Managing Offshore IT

We seem to be living in an increasingly dynamic world where the meaning of risk continues to evolve. One does not have to really blog about the fact that disasters and other emergencies in a flattening world are more common today than perhaps in the past, a fact that hit home recently in the offshoring city [Bomb Blasts Hit India’s IT City Bangalore ]. Thanks in part to the resilience of Bangaloreans, the city bounced back almost instantly.

Middle-managers in sourcing organizations and offshoring firms probably read about the incidents in the news and realized that the disruption to their operations was (thankfully) minimal, reflected on it a bit and went back to their operational challenges. However, technology executives, consultants and sourcing specialists, risk management consultants and others are taking a harder look at the risks and associated risk mitigation strategies

Continue reading "Emerging risks of globalization and Risk Mitigation 101" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 03:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

My team is working on a large proposal for a prospect that is looking for a revamp of its Enterprise Architecture Strategy. This prospect, and as other clients are also increasingly doing, asked to speak with a few past clients where we had done similar work. And here, it was not one or two but nearly half-dozen references they were asking to speak with. Those who have worked on pre-sales support initiatives probably realize the significance of such a request.

It is one thing to get an existing client to agree to use a reference to the work we have done as a case study but getting them to actually talk with another prospect; well that’s where things get interesting.

Continue reading "Pre Sales and referenceable clients" »

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In my previous post, I talked about the extending role of Enterprise Architects at services firms into Marchitects. This ‘selling’ of architecture services is no different from what our peers in client organizations undertake too.

Enterprise Architects, many of whom report into a CIO/CTO organization are also under continual pressure to ensure that the organization derives an optimal ROI from their IT investments, which means they need to ‘sell’ the value of robust, scalable architecture, planning and roadmaps to their stakeholders, some of whom may be focused on the tactical: ensuring that the quarterly targets are met, budgets balanced and operational challenges addressed. Even the ‘strategic’ focus may sometime involve reacting to external trends (read between the lines: it is the economy, slowdown etc)

Continue reading "Architecting Business Solutions vs. the Business of architecting technology solutions (continued)" »

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It is rather unlike me to be off the blogsphere for an extended hiatus, but I guess even corporate bloggers have to occasionally field life's curve balls.

Anyway, back to the theme of this blog; while reading Andrew Manning’s blog entry on “Enterprise Architects: Time for more job titles?”  I began thinking about a barbeque I attended at a friend's place few weeks ago where colleagues and peers had gathered. It was interesting to observe that folks who had gathered were finding it hard to pick on neutral topics beyond the day’s weather and the difficulty in maintaining the lawn, using the host’s backyard as a case-in-point. It was not hard to see why.  A few were from the ‘sales’ side of our business – account managers, engagement leaders and the like – and others from the consulting side - IT architects and consultants. And not surprisingly, it was the few Marchitectects in our midstwho were trying to find an icebreaker.

Continue reading "Architecting Business Solutions vs. the Business of architecting technology solutions" »

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Last week, I had blogged about how my offshoring blog is doubling as a recruiting tool. Of course, not all recruiting has moved the Web 2.0 way. Though much of recruitment for offshoring firms happens at offshore base locations, sourcing firms, including my employer, are also hiring top-end technology consultants onsite; albeit selectively.  

I had an interesting time interacting with and interviewing fellow consultants and technologists the past couple of weeks. The consultants in question were referred to us by the head of their company’s consulting practice since the group was being disbanded due to some corporate restructuring; and the management of the firm had offered to connect them with other partner organizations (including Infosys). Why that group was being disbanded rather than being offered/sold as a consulting practice is something I had no intention of probing. So here I was, working with my colleagues to whet the profiles from that data set, and began making cold calls to talk with the prospective candidates. A few observations based on my interactions with the prospects:

Continue reading "Observations on Hiring Consultants Onsite" »

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The offshoring and outsourcing challenges for large IT initiatives are well documented in the media, and analysts periodically write papers and reports on “top reasons for sourcing failure.” [a sampling of blogs on the topic:Robinson and Iannone, Alan Inglis, George Mathew, James McGovern among others ] An entire segment of the management consulting sector thrives around deal consulting and sourcing advisory services [I highlighted some of the risks of offshoring in my book too].  The practical challenges of sourcing, however, appear as a footnote in discussions around ‘change management,’ and herein lies a challenge.

Case in point, I was at meeting of an engagement team and managers of one of our clients in the context of their team exploring the use of BEA’s Aqualogic as an integration platform. During the discussion, one of the executives made a mention that although we were a large service provider, with over hundred-thousand talented individuals who had expertise in myriad technologies, he was only exposed to the (Infosys) team assigned to their projects onsite and offshore, which was primarily in Microsoft .Net Application Development and Maintenance (ADM) space.

Continue reading "Addressing a practical Offshoring challenge: Making your Engagement Manager work for you" »

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It doesn’t require an industry analyst to tell us that there are multiple trends shaping up in the business-technology landscape; and some of these don't seem to have much correlation to others. If one pays any attention to business or technology media, one would get a feeling that everything seems to be correlated to the downturn or slowdown. let’s take the following examples:

• Executives at some firms, reading the tea-leaves about the impending slowdown are digging their heels deeper and taking a closer look at their spending, expenses and sometimes key initiatives that could be making them competitive. 
• Some Business Integration initiatives that were started with much fanfare last year are getting a second look before they can be rolled out. This includes key SOA initiatives, which I had blogged about a while ago
• Offshoring will continue to remain on corporate radar screens as a means to derive efficiencies by leveraging global talent

Though there may not be a direct correlation between the three trends, one can connect the dots.

Continue reading "Connecting the dots : Slowdown, SOA and Sourcing" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 05:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My earlier blog post on Onsite Engagement Managers (EMs) generated a few interesting comments, by Akshay, Amit, and most recently by Big Kahuna who has an interesting viewpoint: 

“while I  do believe it's a very important role, I  also think the success of this depends on a) how it is communicated, across levels b) the authority vested in the engagement manager and c) will of the vendor's leadership/operational folks in actually actioning on perceived improvement areas.
My experience from a few years in this field (working for an i-banking kpo) is providers are fairly short sighted, constantly chasing monthly billing (acceptable), but not really focusing on offering an overall experience for the client.
While it is not likely to hurt vendors today (since clients don’t have too many alternatives), clearly down-the-line....when the market opens up (which it will), vendors that take a very bottom line driven approach will not be the better for it."

Continue reading "Offshoring Engagement managers: good to great..." »

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The Big Blue yesterday unveiled its latest mainframe, the 64-Quad Core System z10 mainframe, a topic tech bloggers are eagerly commenting on [Om Malik,  Engadget,  Dvorak]. An interesting dimension to this move by IBM is the resurgence of interest in mainframe programming by the ‘younger generation’ entering the workforce.

Among these commenting on the topic, a blog that caught my eye was Ben Worthen's viewpoint in WSJ’s blog [“Young Mainframe Programmers are the Cat’s Meow”], where he raises the question: Where do businesses find people who remember how to program the things? The obvious answer would be: offshore; but there again, it is not as simple as that.

Continue reading "Z10: IBM’s latest mainframe, jobs and offshoring" »

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I was reviewing Michael’s detailed comment to my blog entry on my earlier note “What makes a client offshore visit successful?” and I thought I should do justice by re-posting it on a blog entry as many readers may not have RSS to comments of the blog.

Continue reading "Additional Comments on : What makes a client offshore visit successful?" »

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Continue reading "The World is flattening . . . except when it comes to filing taxes" »

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A while ago, I had blogged about ‘Offshoring Study trip’ where westerners - clients, prospects, students and others - make regular trek to offshore locations. There are different agendas for trips that a variety of stakeholders undertake and some of them include:

• Students and academics: Empirically observe and learn from people on the ground. The goal of such offshore study trips is generally to observe aspects of offshoring from an academic perspective and the agenda could include visits to offshore companies, meetings and Q&A sessions with executives etc. [Examples of such visits 'study trip' 'India Study Trip']
• Prospective clients: The agenda of such visits by prospective clients is to assess the infrastructure and capabilities of one or more short listed service providers. Such visits are generally organized for executive management or CXOs during final stages of negotiating with service providers.  Of course, the agenda is for those undertaking the trip to see through PPTware and online brochures.
• Existing clients: The agenda for client visits in an existing relationship vary and depend on the nature of engagement and prospects for future enhancement in relationships. The visits are generally orchestrated by onsite engagement managers who may also accompany visiting executives. Other times such visits may involve line managers, architects and others from client end to spend time with offshore teams at their base locations.

Case in point is a recent visit by a CIO and senior executives of a client I work with. The client's team was accompanied by the onsite Engagement Manager, who got the following 'thank you' note after the visit:

Continue reading "What makes a client offshore visit successful?" »

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I was reflecting on the nature of engagements that some of our teams undertake, more because of the fact that the engagements mirror the portfolio owned by CIOs, essentially trends in typical IT shops and it is a no-brainer: a larger percentage of work involves maintenance and sustenance of IT systems. [ref: Software maintenance - who's interested?]

The challenge in such (application maintenance management) scenarios is not in the intricacy of work but the fact that it is not seen as sexy or cool by many developers, and software engineers, and even less so by most software architects. The reason is obvious: the industry has glamorized new development as being ‘creative’ while labeling maintenance to an equivalent of ‘grunt work.’ Given this mindset, it wouldn’t make sense for me to even attempt making an argument for why architects should get more involved in ‘legacy’ work but here it goes anyways.

Continue reading "Offshore Architects, Legacy maintenance and modernization" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 11:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It is that time of the year when many of us reflect on ‘the year that was’ and make resolutions for the year to come.

The year for me began with wrapping up definition of a technology strategy for an affiliate style portal to be architected for an insurance client. An offshore Architect assigned to work with me did a wonderful job researching some of the key aspects the emerging trends in portal definition technologies. The client also decided to break down the construct phase along modular lines and sourced the work to Infosys and another vendor. The project then moved on to the construct phase and my colleagues from a delivery unit took charge.

Continue reading "2007 : A year in the life of an Offshoring Architect" »

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Continue reading "Thoughts on Offshoring ERP/non-ERP Packages" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Continue reading "Can your offshore vendor’s Marchitecture help you?" »

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In my previous blog entry I began to explain the changing roles and expectations of Offshoring Program Managers. Before I elaborate on the thread, Radhakrishnan commented if I could explain “offshore programs.”  Without using an intricate definition of what offshore projects and programs are, an offshore program is a term I use simply to talk about  larger projects and programs with a strong offshore component. The program could be executed by an offshore service provider or at an Offshore Development Center belonging to the same organization/client.

Going back to my thread on the changing paradigm that I am noticing in the market:  clients and stakeholders are increasingly expecting vendors’ Program Managers to also manage niche aspects of IT Programs including aspects of contract administration, Relationship and Change Management (areas circled in the figure)

Continue reading "Managing offshoring programs ... continued" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 01:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last week there was an interesting news release about Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and the Netherlands-based Nielsen Company inking a large sourcing deal, by some accounts, the largest sourcing/offshoring deal by an Indian services firm. Coming at a time when naysayers were beginning to question the sustainability of the model in light of challenges of rupee/currency fluctuations, questions on India/China etc, this is bound to provide fodder to strategists and deal consultants who are bound to analyze the intricacies for sometime to come.

Continue reading "Big sourcing deals and managing offshoring programs" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 07:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

In my previous blog, I was musing about the increasing significance of Enterprise Architects. Continuing the thread, it is interesting to see others also striving to Define the Enterprise Architect
There are a lot of different definitions for “enterprise architect.” It can get really confusing, particularly if you follow a lot of blogs written by enterprise architects — and I did.

I came across a few interesting blogs on technology managers and EA. Ed Gibbs  blogs on Moving to Enterprise Architecture, the blogs on successful software architecture and Six Sure Fire ways to Sink your Enterprise Architecture also made for an interesting read.

Continue reading "continued ... Enterprise Architecture Offshoring" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 04:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Wall Street Journal had an interesting article “Firms Get Creative To Work Around Visa Bottlenecks” that looks at different aspects of challenges faced by employers planning for foreign-born candidates in America.

As organizations globalize and continue to hire the topic is sure to generate interest among sourcing managers.

Continue reading "Musings on Offshoring, immigration, visas and attrition" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 08:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Business Week features an article “India's Talent Gets Loads Of TLC” that talks about how India’s “Its labor supply is no longer endless.”  This is a topic of perennial interest to technology managers. The article begins with

A visit to Infosys Technologies' Mysore campus [An unofficial pictorial of the Mysore campus on Flickr]  highlights the extraordinary measures Indian companies are resorting to these days to attract and retain top talent. The 334-acre site boasts a multiplex theater shaped like a giant white dome, four huge food courts, 96 hotel-like guest houses, and a stylish activity center with a gym, pool hall, and eight-lane bowling alley. Last year the outsourcing company trained 20,000 recruits in everything from software writing to teamwork. Expansions under way will enable Infosys to train twice as many. "When I heard IBM's presentation at a job fair, they talked a lot about their brand and innovation but not much about training," says Sanjay Joshi, 22, a graduate of MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology in Bangalore. "That's why being at Infosys is the Indian middle-class dream."

As expected, the article has generated a barrage of blog responses:

Continue reading "Offshore Talent wars. Who wins: the talent!" »

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As we continue to globalize, is there a distinct “Indian Management” philosophy that is emerging? This has been a topic of analysis and discussion among management thinkers in recent times. A Business Week article titled “Karma Capitalism” sometime ago set me thinking on these lines.

Before I elaborate, I must add that there is little consensus on what exactly “Indian Management” philosophy is all about… just as most westerners have their personal views on Chinese philosophy equating it to popular classics like the ‘The Art of War’ [Again, an area where I will claim no expertise in]. This said, many managers, academics and executives of Indian origin living in the west seem to be living and practicing a distinctive style of management, weaving in some of their personal values and beliefs in the context of a western/modern management framework.

Continue reading "Offshoring and Indian Management philosophy" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Chetan and Michael made a couple of interesting comments on my recent blog “What’s the big deal about big sourcing deals?”

Michael seems to agree with the theme when he says “Media needs a headline to splash and nothing is more headline-esque than a deal worth hundreds of millions or in some cases a billion or more” but Chetan seems to extend my assertion by pointing out the big-picture: “At a sales/account or program mgt level , larger outsourcing deals could get complex with respect to delivering the desired cost savings , best practices , governance , security & risk compliance , the growing web of SLA’s , program management etc.” These are certainly strategic aspects of larger deals.

Where I would take off on my argument on big and small deals is about how all (sourcing) strategies need to translate to actionable tactics… street level strategies if you will. I find it interesting that hardly any analysts, writers and other blog ‘thought leaders’ focus on this aspect.

Continue reading "Street level offshoring strategy" »

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A topic that many consultants, leaders and managers are loath to talk about, except offline is that of office politics. To be fair, Most management programs – MBA courses, even PMI’s certification program and workshops and other management training  – offer pointers on addressing and managing organizational dynamics and organizational behaviors and there is an increasing emphasis on interpersonal communication skills and conflict resolution.

Though most management theorists are circular about the issues, there is only one way to move forward while encountering office politics, as with most other issues, address them: do not bury your head in sand.

Continue reading "Office dynamics and politics of consulting and offshoring" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 08:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

For years management thinkers, textbooks and movies eulogized the glamour of the Expatriate professional. Wikipedia “An expatriate (in abbreviated form, expat) is a person temporarily or permanently resident in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing or legal residence.” With an entire generation of technologists cris-crossing the globe, the glamour of being an Expatriate professional is certainly wearing thin (though not the experience and exposure that it brings).

I sometimes wonder if the conventional definition of Expat is being redefined. For instance, the Wikipedia entry talks about how “the term is often used in the context of Westerners living in non-Western countries, although it is also used to describe Westerners living in other Western countries” Does this mean that Indians living and working in the west, many of whom are permanent residents or Naturalized citizen in their adopted lands are not Expatriates?

Continue reading "Musings on the Expat Techie" »

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Continue reading "It's that time of the Quarter: Offshoring accounting" »

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A few weeks ago I was speaking with an IT director at a firm that has been sourcing software application development to us for a few years. The discussion was in the context of a security audit they had undergone. Though the discussion was primarily around the impact of the audit recommendations and how we could work to ‘harden’ the application the Director was also interested in knowing more about the security practices we brought to the table as a part of our services.

Queries like these are increasingly common as clients engage with service providers who in turn leverage globally distributed teams to ensure successful architecture, design, development and delivery of software systems.

Continue reading "Security and Offshoring IT" »

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Most of us in the software services world - whether in the technology consulting, application development or program management space - are acutely aware that we are also continually selling something: we are selling our skills, solutions and competencies, essentially sending a message to ‘clients’ that we [and our organization] can deliver on the requirements and ideas.

Now, selling has two sides to the equation: the client (or someone) should have a need and be willing to ‘buy’ the services that you offer to sell. Identifying such white-spaces in their requirements and helping them fill the gaps with your offerings for a win-win relationship; well, this is business 101, right? However, selling and buying software services is not always as explicit as the marketplace for fungible products. Sometimes, the ‘selling’ also involves helping the client’s stakeholders articulate the demand to her stakeholders [not sure if I would call this ‘upselling’]

Continue reading "Offshoring Consultants who can also sell" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 09:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

When I read the Cutter Advisory (reprinted  below) by Dwayne Phillips titled "Celebrations," I began to reflect on the softest underbelly of software services: its people; and also on the ‘human’ interactions that touch us ........ even hardened technologists and managers.

Phillips says how we should not -- must not -- ignore events in our lives. . . . Stop work. Grieve.

In an offshoring context there are moments where “Stop work. Grieve” alone does not suffice. 

Continue reading "Grief, celebration and the human face… of offshoring" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 07:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Among my recent blog posts, the one asking ‘Is IT-Business/Domain Knowledge overrated?” generated a fair number of comments, as is to be expected. After all, “Business IT Alignment” is the holy grail of management thinking with even academic and business media spending reams of newsprint to the topic.

My question was rhetorical as I was trying to draw on my observations and past experiences in the field. Vikas Ohri comments “Knowing domain helps to break communication barriers, appreciate the business need, relate to impact of your system in the overall scenario even when it is not explicitly stated….. Analysis of failed IT programs does provide some insights... ”

Similarly, Robert Rojas comments “It sounds like you're saying that a shortage of domain expertise means it should not be sought after. … Just because the expertise is not there does not diminish its importance.”

Ram posted a comment asking if I might want to take up "common" domains like Banking or Retail, argue the same case and see how much sense the article makes in that context. Therefore, let me illustrate my thinking with another example.

Continue reading "Is IT-Business/Domain Knowledge [While Offshoring] overrated? ... Continued" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 08:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

In my previous blog I was musing on modernization. Here are two scenarios of 'legacy modernization' I got involved in recently:

Scenario 1: A 50 year old manufacturing company with IT systems dating back over three decades. After the company embarked on a roadmap to migrate some of their homegrown, mainframe based MRP (Manufacturing Resource Planning) systems to a commercial package, they got bought out. ...And surprise? A renewed focus from Head Office on cost cutting and offshoring, and that’s where my consulting team got involved.

Continue reading "Random musings on Legacy Modernization: Part 2" »

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Utter the term ‘legacy modernization’ in any technology forum and eyes will light up. The topic is bound to generate animated discussion among techies, architects and IT managers alike. Of course such discussions among IT managers and consultants have a tendency to get polarized: consultants will probably have dollar signs gleaming in their eyes while IT managers try hard to defend their portfolio, arguing “why fix what’s not broken”

Services companies thrive on providing innovative modernization solutions, while software companies try equally hard to pitch upgrades to their own legacy platforms. And then there is the whole mainframe-to-(whatever) discussion that periodically erupts.

Continue reading "Random musings on Legacy Modernization: Part 1" »

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A few weeks ago, I got on a conference call with some of my peers across time-zones. After the meeting was called to order, one could hear the distinct wailing of a baby in the background. The manager chairing the call couldn’t stop himself from grumbling “Can the person with the baby crying in the background please get on mute?”

Continue reading "Babies crying in the background and Offshoring" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Technology sourcing is more about managing people and teams than with any other aspect, and unlike most other businesses, the people being ‘managed’ are highly skilled, educated and articulate.

Dr. Tushar Hazra’s Cutter advisory that came to me a few days ago made for an interesting read. The advisory, titled “Making Teamwork and Collaboration Happen in a Dysfunctional Work Environment”  begins by talking about  dysfunctional teams, asking “can teamwork and collaboration happen in their work environments? How difficult is it to make teamwork and collaboration happen there?”

Continue reading "Offshoring, sourcing and 'Dysfunctional Work Environment'" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 06:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Most of us have come to realize that Offshoring requires additional skills in planning and scheduling across time zones and geographies. What about Culture and Mother Nature? 

Planners of an American client faced a unique challenge when they scheduled a field-trip to India last week, omitting to account for a regional holiday due to the ‘New Year’ in the Indian calendar. The American client managers were amused and decided to take the extra day off to visit the local sites and get over their jet-lag.

Continue reading "Snow days, holidays and offshoring" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 06:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I was working with a client (shall go unnamed) recently, helping the IT Director define a strategy and roadmap that his (and our) team could take forward. His vision and mandate was crisp and refreshing. Having recently taken over a portfolio of applications, he was looking to make incremental changes to the underlying systems, architecture and framework components in an ˜agile” fashion. This was the tactical part. His strategy was to get business sponsor the ‘low hanging fruit’ (more functionality) while he would also overhaul the underlying architecture.

Given this scenario, consultants would typically take a boilerplate and start calling out the ˜steps” [a.k.a. a typical IT strategy /roadmap definition exercise]:

Continue reading "Defining Agile strategy: Case in point" »

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The topic of talent management, resource management is perhaps as old as that of the software services industry; after all services – architecture, design and development of systems, and managing the processes - are rendered by people. So, what’s new about the debate over ‘shortage’ of skilled software professionals in the offshoring space?

Not much really. However, if you read the business press or even commentary by bloggers and analysts, you may get the impression that there is a ‘new’ crisis brewing in the services sector.

Continue reading "IT Talent Shortage : What does it mean to you?" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

I periodically receive mails from peers in the IT industry - predominantly from those in software service firms - asking for tips on pre-sales. Some are in response to an old viewpoint of mine published in Express Computers and on this blog. The queries fall into two broad categories:

• How do I respond to pre-sales queries more effectively .. or what are the tools and tips available. I had blogged a few thoughts on this earlier, so will not address the topic in this blog.
• Many writers are curious to know if Pre Sales role is a ‘career move.’
• The third topic / query around pre-sales is around hosting offshore-visits by clients and prospects

Continue reading "Eclectic thoughts on Pre Sales" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was reading an interesting article on “America's 400 Best Big Companies” in a recent issue of Forbes magazine featuring “The Best Of The Best” and began musing: is the knowledge of “business domain” and experience overrated in the media and popular IT press.

To set the context for an argument: Most technology consultants, especially management consultants with an IT focus tend to emphasize the need for ‘Business IT Alignment,’ and rightly so. I will not argue against the need for businesses driving IT; business strategy, and requirements do drive much of IT needs. The business needs (aka requirements) for IT systems, in turn are driven by a fundamental business driver: make more money; a.k.a maximize shareholder wealth. Hundreds of books, articles and papers have been published on the topic with a variety of flavors.

No doubt that knowledge of the business domain is as significant as knowledge of technology, and a key success factor for project managers.  While Program Managers and leaders will generally depend on business analysts and domain experts for guidance, any knowledge of the functional area will go a long way.

However, my musing was about how overrated the knowledge of business context (and business domain knowledge) is, especially in an offshored context. Because of the complexity of businesses systems, it is hard to expect an individual to gain expertise in the different functional areas in a reasonable amount of time.

Continue reading "Is IT-Business/Domain Knowledge overrated?" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 05:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

In my previous job, working for a S&P 500 software company years ago, colleagues and I used to have a very nonchalant view of the job of account managers (alternatively known as Client Relationship Executives, Client Partners or Relationship Managers). The general perception among my techie colleagues was that those few roles at vendor organizations were a “known devil” whose main task was to renegotiate contract and rates with client managers, which in turn would translate to our bonuses. Of course that mindset was more prevalent in pure-play consulting -- a.k.a contracting / staff supplementation – and to some extent true of even turnkey contract projects.

Of course, the actual job involved much more than that. They also took on an element of P&L (Profit and Loss) responsibilities for accounts from the vendor’s end. The job also involved assisting HR with hiring consultants, ensuring that the fitment of consultants skills and clients needs was right and ensuring “customer satisfaction.” 

As years have gone by, and offshoring became more mainstream, the role of onsite Engagement Manager (EM) [a.k.a Account Manager, Relationship Manager] has undergone a big transition. Now, the role is being recognized as being nodal to success of offshore sourcing engagements.

Continue reading "Onsite Engagement Managers: Secrets of Offshoring Success?" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 02:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

An article in today’s Wall Street Journal -- M.B.A. Programs Hone 'Soft Skills' – set me thinking about an aspect of managing software professionals. The article focuses extensively on "soft skills" and leadership for future managers, a topic that is very relevant for global IT managers too.

This is a topic I have mused about in the past. I had written about it in a column for Express Computers a few years ago and also dealt with extensively in my book. An abstract from my earlier article, that are still relevant today:

Continue reading "Softer side of managing Software professionals" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 08:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here is a challenge typical of that of many teams embarking on a globalization and offshoring journey.

The client is looking at having a low-cost but robust (around 400 developers would be working world-wide) solution primarily supporting the following features:
a. Parallel development by multiple teams
b. Remote check-out and check-in
c. Automatic Merge capabilities
d. Supporting automatic build and deployment processes
e. etc.

Continue reading "Parallel Development, Managing Version Control and Offshoring" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 12:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Following is my response to MM's Query descirbed in my blog yesterday.  

Hi MM,

Now, putting me in the spot. ;-) I will try and address some the best I can and. In return, may mask your query and also use in my blog?  

I think you have two key challenges on hand:

a) Process vs. Speed: You state this in two ways: “My approach is, get it working now, and if need be provide a long term solution following that.” …. “They are focused on the process and the response is some what slow.  It would be totally improper for me to state that they are doing it purposefully.  The intention appears to be proper solution and proper solutions take time.  That’s exactly what onsite/customer facing teams don’t have the luxury of.”

b) Communication challenge: You state “The other part of our Indian culture is the way we communicate.  We more or less say yes to everything when asked.  Not everybody does, but I think we are shy of saying no to somebody”

Continue reading "Managing Indian Culture, Part 2: My thoughts" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 02:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Here is a recent exchange of thoughts with an old friend who is with a large software products company that has an Indian subsidiary development center. I will try and mask his identity. ..except add that MA is a Non-Resident Indian who has spent about a decade in the US.

The first part of this blog deals with the problem on hand. I will provide my comments to MA's query in my next blog entry. Do feel free to chip-in with your comments.

Continue reading "Case in Point : Managing Indian 'Culture' Part 1: The problem" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 02:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was at a networking event recently where IT managers and Project Managers (PM) were talking about core issues and challenges. For IT managers, the challenges were strategic -- aligning IT focus with business strategies and roadmaps -- and operational. For the Managers from the “sell” side of sourcing (vendor organizations), the challenges were primarily “resource” focused.

During the icebreaker, when the facilitator asked us to name one challenge, it was interesting to see a variation of same problem repeatedly stated:
 “The client’s team needs five additional .Net developers, but….” Or
“The team has been looking for a strong Tandem expert for nearly a month”

And it was not just managers who were lamenting over the challenge. It was interesting to see a senior architect from a consulting firm state his top challenge was to help the client find good J2EE Architect, who had a background in SOA, integration and mainframes….again a resourcing challenge.

Continue reading "Managing "resources" and client expectations ...not just an Offshoring challenge" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It is interesting to see CIO Magazine rank “Offshore Project Manager” among the hottest Jobs in Information Technology. The author describes the offshore PM's job as “A U.S.-based manager who plans, oversees and coordinates projects with offshore components. The manager, who may work for either a domestic company or an offshore one with a stateside presence, ensures that offshore vendors meet project requirements. As more businesses outsource work overseas, these managers are in high demand.”

I had blogged earlier about the attributes that Offshore Project Managers should possess…and of course focus extensively on the topic in my book [Offshoring IT Services]. The reason why an Offshore Project Manager's job is hot is not hard to see. As the CIO magazine article, quoting a consultant Eugene Kublanov states “There aren’t many folks that can meet the job’s profile, which is why they’re highly coveted”

Continue reading "The Hottest Jobs in Information Technology : Offshore Project Manager" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 06:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

There was a small headline recently announcing a Performance Monitor Study that gave “Top Ranking for Infosys by ADM clients” The news reads:

* Tops goal attainment index
* Clients say Infosys is best in four categories
* Ranked above industry average in all 12 categories

For deeper insight into the relative strengths and weaknesses of 11 leading Application Development and Maintenance (ADM) service providers, Performance Monitor Opens in a new window gathered inputs from 864 of their clients. Each participant assessed 12 performance criteria across their ADM project lifecycle, identified the types and frequency of problems they experienced, and evaluated provider performance on goal attainment.

A big kudos goes to the unsung legions of Project Managers and delivery leaders who ensure success of every single ADM…time after time. Of course, it also helps that they have the organizational tools and best practices at their disposal. Why do I blog this today? Because, this will be the topic of focus during my Dinner Presentation to the PMI Lakeshore Chapter tonight.

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 02:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was recently consulting with a client of ours in Toronto and got chatting with the client’s admin manager who handled paperwork, logistics, and management etc for the CIO. We were talking about my end-date and termination of my access to their systems, firewall etc and she remarked that I was about the 38th person from Infosys to be working onsite at their office in 3 years. I remarked that the only common thread was the resident onsite Project Manager -- Let's call him Sam -- who handled all administrative, logistical and management issues from our end.

Sam’s responsibilities were varied, starting from identifying the request for needs, to onsite travel for Infosys techies, to arranging visa invitation letters to coordinating with the client’s managers on logistics when the new person arrived ...or someone departed. Ensuring that the offshore teams produced the required deliverables for him to get a client signoff was among his responsibilities, which included invoicing and ensuring billing for the work done.

Continue reading "Don't shoot the Onsite PM: he's just the messenger?!" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 05:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Continue reading "Does Culture Matter? Ramblings on cultural sensitivity in offshoring" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 04:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

At a recent conference where I was presenting, the audience was gung-ho on leveraging offshoring teams and on offshore outsourcing in general. However one person in the audience wanted me to comment on instances when one could (or should) not offshore. I was tempted to say that “all” projects could be offshored successfully… but with varying degrees of returns / success.

I could have deferred the question to viewpoints like “9 Reasons Why Software Offshoring Won't Work (and Why You Shouldn't Believe Them)”

However, I decided to reflect on some practical scenarios when it wouldn’t make sense for a manager – of a service delivery group even with an offshore team -- to recommend offshoring. 

Continue reading "When a Project Manager should not recommend offshoring?" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 01:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I have been trying to soak up a bit more on Agile Software Processes and challenges in an offshoring context. One of the reasons for this is an intellectual curiosity, and of course a professional need to be prepared to address the issues when discussions come up during interactions with client teams. 

This said, my views on Agile Offshore development haven’t changed much since my last blog on this a few weeks ago Among all these differences my point of view is clear: I'm sitting on the fence!

Continue reading "Agile Offshore Development (...continued)" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 02:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Here are my eclectic thoughts on interactions with managers and executives in the Toronto area during my presentation on “Managing Offshore IT Outsourcing Projects”

The organizers, PMI’s  Greater Toronto Information Systems Local Interest Group, brought their  Project Management expertise to the fore in coordinating the logistics and organization. Right from the time my proposal to speak was accepted, Ed Streich did an excellent job of keeping me updated of the event and logistics.

Continue reading "Offshoring and SLA: Notes from my talk to PMI’s GTA IS group" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 12:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the key aspects of offshoring is the need to manage teams across cultural and geographic boundaries. In a recent article “Managing Multicultural Teams” in Harvard Business Review, the authors [Jeanne Brett, Kristin Behfar, and Mary C. Kern] delve into intricacies and challenges of managing multicultural teams.

They begin with a topical case study on Offshoring IT by highlighting “When a major international software developer needed to produce a new product quickly, the project manager assembled a team of employees from India and the United States”

Continue reading "Managing Multicultural Teams" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 09:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Over the weekend, I was watching “Death of a Salesman,” the drama on DVD based on Arthur Miller’s American classic, which, incidentally was a required reading for us in school when I was growing up in India.

Though it has been decades since Miller wrote the drama, it captures the essence of salesmen (and women… I will refrain from being Politically Correct, and not use “sales person”); And why do I bring up this topic? Because most of us in the offshoring space are essentially salesmen.

Continue reading "Death of a Salesman… long live Offshoring Salesmen" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 05:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

In my previous blog, we looked at some aspects of how individuals are working to become Global Managers…a trend that is getting to be truly globalized (pun intended).

The Economist magazine, in a recent article “The battle for brainpower” talks about how talent has become the world's most sought-after commodity, and the shortage is causing serious problems. The article echoes a general trend that most managers at multinationals are observing, adding “Over the past decade multinational companies have shipped back-office and IT operations to the developing world, particularly India and China. More recently they have started moving better jobs offshore as well, capitalising on high-grade workers with local knowledge; but now they are bumping up against talent shortages in the developing world too.”

Continue reading "On becoming a Global Manager ...continued" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Richa, in her recent blog posts about her first-hand observation on how “The War for Talent Heats Up” in India. Although I can completely empathize with Richa’s frustration, I can also see why the “hot” techies are running after employers who profess to offer “a few dollars more.”

Young and aggressive, many of them are perhaps oblivious to the longer term opportunities that a global career in IT has in store. Surprisingly, programmers and software professionals in America seem to be more astute about globalization.  

Continue reading "On becoming a Global Manager" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 12:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In one of my avtars as a columnist for Express Computers’ I had written a column on Pre-sales in software service organizations (Re: “Pre-sales support is a necessary evil"). Though it has been nearly two years since it was published, I continue to receive comments on the article, perhaps because of the relevance of the topic. One such note is from Mr. S (below)

***********

Dear Mohan,
Hope you are doing well. I work for Indian IT Company and am placed Onsite (in UK).
I have about 8 years experience in IT Industry. Now my problem is my company asking me to take new responsibility of Pre Sales support. I am trying to gather information about Pre Sales. I read your article in IT People. It is very impressive.
I am worried about How to start to work on Pre Sales and What to do? and How to do? I never had touch with Sales People.
I am under pressure to fulfill my new responsibilities. Please guide me to achieve this.
1. What is the first step I should do.
2. How best I can fulfill my company expectations.
Your help would be really valuable to me at this stressful time. 
Awaiting for your Reply
Regards
S

***********

Well, instead of responding only to S, I have decided to blog on the topic. This way others can either concur with my views or post comments. Right?

Continue reading "Pre Sales and supporting customers" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 04:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBacks (0)

The cover story “just say know to outsourcing” in the recent issue of CIO magazine makes for interesting reading. The ideas in “3 Ways to Answer the Outsourcing Question” resonated with my thinking. The author, Stephanie Overby, says there are three ways to respond when the "O" word is uttered:

• If you have a solid sourcing strategy and decision-making framework in place and an accurate understanding of costs, service level and other considerations, you'll want to inform the CEO and let him know you're evaluating the options.
• If you're developing your sourcing strategy and getting a handle on internal and external costs, service levels, and other considerations, you want to get buy-in for that process and buy yourself more time to complete it.
• If you have not yet started to develop an overarching strategy and have little visibility into internal and external costs, service levels and other considerations, turn this into an opportunity to do so.

Continue reading "Just Say "Know" to Outsourcing.... and make sure you Know How To..." »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 07:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Both the Sadagopan blogs that I follow interesting perspectives on offshoring this week. Prof Sadagopan spoke about “Infosys market capitalization at trillion Rupees” while Sadagopan in his  Emerging Technologies spoke about Innovation as Door Opener, quoting from his earlier blog about how Accenture’s market capital is now less than Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services. Market capital and other dynamics aside, what both were alluding to was how Innovation is playing a role in helping offshore players open doors in the global market.

The intriguing question here is: what beyond innovation and opening doors?

Continue reading "Innovation as Door Opener: Then what?! Deliver on excellence" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 06:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

I wrote about the challenges of managing logistics of global travel in my blog on Global Environment, Visas and Travel

Infosys , like many other Tier-1 software services companies have well-oiled machinery to handle logistics of visas, tickets and travel. Neither the employees, nor the managers have sufficient insight into intricacies of visas, travel advisories, restrictions and other nuances. The travel department / division play a very significant role in advising managers on getting the right travel documents, visas and in ensuring that the business critical requirements are fulfilled.

An aspect of such cross continental travel I did not touch upon was the travel costs. Don’t ask me who bears the cost of such travel. Certainly “business has to pay for it, right? [Which business, how much are all subjectivities we will not get into]

Continue reading "Cost of offshoring = Cost of Business + Cost of Travel" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

What does it feel like to manage a multinational team? In the chapter titled Managing Globalized Workforce of my book, I gave a few case-studies / examples to illustrate the challenges of managing globalized workforce including a section on “day in the life of an Offshoring Project Manager”

The following is a live-scenario from a recent client engagement where I would occassionally muse  with the Infosys Manager, let’s call him Mr. P.  He was working hard to coordinate a program being executed out of our Shanghai and Mysore offices for the client based in Toronto. The client also has nodal offices south of the border in the US. Mr. P's typical ‘work day’ involved having to spend sleepless nights co-ordinating with teams (literally) halfway across the globe only to walk in next morning to update the client’s managers on the progress, issues and challenges. Now, this was just the tip of the iceberg.

Continue reading "Global Environment: Visas and Travel" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 04:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (2)

Most of us working for software service companies are in a constant lookout for ‘opportunities’ to service customer needs, that essentially translate to more business for us. This starts right at the bottom of the totem-pole where individual Software Engineers and Programmers endeavor to ensure that they are ‘utilized’ [read : not getting to bench]….and goes to the top where executives and managers have explicit targets to ‘sell’ and grow. 

Part of the ‘selling’ of sourcing strategies also involves acknowledging the inherent risks of offshoring. More than half of the published articles on offshore outsourcing, begin with the ‘R’ word in the title, almost as if talking about risks will rattle executives looking to leverage the benefits. And this goes to the heart of a [philosophical] query: knowing what they know about the risks, why are business and technology executives still gung-ho on outsourcing? ….because they know that there are strategies and operating tactics to mitigate the risks, a.k.a “Known Unknowns.”  Also because risks and rewards go in tandem.

Continue reading "Selling Offshoring" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Continue reading "September events: Fifth Annual International Smart-Sourcing Conference" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 04:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sometime ago, I was presenting to a group of senior managers at PMI’s Global Congress in Singapore, an executive with a multinational software company (shall go unnamed) raised her hand and asked: “I have been tasked with governing our offshore outsourcing strategy and will be working with multiple service providers. Are there any tips you can provide?”

This would have been a typical “Aha” moment for a sales guy at a software service company – including Infosys – and an opportunity to launch into a lengthy discourse on how the Global Delivery Model (GDM) can help. I would have done the same if I were a sales guy…probably gone the full nine yards: exchanged business cards and booked some calendar time with her. But I wasn’t there to sell Infosys* or our GDM. I was there to talk about my (then) forthcoming book and the idea of an “Offshoring Management Framework,” a vendor-agnostic model to approach offshoring.

Continue reading "How do I work with multiple offshore service providers?" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It has been a few months since my book “Offshoring IT Services” hit the stands. Tata McGraw-Hill’s marketing manager I spoke with said that it is not competing with “Da Vinci Code,” or “The World Is Flat” (Yet!)*…Oh Well... However, the success of my book is not the topic of discussion. The subject matter – offshoring -- is both politically unpopular and strategically complex; therefore, many industry ‘gurus’ and technologists who are curious don’t want to be seen as ‘interested’ in the topic. Even technology executives who are interested in the topic don’t want to be vocal about it since they probably don’t want to tip off analysts, customers (and competitors) to the fact that they are considering offshoring.

* Ps: For those curious about my experiences in writing the book, check out my ITToolbox blog entry “On writing a book.”  

Continue reading "Offshoring IT Services" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 07:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

It has been a few months since my book “Offshoring IT Services” hit the stands. Tata McGraw-Hill’s marketing manager I spoke with said that it is not competing with “Da Vinci Code,” or “The World Is Flat” (Yet!)*…Oh Well... However, the success of my book is not the topic of discussion. The subject matter – offshoring -- is both politically unpopular and strategically complex; therefore, many industry ‘gurus’ and technologists who are curious don’t want to be seen as ‘interested’ in the topic. Even technology executives who are interested in the topic don’t want to be vocal about it since they probably don’t want to tip off analysts, customers (and competitors) to the fact that they are considering offshoring.

* Ps: For those curious about my experiences in writing the book, check out my ITToolbox blog entry “On writing a book.”  

Continue reading "Offshoring IT Services" »

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 07:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)