When we don’t have enough developers, or we lack a particular skill, we turn to outsourcing partners. We have been looking for new partners in that space for a little while to complement existing relationships with outsourcing companies. So we jumped on the chance when asked if we were interested in participating in a UK Trade Mission to Vietnam arranged by UKTI, Harvey Nash and Microsoft. As the photo shows (Anders from Alphasoft is in the top right corner), an added bonus was a breakfast meeting with Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, where he addressed a few pertinent questions.
So what is Vietnam like? Vietnam to many Westerners conjures up painful images from the Vietnam war (which not surprisingly, is known as the American war in Vietnam). However, when you visit Vietnam today you have to look deep to find traces of this national trauma. This might very well be, at least in part, due to the fact that two thirds of the population is under 30 which means they were born after the war. But also, despite notionally being a communist country, the country embarked on a market economy system quite a few years ago which has resulted in excellent sustained growth rates for the country. This seems to be feeding a very optimistic and growth-oriented outlook in the country as a whole. The rate of change is very visible wherever we went in Hanoi and there is little reason to believe is it much different in other larger cities in Vietnam.
In terms of technology, the Vietnamese government made a conscious decision to make a mark in IT so they set about educational reforms emphasising ICT. The results are impressive (other sites will happily quote you the figures). There are a substantial and rapidly growing number of very skilled bright IT professionals.
Comparing Vietnam other outsourcing destinations
How does Vietnam compare to other popular outsourcing destinations for software development? By far the biggest competitor for outsourcing companies in Vietnam is India. India has a scale in IT Vietnam cannot muster and yet despite this costs are rising in India. Costs in Vietnam are somewhat lower than in India at the moment. If you need a very large team right now, you should probably go to India for outsourcing resources, for anything other than that Vietnam provides skilled keen people at a lower cost which combined with extremely low attrition rates makes it a very compelling outsourcing destination for small and medium-sized ISVs and consultancies.
A slight downside, but one that is improving, is language. In places like India you find a very deep penetration of English whereas English in Vietnam is a newer item in the curriculum and in society as a whole. You will meet a lot of Vietnamese with perfect written English but with a somewhat lacking mastery of spoken English. This could lead to some language barrier issues, not the least in relation to a UK audience with its strong regional accents. This is however an issue which many Vietnamese companies are keenly aware of and are trying to mitigate through on-shoring staff, accent reduction classes and in general using English as the business language.
Process and methodologies
We went to Vietnam to specifically see if our approach which is largely driven by the specific type of clients and projects we undertake could be taken to Vietnam without incurring too much of a project management overhead. Basically we often strive to opt for a SCRUM-like approach which requires very strong and independent developers as well as a close relationship with the client. We would normally not be writing extensive specifications as we see one of our advantages is being small which makes it easier to be lean and agile in a project, and to adapt as the client’s requirements change or gets refined in an iterative process. What we are looking for is an outsourcing partner with whom we can build a lasting meaningful relationship and has knowledge retention with regards to our projects. Upon this foundation we would like to build an efficient process where we engage with our client(s) to outline the project and roughly estimate the costs and timeframes. With this in hand we would hand over the brief spec to the partner who will turn it into a real solution within the confines of the agreed architecture, automated tests and code quality rules. The way we would make sure and follow the progress and development of the code would be to define, create and refine functional and unit tests to test that the deliverables given to us do indeed live up to our expectations.
While a lot of the local companies were, obviously, quite keen to show off the CMMI credentials and other “big process” stuff, I was confirmed on several occasions that such an approach could certainly work with some of these companies. And there seemed to be a common understanding that this would require slightly more senior and independent developers than would otherwise be offered.
The event
The actual visit was perfectly planned and executed by primarily Harvey Nash who acted as the host. The daily program of presentations and meetings as well as the social element and hospitality was great. A very productive and rewarding experience indeed. It has been deemed a success, so if you take an interest in outsourcing software development and business processes I would recommend you keep an eye out for a repeat of this event (or email Paul Smith at Harvey Nash). Because it is an actual program rather than what you can set up yourself from elsewhere it offers a very efficient and multifaceted introduction to a potential outsourcing destination.
Contacts and recommendations
If you have queries or comments regarding outsourcing or would like some contacts or recommendations with regards to outsourcing software development, please email Anders Kirkeby.
