24
OFFSHORINGSUPPLEMENT
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
OFFSHORING IN THE RECESSION
Retail systems experts PMC operates an India-based subsidiary PMC India (PMC-I),
providing UK retailers with an offshore service adding retail industry specialisation to
offshore cost savings to provide a practical proposition for most retailers. Paul Mason,
chief executive of PMC maintains that the economic issues facing the UK make
offshore solutions the right choice for retailers.
M
ason stated: “Tempting though it may be to Mason continued:
sit and wait, I think that for retailers to come “If you want to be
out of the recession in good shape, that’s the successful, look for
It’s sometimes wrong choice. They must strive to get better value in a provider with
said that,
every service they buy or contract they secure. If they the vertical market
want to make step changes in their cost base they skills you need, one
during a
must think laterally. Whether it’s support for an existing that understands
solution or the development of a new one.” retail, knows what
recession,
you’re talking about
offshoring
Making the right choice and specialises
However, Mason sounded a note of caution when in your industry. Ensure their offshore development
gets a bad taking the decision to go offshore: “If you want ‘cheap team understands exactly what you want and how it is
name...
and cheerful’ with no effort to integrate what goes on eventually going to work.
offshore with what happens at home, go for a factory- “That’s why PMC rejects factory-based assignments
However, if
based software development approach,” he said. or projects and looks for ‘added-value’ relationships,
the solutions
“Ensure that you have a robust speci� cation process where customers expect them to contribute a
and methodology; make certain your testing is bullet considerable amount to the system or project.”
can’t be found
proof – because you will need it. Accept that each
project will demand more effort in specifying, and much Finding the right people – and looking
here, then
more effort in testing. But beware, it might take longer offshore
sensible
and cost more than you think. “It’s sometimes said that during a recession offshoring
“If you’re not a large Tier One retailer then a potential gets a bad name because it exacerbates the problems
retailers look offshore provider could drop you down their list of by taking work outside the UK. However, as UK demand
elsewhere.
priorities. The aggressive growth ambitions of most large for certain technology skills far outstrips supply, if the
Indian offshore providers put them in a race to see who solution can’t be found here, then sensible retailers look
can be the biggest, fastest. retail is an attractive vertical elsewhere.”
but unless you’re offering a multimillion dollar deal you According to Mason, one of the UK’s problems is
have to question whether you’ll get the ‘A’ team or the a lack of highly quali� ed retail IT people. “For example,
‘Z’ team.” there is a problem � nding good Java programmers. In a
Mason urged retailers to clarify objectives before two-month UK campaign PMC found only a handful of
taking a decision to offshore: candidates worth interviewing. With a similar campaign in
How much will the offshore provider value your India we found 723 candidates. Of those, we retained the
business? details of 300, and we could have hired 50 – and that’s
How much value do you expect your offshore partner in a so-called ‘Tier Two’ city, not in technology centres
to add to your business? like Bangalore or Chennai. It’s important to understand
Do you expect them to add value or just decompose a you can look beyond big players in big cities paying large
speci� cation into lines of code and give it back to you? salaries and facing high overheads.”
And, if you decide on a cheap offshore ‘code factory,’ He also pointed out that an offshore partner will
he said retailers must understand what that means: ‘natively’ think differently to you: “When you’re dealing
YOU will have to make sure the speci� cation is 100% with a different country thousands of miles away, and a
right; different, often alien culture – you have some learning
YOU will have to build a rigid testing regime; to do. And the learning is not one-way – there must be
YOU must ensure you have quali� ed coders assigned to mutual understanding. If the offshore provider doesn’t
you; offer cultural education, or if they are negative about
YOU must invest the intellectual resource to provide the the need for it, then question how much they really
essential retail understanding. understand about successful offshoring.”
RETAIL TECHNOLOGY MARCH 2009
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40