IT systems are at the heart of modern business and the development of new software applications and the maintenance of existing systems, are both critical to ensure productivity, performance and profitability. Advances in software technology over the last 20 years have allowed increasingly more complex business solutions to be created, enabling companies to offer customers exciting new services and products. However, software development processes still suffer from the same problems that they have encountered for the last decade, regardless of the technologies being used.
But why is offshoring software development still considered so risky? All software projects have associated risks. One of the major sources of risk results from changes that occur during the project’s lifecycle. In its simplest form, this is normally assumed as changing the software user’s requirements. However this is not confined just to this area. For example, changes to the makeup of a project team, changes in the technology being used and changes to any external systems where new software might be needed, all present real risks to projects.
It is worth remembering that building any kind of software by using talented expertise abroad can provide a lot of know-how and at the same time reduce expenditure compared to using a company from North America or Europe. At the same time let’s not forget that North America and Europe are two of the world’s biggest consumers of offshore software development. However, here at FusionExperience, we have found that the biggest risk of all to a business is poor communication. Although English is the most common language to conduct business in, written and verbal communication can lead to ambiguity and misunderstandings. There is a need to find a blended approach between offshoring and onshoring that reduces the huge communication risk.
In order to reduce communication problems, businesses looking to outsource their software development need to introduce a communications programme internally. Traditionally it was believed that this would only effectively work if any internal communications were documented as narrative. However this is seldom the case, as written words can also lead to ambiguity and confusion when translated. Indeed, the value of such narrative rapidly erodes as complexity increases with conditional logic such as, ‘If-Then-Else’.
This problem has been inadequately addressed by a number of techniques such as using use cases and diagrammatic representations to go alongside standard narrative formats.
The newer generation of simulation and visualisation tools, with an embedded transparent and collaborative space for shared feedback, provide powerful alternatives to traditional ways of specifying requirements and transferring this knowledge to the offshore partner.
The introduction and implementation of a simulation, visualisation and collaborative communications platform can materially reduce the cost of coordination between onshore and offshoring working. At FusionExperience we use the leading product on the market called iRise. A company’s communications process works at its best when rework cost is reduced to a minimum. In fact, case study evidence has shown that the use of a simulation, visualisation and collaboration platform can reduce overall software development costs by around 34%.
Adopting a simulation, visualisation and collaboration platform for communications, whilst developing systems that deliver what the users actually want, will undoubtedly produce software of a higher quality and fit to purpose. This typically results in software that is easier to maintain, adapt and revise, thereby reducing the long term operational costs and associated risks.
Freddie McMahon, head of customer experience at FusionExperience .
