Project management

How to start
In the most successful cases, the outsourcing company and the offshore company build a strong long-term relationship. Often the outsourcing company sends 1-2 people to visit the offshore company to start a personal relationship with the programmers they are going to work with. This also helps to understand the cultural problems and settings and can therefore help to build much more confidence than is possible to build via email communication. Starting with a small pilot project might be the best way to start and establish a long-term relationship.
The offshore company must keep the outsourcing company informed about the progress on a regular basis. Also both parties need to follow a communication methodology wherein they acknowledge mails immediately and also ensure that emails are not lost or left unanswered. This email communication plays a vital role as most of the dialog between the engineers and the client is done through this mode. It is also important that clear specifications are made.
Based on the specs, engineers from the offshore company ask questions and get answers to get a full understanding of the project.
Good specifications result in good quality software and considerable savings in time taken to complete projects. In the case of research or in cases when the offshore company actually produces the specification this process of course has to be modified to suit actual requirements.
We believe a project should start with a meeting or an email-dialog between the parties, to define the business problem and the software solution. Also, this meeting will include setting project goals, milestones and time frames. If the outsourcing company doesn't have a clear specification, one of our engineers can be dispatched to the company and do it.
After this the offshore company should give a proposal. At eSoftDev we work with both not-binding and binding estimates, fixed price or running hours. What is chosen depends on what the client is comfortable with and the type of project. Generally one contact person should be defined on each side, to facilitate clear coordination. Also, proper methods for testing should be defined in the initial meeting or discussion.

How important is the specification
If you want to build a house first you have to design a building plan, a project. Every design must be complete, accurate, detailed and agreed by the client. Otherwise, the resulted house won't be as expected. The same thing happens in the software industry, where the project is the starting (essential) point for a program. That is called specification.

The general specification is completed first. It contains the base program ideas, the users, the information input and the desired output. Mainly the client or the consultant makes the general specification. It is very important and necessary in order to know the client's desire and is considered the starting point for the final (detailed) specification.
The detailed specification is the comprehensive document needed by the programmer for achieving the respective software. This specification describes every function of the future program meant to bring the desired result.
Only specialists who are able to identify other problems that can be solved by software as well can complete the final specification. It is what we call "solution providing". That means the specialist can find solutions for a better organization of the client's activity.
The final specification completion can take from a few weeks to several months, depending on the project complexness. Unfortunately, most of the managers don't understand the essential role played by the specification within a software completion. Many times the client doesn't want spend too much time or money for the specification leaving it to the specialists. In fact, that is the most important factor that contributes to a software failure.
The more accurate the specification is (for the client and programmer as well) the greater the chances of success are.