Introduction…
A new level of value is available in corporate software development

Observations and best practices…
Observation: The evolution of the GLOBAL labor pool…

…led to increased effectiveness and greater acceptance

…because it makes a better optimum available

Observation: Independent variables are more directly controllable than Dependent variables

Observations and best practices… Labor Rates & Individual Productivity
Observation: Labor Rates vs. Individual Productivity - India has high value

Observations and best practices… Labor Rates & Individual Productivity
Best Practice: Strive for access to global workforce

Observations and best practices… Staff Levels…
Best Practice: High staff levels can shorten duration, but System Integration Projects are notoriously incompressible

Observations and best practices… Agreement…
Observation: “Agreement” is the primary determinant of duration; adding sites & shifts erodes stable agreement

• 6 of top 10 success indicators, as listed below, are related to “Agreement”
  • Executive support
  • User involvement
  • Experienced project manager
  • Clear business objectives
  • Minimized scope
  • Standard software infrastructure
  • Firm, basic requirements
  • Formal methodology
  • Reliable estimates
  • Other criteria (small milestones, proper planning, competent staff, and ownership)

• The feedback loop between Duration and Agreement is critical.
• Remote project leadership is able to communicate with stakeholders less often and generally via less rich communication channels
• Slower feedback longer duration

Observations and best practices… Agreement…
Best Practice: Use well-known but not often adopted agreement building practices

• JAD sessions
• Operation walkthroughs for the entire project team
• Facilitated Graphic Groupware sessions replicated at multiple sites
• Requirements artifacts in non-technical standard formats (RUP, Use Cases, etc.)
• Documentation publishing infrastructure
• UI storyboards, proof-of-concepts, prototypes
• ‘Secundments’; particularly for Technical Collaborators

Observations and best practices… Team Productivity…
Observation: Multi-site projects constrain team productivity

• Team leadership constraint
  • Establish object framework
  • Able to direct all participants confidently
• Team communication constraint
  • Programming as an ‘objective seeking’ activity greatly affected by feedback delay
  • Staggered shifts, email-only communication adds delay
• Cultural miscommunication? (more on this)
• More face-to-face events lead to more travel & logistics delays and time constraints
  • DHS legal delays - you’ll need a lawyer
  • Travel administration becomes very challenging
• Team motivation constraint
  • “Who am I working for, again? What do they do?”

Observations and best practices… Team Productivity…
Best Practice: Start with a single location, add specific roles for specific tasks and objectives

Observations and best practices… Team Productivity…
Best Practice: Be aware of cultural miscommunication

• Software development ‘culture’ may outweigh local culture
• Carmel’s Framework
  • Revering hierarchy vs. Question Authority v. Informalism
  • Individualism vs. collectivism
  • Task vs. relationship focus
  • Risk avoidance vs. Risk acceptance – comfort with ambiguity
  • Long-term orientation; future to present to past
• Hall’s 5 Dimensions
  • Space: personal space, ‘place’ in meetings
  • Material goods: status markers, corner office?
  • Friendship: degree transitory, quicker or slower trust mechanisms
  • Time consciousness: deadline orientation
  • Agreement process: Formal contracts vs. informal consensus, discussion in meetings vs. 1-on-1, meetings as ceremonial conclusion

Observations and best practices… Process Discipline…
Observation: Cheap Labor is sometimes a new excuse for “Code & Fix” atrocities

Observations and best practices… Process Discipline…
Best Practice: “Rational Unified Process” (RUP) is a good process discipline starter kit and communication kit bag

Observations and best practices… Infrastructure Investment…
Observation: Infrastructure is just as costly and remains as important

• Infrastructure in a big city in India is about as expensive as the same rent and other infrastructure costs incurred in the developed Western countries.
  • Reliable infrastructure costs more
  • Reliable infrastructure for a foreign company, that’s extra
• Infrastructure extended to peoples homes
• “Bigger, quieter, more private offices with fewer interruptions”
  – DeMarco
• Best Practice: Measure your steady-state requirement for labor. Rent before you buy. Rent to own

Observations and best practices… Infrastructure Investment…
Best Practice: ‘eCollaboration’ Tools Insure Efficiency, Increase Chances of Success

Observations and best practices… Diagnostic Questions…
Every Situation is Unique, ask yourself about the Independent Variables

• Is there a top-down imperative? Cost, urgency…
• How much agreement exists now?
• What would an optimal team in a single location look like?
• What range of labor rates do I have access to?
• Where do the various necessary skills exist?
• What technical platform will be used?
• What is the right degree of Process Discipline for this project?
  • High Ceremony v. low ceremony?
  • Have I ever achieved high discipline?
• Where is my best development infrastructure right now?
• What will be the length of life of the resulting system?