Outsourcing to Synechron Outsourcing positioned as “strategic partnership” ACOM began with...
-
Upload
lee-williams -
Category
Documents
-
view
215 -
download
0
Transcript of Outsourcing to Synechron Outsourcing positioned as “strategic partnership” ACOM began with...
Outsourcing to Synechron
• Outsourcing positioned as “strategic partnership”
• ACOM began with Pilot/Beta run with fraction of work passed to Synechron– HTML development– Quality Assurance (QA) testing
• Contracts Finalized and Signed– Hourly Rate / Minimum quota of hrs per month– Outlined Platforms and Browser Compatibility requirements– No formal SLA parameters– Ad hoc turnaround time – project based
Initial Oursourcing Work ProcessInclude Diagram of process
Challenges:• Tech director overworked and bottlenecks created• PMs attemp to bypass process to complete their projects on time• Re-work is necessary as PMs don’t always communicate tech work
in apropriate tech specifications
Process Breakdown• PMs “too cool” for a project plan• Timing Issues
– Creative design team took up too much time– Trickle down of stress to developers– Created a “NOW” culture a Agency.com
• Internal developers were seen as a bottleneck• PMs began communicating directly w/ Synechron coders
– Created misunderstandings & frustration– Communication Chaos – Inefficient– Quality of work declined – outsourcing not transparent to Agency.com clients
• Agency.com hired 2 more IDs (Associate Tech Managers) to coordinate between PMs and Synechron
Working with SynechronPROS CONS
Significant cost savingsMinimul 70K annual salary for NY-based experienced tech developer vs. $25/hr outsourced
24 hour development shop due to time differences
Excellent quality of work
Change of process challenges
Management overhead
Communication difficultiesEcho & static over telephonePrimary method was Instant Messaging (IM)
Cultural IssuesAccent difficult to understand“Yes” men & womenLanguage barriers: misinterp
Externalities & Outsourcing Expansion
• External Environment– Economic downturn
– New CEO at Delmonte – lost largest account ($3 mil revenue)
– Lost new business pitch for Zagat
– Budget cut by MARS for Fling candy bar
• Cost cutting strategy via outsourcing expanded– Began to outsource Flash & .Net development work
– Layoffs of 7 employees (Tech Directors & Associate directors)
– 1 Synechron QA employee moved to Chicago - $50/hr
Case Synopsis Via OSM
.
0
1
2
3
4
Time
Stage 4
Stage 3
Stage 2
Stage 1
Stages
Leverage Offshore
Cost Strategy
Experimental Stage
Offshore Bystander
Management at Acom followed the Offshoring Stage Model created by Carmel and Agarwal
Now Acom is between Stage 3 and Stage 4
Have Speed, Agility and Flexibility
Took advantage of time zones differences
Have Deeper Localization
Have not built Global Network of Knowledge
Process Improvement Opportunities
• Acom Management executed the first 4 steps of Robinson and KalaKota’s offshore strategy with proficiency.
– Analyzed offshore goals and set strategy– Created offshore delivery model– Negotiated offshore contract– Designed Service Level Agreement (SLA)
Improvements:o Managing the Transition: Specifically Acom needs to improve Communication
Management. o Manage the Relationship for Maximum Value o Measure Performance Improvement