Software development is a team sport – one where 1 + 1 doesn’t equal 2, but maybe be 1.5 or 2.5 depending on how members of a team relate to each other. I’ve never been comfortable with remote teams - so, the idea of an offshore development team half the world away was an anathema. However, with an increased development load, and the unavailability of good engineers locally, (rant on lack of engineers being produced in the US will be the subject of another post), reluctantly with a great deal of trepidation, we decided to try to get resources offshore. Just for a trial 6 month period. I don’t like failing, and this effort seemed to have a higher risk of failure than I like to take.
My first decision, where to get my offshore resources? This for me was a relatively easy decision; I am Indian by birth as are a few of my local resources. Communication and Team building should be easier with an Indian offshore team. India however presents a huge challenge because of the ten and a half hour time difference, and might not have been my ultimate choice if so many members of the local team were not Indian.
Having made the decision to get offshore resources, and to go to India for them – the next challenge, how do I find my offshore team?
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