Software Outsourcing and its Benefits

Welcome to the first information resource of Spectrosys Network. The purpose of this section is to summarize the information about software outsourcing and to show how efficiently we can assist you doing your business.

Spectrosys provides offshore software services. The scope of our services is rather wide - from providing profiled offshore programmer teams up to implementing custom turn-key software solutions.

Now let us consider the question of the software outsourcing efficiency:

Who can take advantage of software outsourcing?

Outsourcing is about letting professionals help you do your business even faster, better and cheaper. The software outsourcing is targeted on two major client groups:

• Software houses that want to cut their development costs or reinforce/diversify their information technology (IT) expertise span;
• Any businesses (or even individuals) who need to develop/redesign/support their proprietary software applications or Internet-tools to leverage their commerce in the modern economy.

What are the general benefits of outsourcing?

Let's consider just a few benefits of outsourcing for each of the groups individually:

1. Software houses. By partnering with Spectrosys, you will be able to offer your customers a wider span of the cutting-edge technologies and balanced-value solutions to go far beyond the customer's expectations for cost-effectiveness.

What exactly is behind these words? Let's see. Every time you prepare a project plan to the customer, you have to face the following questions:

• How many additional human and infrastructure resources do I need to draw in?
• Where to find proven specialists with required skill and experience quickly and for a reasonable price?
• In perspective, what additional investments may be required if the customer should request a new technical approach to satisfy his changing business needs?
• These questions must be approached especially prudently for time- or budget-critical projects. Software outsourcing is intended to provide an optimal handling all of these questions:
• You have a direct access to IT professionals with multi-years experience and skills you exactly need. (And you can be very selective about your team staffing);
• You can use the human resources just as long as you need them, leaving out concerns about future over-staffing, infrastructure support, additional staff training etc.;
• You are in total control of the project budget and timeframe. The product specifications, conditions, and deliverables, as well as release dates and milestones are agreed upon in the project contract. As soon as the contract is signed, it means the product shall be delivered on time and on budget;
• And finally (which may go at the top of the list), you do it at offshore prices. Sounds to be efficient, doesn't it? Now you can draw a bottom line and consider the prospects of utilizing these savings for your business development.

2. Generic businesses. In the modern technology-driven economy, any business is inclined to support or refine its business processes with IT tools. Custom-tailored software applications or Internet systems can automate and enhance your business process and enable you to do more, quicker and better than your competitors. If you agree with this, the next question you ask, probably, is: "Why cannot I take care of my technology needs myself? I want to do that cost-effectively!". In response to this, let us draw a rough parallel:

• If you needed a car to be able to get everywhere quicker, would it be cost-effective to establish your own car-manufacturing factory to build and maintain that car? That's what we mean when we say that software outsourcing enables you to focus on your primary business goals, letting Spectrosys take care and answer your technology needs effectively. For years we have been proving that customer's optimal IT solution is just four steps away. Each of the steps requires just some decision-making on your part, while Spectrosys will take care and do all the work behind it:

Customer	Spectrosys
Statement of needs	Technical research and consulting
Strategic project coordination	Infrastructure development and support. Administration and management
Acceptance of the system	Implementation and quality assurance
Deployment of the system	Training, technical support, further enhancement

This scheme has proven over years to work efficiently both for large companies with several-years-duration projects, as well as for privately held small businesses with three-weeks-long projects. All the work is done on the work-for-hire contractual basis, allowing you to draw in just as much resources as needed, to forget all infrastructure concerns, and to have a complete control over the project time and budget.

A great attraction is also offshore prices we offer. They make cooperation with Spectrosys even more cost-effective, comparing to the USA- or Europe-based contractors.

What do I need to start outsourcing?
How a project starts

You can begin a project with just asking us questions like "Can you develop a system that ..." or "Do you have people who know how to ..." and like. Our system analysts will respond to your questions and may ask some more to be able to provide you with preliminary cost & time estimations.

If you have any documentation describing your requirements and expectations for the system, the estimate will be provided to you within couple of days free of charge. We will gladly sign an NDA before receiving any information relating to your project.

As soon as the specifications are agreed upon, it is time to pick the development team. We can submit the resumes of Spectrosys employees with required skills and experience to you for validation, so you can take part in choosing the project team.

How a project runs

Our companies sign a contract for outsourcing services. Please, refer to the Contractual models section to get more information about possible contractual schemes. The contract secures the general terms of confidentiality, of investment of all intellectual property rights to the customer and some other.

The diagram below presents most typical project phases, using Rational Unified Process terminology.

Depending on the scope of the contract, a project may include the following phases:

• Business-case analysis, co-development of user requirements;
• Visual design of the user interface and business logic;
• Analysis, system design and preparation of complete technical specification;
• Programming, documenting and testing;
• Preparation of the user documentation;
• Support, localization and further enhancement of the system;

Each contracting side will assign a special person responsible for communication and dealing with non-technical questions. The customer's contact person is responsible for setting objectives and providing all necessary information. Spectrosys contact person is responsible for arranging and ensuring smooth running of the project and timely reporting on its progress.