Barriers to Outsourcing

Conquer Internal Barriers to Outsourcing

Barrier #1:	Culture	-	Address impact to organization and management styles
Barrier #2:	Scope	-	Outsource to optimize strengths and weaknesses
Barrier #3:	Control	-	Maintain control through continuous communication
Barrier #4:	Risk	-	Expect risk and plan for mitigation

Selecting software products or projects for outsourcing and mitigating impact to the organization is challenging for companies large and small. Agilis Solutions recommends that companies address barriers to outsourcing prior to identifying what to outsource.

Four issues commonly arise when a company is considering an outsourcing strategy. They include effect on corporate culture, determination of project scope, project control, and risk management.

Barrier #1: Culture

Include key stakeholders in the process. People and process are commonly impacted by outsourcing. In fact, internal groups may view outsourcing as competition rather than an opportunity to grow the capacity of the business. Include critical managers from the beginning in the sourcing evaluation. Internal groups may view outsourcing as a failure rather than an opportunity to take advantage of a new focus. Include team members in the decision to outsource and involve critical managers from the beginning in the outsourcing evaluation process. Evangelize the outsourcing relationship with key employees to ensure success.

Barrier #2: Scope

Optimize for strengths and weaknesses. It can be difficult to distinguish good outsourcing candidates from projects that are too core to the business or too complex, and therefore not ideal for outsourcing. Take stock of and balance strengths and weaknesses of the internal team and the outsourcing team with the business priorities of the company to guide scoping the outsourced projects.

Barrier #3: Control

Clarify roles and responsibilities up front. Managing an outsourced project is different than managing an internal team. To maintain control, ensure a clear and continuous communication flow is in place between internal and external members. Support internal ownership for the business domain expertise and external ownership of the engineering processes.

Barrier #4: Risk

Create an ongoing process for risk management. No project is without risk. Discuss and reach understanding of the expected risks and prepare mitigation plans to limit downside exposure. Close collaboration, protection of intellectual property, clear expectation setting and a disciplined approach to knowledge transfer are just a few ways to mitigate risk.

Through a hands-on approach, Agilis Solutions helps companies overcome barriers common to outsourcing software engineering projects. The key to moving ahead is identifying the nature of these barriers within the organization and dealing with them directly. For further information on outsourcing and overcoming internal barriers, feel free to contact us.