I want to share a story from a Galaxy Far, Far Away. It’s been on my mind quite a bit of late, as I tell it in some of my agile classes. However, I’m unsure whether the students believe me or they glean the significance of the story. I usually share it to illustrate a […]

I’ve had more than my share of outsourcing challenges. Time zones, culture conflict, communication issues, lack of creative problem solving, poor teamwork, lack of domain experience, etc. Typically there are solid business reasons for going offshore, budget being a primary consideration, but if you don’t get the results, then what has the cost savings done for you?

I remember sitting in a room with the senior IT development team of a very large, multinational financial corporation. They had literally spent billions of euros on IT outsourcing the previous year. The question one of the senior directors asked was for 20xx:

How many compelling, innovative, and memorable projects were delivered

by our offshore IT teams?

On the surface it was a simple question. And the annual portfolio in this case contained a hundred or so major projects. What do you think the answer was?

It was none. There was not a single project that delighted the customer. That was memorable in how it solved basic customer needs or challenges; or in how it was delivered and deployed. Sure some of the projects were “on schedule” and/or “within costs” and/or “within scope” from a triple constraint perspective, but they weren’t memorable or noteworthy.