Outsourcing to India: Why you should never do it

Outsourcing to India: Why you should never do it

India rode high on the outsourcing wave until sometime ago, but slowly, it’s coming down, and the country is losing its charm as the best outsourcing destination globally.

India did indeed have a glorified tech industry, especially when skilled software developers were called upon by the different industrial sectors to solve the Y2K problem.

In spite for all its glory, the country is still thought to be the world’s back office for all its activities. India was well known for executing the dreams of global tech giants.

In other words, the developers in India execute the requirements while others do the brainstorming. Does this mean that India has outsourced its thinking part of the brain to others? The answer is an affirmative one, probably.

Nevertheless, it is important for you to understand that outsourcing your projects to India will never be a walk in the park. Observe the list that we’ve detailed below and this will give you an idea on the steps to mitigate the problems and even neutralize them.

• Slow Developers – Programming doesn’t have boundaries, language, nationality or religion. But programmers do, and developers in India could be slow, when compared to their western counterparts. This could be because the developers tend to stay dormant with their own assigned technology, and learns only under compulsive situations. They tend to have an easy-going pace that may not be acceptable to the westerners.
• Not taking care of coding standards – In 2017, a study conducted by Aspiring Minds, and a report by The Hindu claimed that 95% of the engineers in India are not fit for the software development jobs. Many of them do not know how to write good, maintainable codes. They do not know how to write codes that complies, and only very less number of them actually know how to write functional correct, efficient codes. And they are very poor at code commenting. The passion level is very, very low, they just want to make the codes work, that’s all.
• Not making sure that software architecture is strong – Having a well structured software architecture system makes it easy to find solutions in case of disasters and events. Indian developers do not take the effort to create a software structure, and when disaster strikes, they often waste time trying to find a way out.
• Not testing the solutions properly – Testing is one of the most important steps in releasing a software product. Developers in India often skip the process, and even if they do, they use outdated technologies that will not deliver results that you want. It is important to check and see whether the company that you hire in India is aware of the newest techniques and execute them.
• They lie and do not keep their word – Indians are good at skirting the real issue, and they tend to cover up issues with poor quality work. Be really careful with that.
• They charge more hours than needed, sometimes double and triple the amount of hours, if not even more – Software developers often charge more hours than they need on projects The charge of the developer often depends on the skill level of the person in question and the region he is coming from. So make sure you research well before hiring any developer, and discuss the rates and the time required for the project.
• Their English is very tough to understand – Language is a problem when you outsource work. Understanding the accent, intonation and pronunciation of Indian English is really difficult. Often what they try to convey, and what you try to grasp could be vastly different, and this could lead to major differences during the course of the project.
• They are not empathetic with their clients – In order to have a good working relationship with clients, it is important to have a working relationship with them.
• They are in for the money and not for the quality and beauty of the output – Indian developers are more focused on the money they can make on a particular project, and not the working quality of the project they develop. A true professional would never compromise on the quality bit.
• They will advertise Senior Developers, when actually Junior Developers, with no or very little work experience work on the projects – When you need senior developers for your project, you NEED them. Period. When you hire an agency that advertises senior developers for software projects, you expect to work with seniors. However, senior developers are costly. So certain agencies, in an effort to make more money, hire junior developers and pay them low wages, while cheating their clients. You really need to make sure that you get what you pay for. Make sure you interact with the seniors, and that they are actually working on your project at each milestone completion.
• They will advertise low hourly rates, even though they know that it would never be possible to develop something with that rate – The rate of competition is really high, and in an effort to cinch and gain projects, the agencies tend to quote pitiable rates thinking the low rates would attract clients. Unfortunately, they fail to realize that quality is more important than low rates, and clients who look for quality will always be ready to pay well.
• They will advertise low project costs, to win the client, only to renegotiate after a while – If you were ever low on budget, but wanted a really good job done, then chances are that you will naturally gravitate towards developers who charge very less. But somewhere along the route, your Indian counterpart decides that the project cannot be completed within the predetermined timeframe or budget, and would ask for more money. So always be clear on letting the other party know the real requirements of the project, and make it clear that you will not pay a penny more than what was discussed.
• They will stop the project at the slightest issue – If you scold your developer in India, they might just decide to pack up and leave. They suddenly develop amnesia and have no qualms about leaving the project midway. The dedication levels are very poor, and you are left in the lurch with a half-done project in hand.

Conclusion

India is indeed a country of talented software professionals, but you still need to find the right people. Of course, there are companies that hire superstar developers, and they will be the right people for your job.

Skilled developers are expensive, and you will need to spend only a fraction of what you will be paying in your country. It is very important to tap the right people because there are so many people out there, ready to catch the bait. And they may not always be the right ones. Research well. That’s the only answer.

Interesting Articles:
Reasons why Outsourcing to India effects the business
10 points for the failure of Outsoucing to India

Picture Source: Flickr.com/ Hillary

About the author: Reema works as Thought Leader at PHPBabu.