Determining requirements and definition of goals

The more specific the ODC goals are, the easier it is for WorldPartner to make sure they are fulfilled. The first step in setting up an ODC is creating a clear list of requirements. WorldPartner then determines whether an ODC can adequately fulfill them or not.

Goals for the ODC

To make sure that you will take the proper first steps, it is important to know what your immediate needs are. Some of the questions WorldPartner asks are:

• To what extent do you wish to outsource your software production?
• Will functional and technical design mainly be done at home or offshore?
• Who will handle technical support?
• How far has the software developed to date?
• How well-documented is the existing code?
• To what extent do you wish to be involved in ongoing production planning?
• Will you provide manpower and what level of experience do they have?
• What existing processes and methodologies are you using for software development?
• What types of hardware and software infrastructure are already in place?
• What technologies and knowledge are required during production?
• What are the versioning, product, and/or release strategy?
• Who will take the project management role?

Once the answers are established, WorldPartner looks at the direction the client hopes to take in terms of the company’s future.

It is of course difficult to foresee how a company’s needs will develop over the years; thus, talks regarding the company’s long-term goals are mainly done to make sure that none of the current steps will hinder the achievement of present and future goals.

The major long-term goals for discussion are focused on manpower and product development.

HR Goals

In creating long-term HR Plans, WorldPartner does not only consider the size of the ODC but also the professional development of the team members. If the team is expected to expand, it is important that the first team members hired have managerial capabilities. If the team is expected to be deeply involved in the functional design phases, it is imperative to have people who fully understand the type of product being developed. WorldPartner does not stop with the current skills of the people to be hired; it also considers their ability to learn new technologies and to immerse themselves in other business areas. The required communication and documentation skills are also significant factors for consideration, especially when the ODC team rises in rank, i.e. in terms of importance in the organization.

Product goals

Developers and companies without long-term considerations in mind cause most software failures. If software is created without a future in mind, the common scenario looks like this: software evolution from one state to the next becomes more and more difficult until it eventually loses out to more adaptive and flexible systems. It is therefore important to make a few assumptions/predictions as to where the software will be going in terms of the amount of data it will hold, integration needs with other systems, the frequency of use, the number of total and simultaneous users, and the flexibility of the client types it will accommodate. Discussions of this nature will define the responsibility allocation, manpower needs, and skill levels required for the team.