1)      How does the offshore development work?

Ans: We can explain you the whole development methodology in detail through our offshore development methodology white paper (it's a separate document by itself, and please request us to send you a copy of it). However it's not a whole lot different from any other outsourcing project. The only difference in this case is: all implementation and programming are done in our development labs India and our project managers work with you from here in Research Triangle Park (Raleigh), North Carolina, USA. As necessary our project managers also visit clients on-site.

2)      How complex a software project can you develop?

Ans: We have done or are doing fairly complicated projects (involving 10-20 team members in a project over a period of more than a year). The number of lines of code varied anywhere between few thousand lines of code to more than couple of million lines (however it depends on what type of code/system you are referring to - Java, C++, C, Embedded systems, OO, Assembly, Oracle, FoxPro, VB or what?). Right now we are in the middle of a very large medical transcription and dictation project (being written in Java, C++, Oracle8i, Dialogic hardware, Interfacing with printer and other devices servers, etc.). This project is going on from Oct. 99 to date, involving approx. 20 developers in our lab in New Delhi, India.

3)      Who owns the code at the end?

Ans: You (the client) own all code, documentation, design, conceptual ideas, every thing. We have a very strong legal process in place to assign all proprietary and ownership rights to you.

4)      Do we get the complete set of development files at the end?

Ans: You get files continuously in the development process. Once you start the project it is a very interactive process (sometimes meetings at least once in week, in some of our projects we have international conference calls everyday). Every document, design or code generated in either side is exchanged continuously and reviewed and fine tuned very frequently (sometimes daily). Therefore you keep on getting files and other deliverables very frequently.

5)      How much does it cost?

Ans: Our hourly rates for offshore development are US$25-49/hour. Our hourly rates for on-site support (limited support) is around US$59-89/hour. If we bring our people for your on-site support we also charge you separately for their travel, hotels and meals (actuals). We generally bill you on a prefixed schedule or every months or every quarter. We also do projects at a fixed cost where the requirements specifications are very defined and can be frozen at some point of time. In this case we provide a fixed cost estimates after finalization of the Technical Specifications Requirements (TRS) and do not accept any major changes later on. (In any case the total project cost varies. The project costs may be anywhere from US$10,000 to more than US$5,000,000 depending on the size & requirements of the project).

6)      What kinds of guarantee do we get that the work is well done?

Ans: We give you a two-three months free warranty after the final delivery for all bug-fixing, etc. After the warranty period we sign a separate monthly or quarterly support/maintenance contract with you.

7)      Are there mechanisms to ensure deadlines, milestones and timely delivery?

Ans: We follow all standard project management methodologies using all available tools (e.g., MS Project). We have a sign-off process for each delivery after the spec is firmed up. (We also follow version control mechanisms during our development).

8) How do you deal with people who change their minds all the time and want something changed in mid-project?

Ans: This is a very difficult question. We try to minimize the changes by signing off the specs/requirements for each delivery. These documents are signed off by the client. However in reality it is very hard to control. With each and every change there are some impacts on the development schedule and cost.

9) Offshore software development strikes fear in my mind... Are you easy to reach and how fast do you respond to calls?

Ans: We are an American company, based in RTP, Raleigh, North Carolina. Our project managers operate from here in North Carolina  and also travel to client sites as required. We try to be responsive as much as possible (e.g., returning calls in maxm. 6-12 hours, etc.). Our development teams in India are more responsive in our opinion - they generally address issues within few hours. Emailing and telephone calls from our labs in India are very regular procedures. We have high speed, broadband ISDN, T-1 connections from our offshore labs through which we do software updates any time. We also have web-based project management tools and mechanism for each and every page, so that each projects can be monitored 24-hours and updates and bug-tracking can be done any time.

10) Are you ISO and do you also manage the ISO documentation process?

Ans: One of our labs in India is ISO 9000 certified. Other two labs are not - however they follow a very strict development process and methodology.

11) Do you do software testing, verifications & QA services?

Ans: Yes, in two of our labs in India we do a huge amount of software testing: QA, system testing, functionality & feature testing, integration testing, regression testing, web software testing, compatibility testing on various platforms, load and performance testing, test case preparations, execution of test cases, reporting, etc. (please look at our Software Testing page).

12) How detailed a set of requirements do you require from us?

Ans: Again, it's an interactive process. In one scenario: if you do not have any spec outlined we ask you to give us a minimal requirements spec (may be a page or two page description of the system). Then we start developing the formal TRS (Technical Requirements Spec) from that. Every release of this TRS document is reviewed by the client and we do modifications accordingly. Generally it goes on from few weeks to a couple of months (depending on the project). In this process the TRS becomes the Bible for all development. All changes and modifications are captured continuously in this document. On the other hand if you already have a specification document we start with discussion on that, refine it for some period of time, try to freeze it once all agreed.

13) How can we be sure that the software you develop for us will not end-up in a competitor's hands after it is completed?

Ans: India is a WTO (World Trade Organization) member and committed to protect proprietary rights and has some mechanisms in place for anti-piracy. We have confidentiality agreement with our offshore team (with each and every team member). This confidentiality is also validated on the basis of existing Indian laws.

14) Do you provide post-development maintenance?

Ans: Yes, we do support all software we design and deliver on the basis of  a separate support/maintenance contracts. This generally includes bug-tracking and fixing. Feature enhancements and developments are handled as separate contracts. We also do support and maintain software developed by other vendors.

15) How do you deal with urgent bug fixing?

Ans: We have a bug-fixing and bug-tracking mechanism. In this system we prioritize the issues on the basis of priority-1, 2, 3 and so on. All priority-1 issues are fixed in 48 hours, all priority-2 issues in 10 days, and priority-3 issues are resolved in 1-2 months and so on. Therefore all urgent bug-fixing issues are put in the priority-1 list and our support team addresses them immediately.

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