Finding the Right Partner
The following list of questions compiled by the Outsource Institute offers an excellent means of deciding whether outsourcing represents a good option for your company.

• Will outsourcing support your business direction?
• Does outsourcing represent a strategic “fit” with your company?
• Are the reduced costs associated with outsourcing significant enough to warrant its use?
• If the savings aren’t that great, are there other compensating benefits?
• Do you have the proper resources to maintain adequate management control?
• Will you have the flexibility internally to change business processes?
• Will outsourcing enable you to focus better on your core business functions?

The number of offshore development companies, particularly in India, has grown exponentially. The competition is keen and that has helped improve the quality and keep down the pricing. It also can make finding the right Offshore Virtual Resource Center for your project more challenging. Ideally, you should look for a company that has proven its ability to develop the type of application(s) you need, using the technologies and platform you have selected. Don’t hire a company with experience and expertise only in Linux applications if you want to run on Microsoft 2000. You should also avoid companies that specialize in vertical market software that has nothing to do with your industry. In other words, don’t hire a company that specializes in software for the automobile industry when you need software for tracking medical insurance policies. That doesn’t mean, however, that you need to find specialists in your field. Most OVRC’s are generalists that can handle a wide variety of projects.

• A reasonably large resource pool and the facilities and processes to support quick growth if needed.
• A demonstrated commitment to following standard quality processes, such as
  • Capability Maturity Model (CMM),
  • International Organization for Standardization (ISO 9001:2000) and the
  • Rational Unified Process (RUP).
• Solid references from companies that have undertaken projects that are relatively similar to yours.
• Demonstrated expertise and experience using the development tools and platform you have selected.
• An ability to work closely with your team and to have someone on-site as often as needed.
• A willingness to provide regular project updates and discuss project status at anytime.
• Assurances that all changes to the project or product must be approved and signed by you.
• Reasonable, competitive pricing.