Outsourcing & Kittens
Few years back there was a real hype about outsourcing development projects. I was working and living in New-Delhi, India at that time, and you could almost see the buzz of "outsourcing" in the air - people were so excited.
The hype, like all hypes, has ended. People realized that paying low prices might cost more if things didn't turn out as they expected them to. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of talented people, but there were just as much unprofessional ones.
The idea of outsourcing is still good and valid - you move your projects into places where it will cost you less - as simple as that. Everybody wins.
So how will you know if the people you are communicating over via email (cause you can't understand their accent when you talk in Skype) are the right people for you? The price is ok , maybe a little high than what you imagined but the timetable they show you sounds realistic more or less - but can they deliver?
To know almost for sure send the following email:
Hi,
Can you please hook_update_6000() my site. I'll need some basic fago to go with the user registration, and later allow quicksketching nodes. Oh, and we really want to have some chaos going all over the site, and can you take out that function Crell really hates?
btw, Do you think kittens will die in the process?
Don't hire them if they answer:
WTF?
Hire them if they answer:
Howdy,
So you want to upgrade your site to Drupal 6, add content profile module to the user registration, allow users to flag nodes, and add some CTools love to it?
Meh, no kittens should die.p.s. About Crell - don't worry, we know better than to use arg().
Ok. I'm not 100% serious about sending such an email - my point is this - If they are involved in the community, know the people and speak the lingo, they are probably aware of which modules are good and have a future; they probably know the best practices for deployment; they probably know how to write secure code. So even if they charge more than another company, but that company answered "WTF"? - go with the more expensive company, as in the end it will cost you less.
Comments
Spot on!
And the most important part of that guideline is that it is nationality neutral. It doesn't matter if the company you're talking to is in Mumbai, Madrid, Montreal, or Montgomery. The same "do they have a clue" litmus test still applies. If they use arg(), don't hire 'em. :-)
You have obviously not
You have obviously not managed a single project outsourced to New-Delhi.
No individual or organisation from India will ever reply WTF (either literally or figuratively). They will read your mail, they will google your Drupal buzz words and they will give you the exact answers you're looking for.
Throwing a pile of insider hype lingo at them is not a litmus test by a long shot, even if you call it a community.
The only way to successfully manage an outsourced/offshored development project is to invest heavily in management, which practically boils down to going there yourself and bothering to learn to understand their accent.
I actually lived in New-Delhi
I actually lived in New-Delhi for 1.5 years. Hack, I even knew how to read and write Hindi.
Anyway, I wouldn't take *every* sentence in this post literally... :)
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