Lately I’ve seen many writings on outsourcing development to offshore development companies. Doomsayers are claiming that the “writing is on the wall”. When I hear that, questions immediately spring to mind. What wall? What writing? Personally, I have not seen either.
If you are in a position where the possiblity of outsourcing development is or can be a reality, then I believe that there is something that you can do to improve your position and prevent the possiblity from occurring.
As a consultant and a developer, I have witnessed many IT shops in various companies that I have worked at. Time and time again, I have seen a fundamental problem arise. The IT people usually understand the business very well, but they don’t (or can’t) deliver in a timely manner. Sometimes they bring in consultants and/or contractors to see if they can help. But the results vary, depending on the resource.
While not all IT developers are created equally, it seems that most have the wrong mindset. Instead of worrying about job security, worry about delivering quality software in a timely manner. Granted, it is reasurring to know that you’ll have a job next week or even next year, but stop worring about that. Rather, focus on your job — to deliver quality software. Focusing on the goal will provide better job security than anything else that you could do.
The single, most important key for IT shops to learn is to deliver. By continually delivering quality software, why would managment outsource a viable, productive IT shop? Alternatively, if you don’t deliver, your days as an IT developer are numbered.
The bottom line here is to deliver, or watch your job die.
Deliver or Die
Lately I’ve seen many writings on outsourcing development to offshore development companies. Doomsayers are claiming that the “writing is on the wall”. When I hear that, questions immediately spring to mind. What wall? What writing? Personally, I have not seen either.
If you are in a position where the possiblity of outsourcing development is or can be a reality, then I believe that there is something that you can do to improve your position and prevent the possiblity from occurring.
As a consultant and a developer, I have witnessed many IT shops in various companies that I have worked at. Time and time again, I have seen a fundamental problem arise. The IT people usually understand the business very well, but they don’t (or can’t) deliver in a timely manner. Sometimes they bring in consultants and/or contractors to see if they can help. But the results vary, depending on the resource.
While not all IT developers are created equally, it seems that most have the wrong mindset. Instead of worrying about job security, worry about delivering quality software in a timely manner. Granted, it is reasurring to know that you’ll have a job next week or even next year, but stop worring about that. Rather, focus on your job — to deliver quality software. Focusing on the goal will provide better job security than anything else that you could do.
The single, most important key for IT shops to learn is to deliver. By continually delivering quality software, why would managment outsource a viable, productive IT shop? Alternatively, if you don’t deliver, your days as an IT developer are numbered.
The bottom line here is to deliver, or watch your job die.