Can offshore suppliers afford not to be agile?

MAY

Can offshore suppliers afford not to be agile?

06 MAY 2011 | Posted in offshore, resourcing | Author Stan Wade |

2 Comments

I have read any number of reports on the progress of agile techniques within the industry and although they are as not robust as we would like, I think making a basic conclusion that 1/3 of projects are ‘Agile’ is not being too optimistic. I have now been told by HP that they claim it’s nearer to 2/3 of projects. Whatever number you choose, its still pretty big!

With these numbers bouncing around, how can software suppliers compete without having an agile offering with demand so high? To not offer an agile option is surely appearing to have a limited service capability.

And there you have the problem. A supplier has to say they can deliver an agile service to remain competitive and yet they may well have limited capability to deliver. In my experience, it’s often using ‘smoke and mirrors’. Anyone can claim they are agile, but doing it is another thing.

I have worked quite extensively with offshore companies who have established revenue models often based on using large numbers of junior developers on projects. While individually inexpensive, armies are not. So when they are asked to develop in an agile approach, using smaller numbers of multi-skilled experienced developers to achieve the same thing, their world is rocked! Their agile response is often to support the concept in discussion and yet change as little as possible in the way they work. Its not surprising really, you don’t shoot the ‘cash cow’ to make a few burgers.

So what can we do to make offshore agile services more useable? Isn’t it in everybody’s interest?

Comments

Ross Hall (not verified)
12 May 2011 21:57

You can't beat experience. In my experience bringing a junior developer onto an Offshore Agile project is heading for problems. Working offshore requires a high degree of confidence and ability to work unsupported that juniors do not yet have.

If juniors are going to be used they have to be 100% supported. They can't be left to their own devices!

This might be a diversion, however. An offshore firm offering "Agile" services needs to back it up with a formal, methodical approach. Again my experience suggests that far too often "Agile" is used as an excuse not to approach projects formally. Where methods are used sheer velocity is used as an excuse not to do valuable tasks such as comment code correctly, test it thoroughly and so on.

This all implies the supplier is entirely at fault. I wonder how many clients have conducted thorough due diligence on their suppliers. Not many. And less will have been to the offshore development shops, let alone met the specific people working on their projects.

My view - Offshore Agile can work, just needs a lot more rigour around it than I am currently seeing.

Stan Wade
13 May 2011 07:15

I quite agree Ross, and I think you have driven the nail in a little deeper. The issue I am seeing is that the offshore companies need to be able to compete in the market by offering what they are calling agile, but its really their old tried and tested model of revenue generation with a 'front end' to make it look different. I agree that experience is key for agile, but they are often selling what they already have which is armies of cheap junior developers.

Do people do the due diligence or just grab at the attractively 'cheap' quote and marshal support behind that based on numbers and not a lot of hard confidence in the supplier? I have seen a lot of evidence of this, and then a year down the line, its back to the way they used to work again with hundreds of devs trying to bail out a failing project. The meter of course is still running and the bill is rapidly spiraling out of control.

I don't think we do the due diligence and put in the controls we should to keep the projects in our control, sharing some of the risk with the suppliers. That low offshore quote can dull the mind sometimes and entice us into making some rather rash and undisciplined decisions.

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