The Outsource Blog

General discussion, news & views about Outsourcing and Offshoring

Posts Tagged ‘Document’

10 tips for outsourcing your web development

August 11th, 2010

There is a minefield of designers and developers out there who can take you for a ride and exploit your inexperience for their own gain if you’re not careful. Here are some tips for negotiating the minefield without wasting time and money, and coming out at the other end with an effective base for your online marketing strategy.

1. Do your homework
No matter what your line of business, it’s worth taking the time to research the options available to you. Get your head around the basics of online marketing best practice, what a good website should look like and do for you, and what technology and software is out there. The more you know, the easier it is to define what exactly you need.

2. Be as specific as possible
Before you start ringing around for quotes, decide exactly what you want, down to as much detail as possible at this stage – it helps to gather some examples of other websites you like. How many pages will the website have? What do you want the design to look like? Do you need them to handle the domain name purchase and hosting as well? Do you need to update the website frequently? Will you sell your products directly off the site? A good designer/developer will demand all this information and more from you before supplying a quote, so have it at the ready, and it will save you a lot of time and money

3. Shop around
Take the time to gather a wide range of quotes. Watch out for very cheap freelance developers who produce poor quality and don’t offer much by way of support. Also watch out for developers who string you along for months ‘tweaking’ errors, or charge a fortune to build a bespoke content management system that they insist on fully controlling, when you don’t need one. As a rule, it’s probably better to go with a more expensive developer or web design company who won’t mess you around. Also consider using open source content management systems; that way you escape paying for bespoke back-end development, and only pay for installation and template design.

4. Review portfolios
Once you’ve narrowed down a list of potentials, make sure you have reviewed the developers’ portfolios of work. Demand demonstrations of back-end functionality to make sure you are happy with the quality and that it’s user friendly. Don’t be afraid to ring around for recommendations.

5. Clearly define project milestones and costs
This is related to the second point, make sure that you get a detailed cost breakdown and accurate projected time schedule for the development project, from start to finish. Confirm ahead of time what payments are due when, and what the extra charges might be if you change your mind later on and want to add other features to the site, not part of the original spec.

6. Don’t forget about support
Make sure you find out in advance whether the developers offer support once the project is complete and what the related costs are, and if they provide basic training on how to use the CMS and make updates yourself if relevant. Make sure you know where you stand and who to contact if there’s a problem, you may be able to negotiate discounted support with your chosen developers.

7. Think about promotional strategy
It’s all very well having a lovely looking site live on the web, but unless your existing and potential clients know it’s out there it won’t do you much good. The first step is making sure the site is fully optimised for search engines. Make sure the developers handle this correctly, and be aware that some may charge extra to do this for you.

8. Establish ownership
Make sure you are clear from the start on who owns the intellectual property, and what can or can’t be altered. Be clear on what you are planning to use the web or mobile site for, who owns the domain name and how much control you have over the design and back-end.

9. Document everything
The scope of the project, time schedules and agreed upon price should be formally documented at the start of the project. Make sure you clearly communicate any changes to the developer and get confirmation from them in writing and that they understand and agree to these changes. Similarly, keep a record of any agreement changes requested by the developers and whether you accept or reject those modifications. Save copies of any email exchanges that you have.

10. Anticipate problems and delays
Lastly, be aware that no development project is free of “bugs” which can surface at any time, and often tweaks and adjustments need to be made to get the website functioning correctly. Make room for these tweaks in your budget so that you aren’t surprised with a nasty bill for extras.

Source:http://memeburn.com/2010/08/10-tips-for-outsourcing-your-web-development/comment-page-1/

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Tags: 2010 Document IT Outsourcing

Speed up your document conversion project with outsourcing in the USA

May 26th, 2010

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The word “outsourcing” has taken on a negative quality over the years because it immediately implies sending the work overseas for cheap labor and sketchy results. Before I get in to the meat of this article I wanted to clarify outsourcing, any time you hire an outside resource to complete a task you are outsourcing … so why not use companies right in the USA?

Sometimes it boils down to dollars; if you are on a really tight budget there may not be another option. If you are after reliability then using a company within the USA is your best option! A few other incentives for using mainland companies is a common language, the ability to call with questions and get customer service and sometimes price is comparable to overseas depending on the project (and especially when you compare shipping of documents and having to have work redone).

Moving forward, document conversion projects that lend themselves to outsourcing are typically large, hairy, monsters in the beginning that need a strong experienced staff to get the job done right. For instance, think about the sheer quantity of paper to be scanned … the amount of work involved to make sure each document can be found after the conversion is complete.

Although there is a number of high-volume scanning products on the market to complete a task like this, which is only a portion of the work. Once the papers or microfiche has been scanned there needs to be a document management software and storage solution in place to receive the scanned documents, read them and build a searchable database. And I bet you know as well as I do that these products never work perfectly together on the initial installation!

Let’s say you have a room that is 15′ x 15′ that you use for storage, shelves that go 6′ high packed as tight as you can get them. Banker’s boxes full of paper neatly organized (well sometimes) just waiting for a catastrophe. How many employees would you have to pull away from their existing jobs to scan and verify each of those pieces of paper in order to get the backlog of stored documents in to the new system? Don’t forget you now need to task other employee’s (or bring in temporary help) with the full-time work these employees did before the conversion project started. I don’t need to go down this rat-hole any further, you get the idea.

Taking on a document conversion project is way more than just scanning documents, and it is easily one of those projects that really do need to be outsourced at the onset and then handed over to the staff to maintain. The trick is:

Finding a reliable resource to select the right infrastructure to fit your document storage needs long term.

Knowing your new document management system will be easy to use and all key employees are trained thoroughly.

Having ALL of your existing documents scanned in verified in to the document management system so they can be found easily.

Have a clear system in place for maintaining the incoming documents in order to keep your company organized.

Do your research when looking for a reliable company to take on your document conversion outsourcing; I received the information in this article from Digital Storage, Inc. out of Long Island, New York. They were extremely helpful in helping me understand every aspect of this process. Outsourcing does not have to be a negative experience, when you find the right resources.

Source:http://www.ebay-n1.in/562215-Speed-Up-Your-Document-Conversion-Project-With-Outsourcing-in-the-USA.html