This story reminded me of general situation in some software projects at large companies without any outsourcing. Clueless manager comes in and asks if this can be finished by Friday, developer already knows from previous experience that discussing realistic dates brings no good and just says "sure" and continues to develop at his own slow demotivated pace.
This article describes failure of communication which is not unique for outsourcing and can plagues any software project if contious attempts to avoid it are not made.
Absolutely. Projects fail all the time, outsourcing makes projects harder by requiring people to pick up a phone, so you would expect outsourced projects to fail at a spectacular rate.
From his list...
Buyer’s unclear expectations up front - This happens on every single project due to a lack of crystal balls.
Poor governance - I was talking to a guy from a Big 3 US car maker today who was griping about this very topic related to their US ops.
Poor communication - This is in every project failure report I read, US/UK or anywhere in the world.
Poor cultural fit - Have seen this on contracts between large and small companies, although it's usually not that much of a big deal.
Interests become misaligned over time - Apple/Google is a good example of this. Google/Mozilla will be soon. Plenty of All-American examples here.
Not mutually beneficial - Don't think this is just an outsourcing complaint either.
Comments
This story reminded me of general situation in some software projects at large companies without any outsourcing. Clueless manager comes in and asks if this can be finished by Friday, developer already knows from previous experience that discussing realistic dates brings no good and just says "sure" and continues to develop at his own slow demotivated pace.
This article describes failure of communication which is not unique for outsourcing and can plagues any software project if contious attempts to avoid it are not made.
Absolutely. Projects fail all the time, outsourcing makes projects harder by requiring people to pick up a phone, so you would expect outsourced projects to fail at a spectacular rate.
From his list...
Buyer’s unclear expectations up front - This happens on every single project due to a lack of crystal balls.
Poor governance - I was talking to a guy from a Big 3 US car maker today who was griping about this very topic related to their US ops.
Poor communication - This is in every project failure report I read, US/UK or anywhere in the world.
Poor cultural fit - Have seen this on contracts between large and small companies, although it's usually not that much of a big deal.
Interests become misaligned over time - Apple/Google is a good example of this. Google/Mozilla will be soon. Plenty of All-American examples here.
Not mutually beneficial - Don't think this is just an outsourcing complaint either.