The communication between client and vendor has always been an issue in offshore business engagement models. All the relevant studies and researches show that the risk of communication barriers is one of the major reasons for unsuccessful or poorly completed offshore projects.
Whether it is. Net development outsourcing or any other offshore project, the risk of poor communication is always present. Communication can be an issue while outsourcing projects due to following reasons:
Fluency in English: Offshore vendors are usually located in developing countries. Most of these countries do not have English as their primary language. The native language of resources working in these companies is not usually English which affects their fluency. Although, all the vendors communicate in English but their fluency is restricted due to their country of residence.
Difference in Time Zone: The difference in time zone of website development company and client is both advantageous and disadvantageous. There is around 8 hours of time difference between US and India and this can make it difficult to communicate with the offshore service provider. However, this difference in time zone also provides the benefit of round the clock development when the same project is coordinated with the in-house development team. Resources will be working on your project even when you are asleep at night.
Cultural Difference: Companies in US follow the ethnocentric culture where their management and work strategies are adopted all over the world. However, the offshore software development service provider from developing countries may not always operate in the same way as the client does. The website development company in offshore location might work in a completely different cultural context. Such situations lead to misunderstandings which in turn affects the quality of the solution.
These were the most prominent factors responsible for creating the communication barriers between a service provider and a client. One of the most effective techniques to get past this barrier is by placing onshore staff in client's country to work on the project and conduct relationship management. This staff should have proper English fluency and a strong commitment to eradicate the cultural differences between both the parties. Most of the clients are not able to do this as the cost of maintaining onshore staff is very huge and may surpass the actual cost of the project if the projects are not very big. .Net development outsourcing projects are usually very big and have good budgets therefore this methodology can be used in such projects.
Communication with offshore parties has become much easier than it was a few years back. The availability of advanced communication technologies such as VoIP and online conferencing allow both the parties to call each other at very low cost while enabling them to have a proper and enhanced communication. These communication devices are also very useful when clients hire dedicated resources. Clients may hire PHP developer, .Net developer or any other resource depending on their requirement. Now they need to be in regular touch with these resources. The modern technologies and devices help them to have proper communication with their resources on a regular basis.
It is very important to make sure that proper and effective communication is facilitated between the client and the vendor, right from the beginning of the project till the very end of project development. This is highly essential for securing a properly developed web solution that is able to meet all the business requirements of the client.
Vicky Rana is an IT industry expert having extensive knowledge and experience in web and mobile technologies. His knowledge is beyond par in .Net development outsourcing segment. Amy is an expert developer who is well known for his brilliant ideas and development strategies in Java Development Outsourcing.
