Ask HN: Have you ever outsourced development and if so, how did it go? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Have you ever outsourced development and if so, how did it go?

6 pointsrrhoover9 comments

While usually not a good long term strategy, outsourcing development overseas can be cheap and smart approach when technology isn't the core of the business.<p>I'd like to hear about your experiences and recommendations of where to look for engineering talent.

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Short summary [It's too late to write a thorough response]:

1) with any sort of outsourcing solution, you either end up paying too much or having to hand-hold and babysit the development process. both are expensive resource-wise.

2) especially if you arent focused on the technology, the people who actually do the work treat you as nontechnical, and try to screw you over. Worked with an outsourcing firm once, and a person messaged me:

"okay 4/11/11 1:03 AM tell me whats issue on XHTML/css which is developed using web2.0 technology 4/11/11 1:03 AM not Table based old technology . 4/11/11 1:04 AM This xhtml/css is very much all search engine friendly as well as Google friendly . 4/11/11 1:04 AM Whats the issue with xhtml/css ? 4/11/11 1:04 AM Please explain so that we can fix issue asap ."

now, needless to say I wasnt particularly focused on the development of the website [it was ancillary]. I estimate i spent more time babying the outsourcing team than I would have spent actually getting the site up myself.

Lol, "using web 2.0 technology".

Thanks for the insight. Shady, incompetent firms seem to be a common theme but there has to be at least a few honest, effective resources available.

There's a good explanation for why they are few and far between, and I'm going to quote The Dark Knight here:

"Joker: Like my mother used to tell me - If you're good at something, never do it for free."

If they were good, they would charge a lot of money [making them unappealing]. By going with a cheap alternative, you are either going with a new company or with an incompetent group.

Outsourcing generally depends on what project specifically you want to outsource, and the work quality varies immensely. Personally, I've had a reasonable experience dealing with an outsourced logo development project, but a terrible (and relatively expensive) one with an outsourced web development project. I learned the hard way: when you hire an outsourced web developer, you get a web developer (read: they'll make you a webpage), not a designer or product engineer.

The key theme is to be involved every step of the way and have a clear idea of what you're looking for.

  .. recommendations of where to look for engineering talent.

I wrote this comment on the India specific HN version that has some suggestions on how to go about finding a good offshore development firm - http://hackerstreet.in/item?id=1058. It could be of some use to you.

I've done it quite a few times. Mostly it went bad. The last one though is going quite well. Why?

- very, very clear and limited requirements.

I've had great success! Get a referral.

Can you give me one? :)

Depends what you want done. I know good folks so prices might be in the mid to high range of the typical outsourcing menu. I am not taking a cut, FYI. Put up the project (high level) somewhere and share the link.

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