1. Optimizing the Approach
Software Outsourcing
Optimizing the Approach

2. classic, scientific approach innovative methods in service marketing
Introduction
Providing outsourcing of IT services for more then a decade, Softheme, a Ukrainian
software outsourcing company, gathered an extensive knowledge base on various
aspects of the business.
We believe the success in software outsourcing business can be achieved by:
optimized
operations
classic, scientific approach
to the core
production process
responsiveness
and sensitivity
to client's
business needs
improved procedures:
technology
communication
management
innovative methods in service marketing
Analyzing our past experience we identified the approach which works best for our company and though it might be useful to share this approach with the community.
» Outsourcing to Softheme™ Software Outsourcing: Optimizing the Approach.

3. Table of Contents
1. Transparent outsourcing provider and client relationship
pricing model » requirements » metrics
2. Marketing the services
fair presentation of the services » researching the customer’s needs
3. Team and resource management. Proactive control
adjusting the work to the customer's business processes » efficiently organizing the team work
4. Improving knowledge base
new trends in technology and management » analyzing the lessons learned
5. Controling the quality
standards » requirements analysis » testing
» Outsourcing to Softheme™ Software Outsourcing: Optimizing the Approach.

4. 1. Transparent outsourcing provider and client relationship
Optimizing a price model. Fair price.
Like in any business, in software outsourcing there are areas where costs can be cut
and those which require additional investments to provide significant performance
in the future.
Can be cut
Cannot be cut
Knowing all types of costs and forming the price based on them helps maintaining long-term relationships with customers.
» Outsourcing to Softheme™ Software Outsourcing: Optimizing the Approach.

5. 1. Transparent outsourcing provider and client relationship
Optimizing a price model. Fair price
The pricing model must take into account risks for decisions wthin each party's control
Top performance of the outsourcing service provider should be encouraged
Discounts shall be provided in case the customer brings more business to the provider:
more business
discounts
provider:
» Outsourcing to Softheme™ Software Outsourcing: Optimizing the Approach.

6. deployment procedures
1. Transparent outsourcing provider and client relationship
Focusing on outcomes. Sufficient requirements specification.
Software outsourcing providers expect their customer to specify the expectations for:
the system
business-specific data
restrictions of the environment
time and budget constraints
technology
of choice
specifications
application design,
development, testing,
deployment procedures
The rest can be defined on the
outsourcing service provider side:
The software outsourcing provider takes the responsibility of determining the necessary processes in order to achieve the desired outcomes.
» Outsourcing to Softheme™ Software Outsourcing: Optimizing the Approach.

7. 1. Transparent outsourcing provider and client relationship
Performance monitoring procedures. Metrics.
Both customer and outsourcing provider should agree on clearly defined and measurable outsomes  functionality coverage, development schedule.
The progress of the software application development against the development plan should be easily measurable.
WE RECOMMEND: demonstrating the achievements – demo version of the software program, modules ready for the review – together with detailed reports which reflect the application specification coverage.
The feedback from the customer is vital in response to the demonstration.
» Outsourcing to Softheme™ Software Outsourcing: Optimizing the Approach.

8. 2. Marketing the services
Properly presenting services
IT IS IMPORTANT TO:
know and effectively communicate service capabilities
properly present the services to the potential customers
tailor the line of services to the customers' specific needs
» Outsourcing to Softheme™ Software Outsourcing: Optimizing the Approach.

9. 2. Marketing the services
Understanding the customer's needs
Work with customers to understand desired outcomes
and focus on achieving them through:
regularly researching customer requirements
identifying
specific requirements and working
to fulfill them
interacting
with customers and getting information about their users
» Outsourcing to Softheme™ Software Outsourcing: Optimizing the Approach.

10. 3. Team and resource management. Proactive control
Adjusting work to the customer's business processes.
It takes several meetings / s / phone conferences to understand the processes
set up on the customer side which should be taken into account by the outsourcing provider:
meetings s
conferences
processes
understood!
provider’s
processes
customer’s processes
processes adjusted!
After that, the processes on the outsourcing services provider side – meetings, reports, conferences, deliverables, presentations – can be adjusted to those of the customer:
» Outsourcing to Softheme™ Software Outsourcing: Optimizing the Approach.

11. 3. Team and resource management. Proactive control
Adjusting work to the customer's business processes.
IT IS IMPORTANT to understand the process which is set up on the client side.
The following things should be clarified:
point of contact
for the team
points for addressing certain questions
and issues
information distribution
on the client side:
changes
milestones
plans
optimal way to check
the team receives data
in a timely manner
» Outsourcing to Softheme™ Software Outsourcing: Optimizing the Approach.

12. 3. Team and resource management. Proactive control
Adjusting work to the customer's business processes.
Information exchange with the customer is defined by and takes place via such acclaimed channels:
information
exchange
points
of contact
communication
channels
issue tracking procedures
tasks tracking procedures
reporting procedures
roadmap meetings
project meeting schedule
» Outsourcing to Softheme™ Software Outsourcing: Optimizing the Approach.

13. 3. Team and resource management. Proactive control
Organizing efficient team work
The team structure and size are defined based on project's goals after analyzing
the timeframe and budget.
project’s
goals
timeframe and budget
team structure and size
Skills are idenfied based on the:
business domain
technology
stage of project development
» Outsourcing to Softheme™ Software Outsourcing: Optimizing the Approach.

14. 3. Team and resource management. Proactive control
Organizing efficient team work
Paying attention to the team training againsts the customer's business domain,
setting up standards and metrics is as important as providing reviews,
revisions and applying corrections to the existing procedures.
training the team
setting up standards & metrics
revisions and reviews
applying corrections
The team priority should be: constant improvement of knowledge both in technology and in business domain.
» Outsourcing to Softheme™ Software Outsourcing: Optimizing the Approach.

15. 4. Improving knowledge base
Keeping and transfering the project-specific knowledge
Getting familiar with new technologies and approaches
Maintaining a knowledge base of case studies and lessons learned
» Outsourcing to Softheme™ Software Outsourcing: Optimizing the Approach.

16. 5. Controlling the quality
Introducing standards
Metrics, coding standards, patterns, templates
Analyzing the requirements
System overview, functional and operational requirements, performance,
time and budget constraints
Requirements coverage verification
Correspondence of the high-level requirements to the technical specification, technical specification to the system design,
system design and architecture to the source code
Testing
Functional, performance, quality control
(correspondence of the product
to environmental and operational requirements)
» Outsourcing to Softheme™ Software Outsourcing: Optimizing the Approach.

17. www.softheme.com » Outsourcing to Softheme™
Thank you!
Questions??? –>
2010 | Softheme Team | Kyiv, Ukraine | Software Outsourcing Solutions
» Outsourcing to Softheme™