Insight

Is outsourcing the new Holy Grail for R&D organizations? The IT departments in the enterprise went first and discovered lower costs and improved efficiencies by outsourcing call centers and back office projects offshore. Now the R&D development department in the same enterprise wants to follow the same outsourcing route and realize comparable results. It’s true that outsourcing can yield significant benefits. However, as many early adopters of outsourcing learned, there are some important signs a smart company takes note of before venturing into outsourcing. Long Circle recommends keeping the following points in mind to take you to your goals.

Outsourcing is a process that must be managed If a company assumes that outsourcing means that they can toss their R&D projects over the fence (or in the case of offshore outsourcing, across the ocean) and extraordinary results will follow, they’re about to have a learning experience. Outsourcing is a process and processes must be managed to reap the best results.

The outsourced piece involves planning, including these high-level steps:

• Identify key stakeholders and the internal outsourcing team • Obtain and retain executive sponsorship • Assign the right project manager to interface with offshore outsourcers • Identify goals, both long-term and short-term • Identify suitable projects to outsource • Define the process that feeds the offshore vendor • Define metrics, including stages and dates • Plan for and transfer technology • Communicate goals and change to employees • Measure performance

A good outsourcing project manager is hard to find

The project manager may have the most important role on your internal outsourcing team. Their abilities and skill set directly impacts the outcome of your outsourcing project. If Superman or Wonder Woman were available, they would be ideal. The next best thing is to search for an individual with the extraordinary characteristics that make up a good project manager.

First of all, individuals with the greatest technical expertise do not necessarily make the best project managers. Can they understand the strategic impact – positive and negative— that the project will have on the enterprise? Do they have the leadership and management ability, planning and execution skills to implement the project? How flexible are they? Can they adapt to change and overcome obstacles or unexpected glitches that crop up? If your project manager can understand the business objective of the outsourcing project, communicate clearly and implement, you’re on your way to success.

What time is it over there anyway?

Can your internal team get jet lag when they don’t leave the ground? You bet! Your in house project manager and team members can easily get burned out due to the amount of time they will put in working with the offshore team in a different time zone. The ideal situation is when your onshore team sends work to the offshore team at the end of their day in the U.S., goes home, and finds the work that the offshore team completed waiting for them the next morning. When the development engine is working around the clock, products reach the market sooner. However, to orchestrate this process requires both onshore and offshore teams to communicate effectively. Inevitably, conference calls must be scheduled to communicate with offshore team during hours that accommodate everyone, which means either early morning or late night calls.

Page 1 of 3 :: First | Last :: Prev | 1 2 3 | Next