Outsourcing projects to offshore vendors is now a very common and regular trend among organizations and businesses situated in developed countries. Obviously there are some very big advantages of such a business concept that is why it is booming at such a fast pace. Some of the major advantages include cost savings, quality solutions, better business management, more time for core business activities and many more benefits.

With so many advantages, there are some risks associated with it too. Today, I am going to talk about one of the most critical yet usually neglected risk associated with offshore software development. Each company has its own internal processes which usually differ from vendor to vendor. Now, you don’t have to worry about every service provider, but you definitely need to know the internal processes and methodologies that your service provider follows while developing a project. The difference in internal processes has always been a neglected yet very critical issue for offshore software development.

Mentioned below are some of the tips that will help you in easily merging your in-house development methodologies with those followed at the service provider’s end:

• Agree upon a common development methodology: The best way to handle such situations is by agreeing upon a consistent methodology that suits your requirements best and is also comfortable for the vendor. While you are discussing about the methodology, make sure that it is based upon the best industry practices and has been properly tested and proven for your kind of requirements. Further, this must be done before starting the project so that both the parties are clear about each other’s way of working. It is very important that proper communication channels are used to make this step a real success.

• Monitoring the project: Your work does not end after agreeing on a common development methodology. Once the work on your project starts, you are required to keenly monitor the performance of the development company. The performance can be monitored by comparing their work against the agreed-upon standards. This must be done on a regular basis so that any non-compliance can be caught as quickly as possible and steps can be taken to correct it before it gets too late. If you encounter too many deviations in the development methodology from vendor’s end then it is time to do some serious thinking and take some hard steps.

• Pre-defined meeting schedules to clarify and answer questions: You should also setup specific meetings or conferences where questions can be asked by both the parties and clarifications could be given for any issues or steps taken. This time should also be used to strengthen the bond between you and the web development company that you hired for your project. The strong relationship will make sure that they take proper interest in your project, understand your business and deliver top quality solutions.

While the above tips will definitely help you in managing the risk associated with differing internal processes, but many a times it is not so easy to agree upon a common development methodology. Such situations must be properly handled and if required, the web development company should be replaced with some other better service provider who can work out a common methodology that is comfortable for both the concerned parties.