So you need to source tech-services... Have you thought through your aims and objectives?
When determining the 'what' to outsource (onshore or offshore), did you consider all parts of the value chain that can be done better, more efficiently, more economically, faster, etc. by an external tech partner? Did you consider all models of tech-sourcing from team augmentation to retained resources? How about 'what' you need to source-in, what is your forte, high risk or core to your business?
I have a client in the new media sector whose forte is client acquisition, account management and almost everything to do with delivery is sourced-in, it works for some in the same vertical but not so well for others. While working with a start up in Sweden their outsourced service solution was a mixture of onshore team augmentation and off shoring agile testing. For a client in the healthcare sector in the UK my relationship extends from discovery & innovation workshops to finding them tech-service partners to recycle their software products.
The point is every engagement is unique; some need a bespoke service design whilst others need a tailored approach - there is no off the peg approach to tech-sourcing partnerships.
Your organisation is unique, and you need to think long and hard about your best fit provider to gain 'across the board' benefits from sourcing in technology services.
You need to find the right partner for YOU: a service provider whose skill sets, creativity, desire for innovation, attitude, passion, principles and values will complement and enhance your own. It is not black and white it is a freakin' rainbow! if you want to get the best out of a team the team must gel.... for the relationship to succeed your internal teams and your provider's external teams must work as a single unit regardless of proximity.
Though it wont happen over night you can maximize your success rate by asking yourself 'What am I sourcing in and why?'.
All or parts of your software development life cycle can be outsourced and executed by a carefully selected third party better, more efficiently, more economically, faster than you depending upon your unique circumstances; your market position, strengths, challenges, strategy, and constraints amongst a multitude of variables.
You and your teams have to determine the 'what' and 'why' for your business... external consultants like myself can facilitate the discovery process but the discovery has to come from within. And there are tools to help you do so.
On a slight tangent not enough start ups or maturing businesses carry out near enough regular business analysis. You and your teams must assess and re-asses your analysis reports every quarter as a minimum, ideally monthly unless it is deemed an exemption. For your organisation/resources/talents/products/services/ventures/concepts from the bottom up.
You need to be allocating time for regular analysis of your business to keep things in focus and gunning towards your objectives. At Cranfield I learned it's called 'working on your business' and it is one of the best habits I took away from my time there.
It may sound daunting but these are eye opening, surprising and fun exercises! and there are a multitude of tools that can aid this process; a few I religiously use during discovery workshops I run:
SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threat) - you must conduct one for all your talent, services, products and a holistic one.
SCORE analysis (Strengths, Challenges, Options, Responses, Effectiveness) - compliments and builds on SWOT rather nicely.
PEST/STEEPLE analysis (Social/Demographic, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal, Ethical) - gives you a birds eye view of you in your environment.
Ansoff Matrix assists you to map product/market growth strategically - more insightful when combined with cost-benefit analysis. Never surprises me when I hear a fellow entrepreneur go Ansoff who!? Ansoff is the most under rated yet critical tool for thinking for stat-up entrepreneurs. All I am saying is we ought to use it more often.
Cross Impact Analysis - its strengths is that it forces attention towards “chains of causality: x affects y; y affects z”. Surprisingly eye opening mixed with an away weekend for the team(s) and it works best in the morning session time boxed till lunch with presentations the next morning.).
And if you find the tool is bogging you down keep it simple and adapt the tool for your circumstances, tools and documentation must always follow the 'Just enough' agile rule, and this varies from company to company and project to project.
The key is to assess both before and after actions are taken and to routinely revisit the data and keeping your findings updated, tick of and celebrate where objectives and actions have been achieved and address where things could be, were planned to be better. Its all about being data informed not inundated with data!
These exercises will shape your strategy and enable you to identify and assess areas/business/development functions that ought to be outsourced to a specialist who would perform them better, faster and more economically thank you. Leaving you with more time to improve what you are already good at.