what doesn’t in software outsourcing for small and mid-size financial technology companies
Marina Kolesnik, Senior VP at DataArt, shared the results of an outsourcing survey "The Changing Face of Outsourcing", jointly conducted by DataArt and Hedge Fund & Investment Technology magazine (now Buyside Technology). Among companies surveyed, more than 60 financial software companies utilize offshore talent, 88% of which do so for software development, 69% for testing and 64% for product design. Among key challenges for outsourcing, respondents named IP risk, delayed learning curve and lack of industry or product knowledge of a vendor’s team.
Tom Castriota, Founder and Managing Partner of Work American Style, discussed the importance of improving communications on offshore projects. Key tactics included creation of a communication plan, identifying key groups within a team, setting expectations and controlling the message. He also shared the mechanics of a communication plan that works, from organizing and recording meetings to setting up a reporting structure.
Alexei Miller, Executive VP at DataArt, devoted his presentation to two major success factors in the lifecycle of an outsourcing relationship: vendor selection process and outsourcing engagement models. The first suggested checking vendor compatibility with client-side application portfolio, as well as industry expertise and process compatibility. The latter focused on choosing correctly among the three engagement models: team-based (staff augmentation), project-based and application-based.
