If I had to sum up all of these in one challenge, it is that however you find you can divide the work across geography at a point in time, it simply isn’t sustainable. The very model you use to keep work geographically efficient are globally sub-optimal for the evolution of your code.
I think this is true of any organization, geographically divided or not. These are the challenges of organizational structure, and I've seen them affect organizations in a single location just as much as organizations with remote engineers.
In my mind, the single most important thing to do is to re-evaluate and adjust the structure early and often. The way you divide up work today will almost never be sustainable - regardless of geography. The trick is to help everyone understand and expect those changes to occur frequently.
Comments
I think this is true of any organization, geographically divided or not. These are the challenges of organizational structure, and I've seen them affect organizations in a single location just as much as organizations with remote engineers.
In my mind, the single most important thing to do is to re-evaluate and adjust the structure early and often. The way you divide up work today will almost never be sustainable - regardless of geography. The trick is to help everyone understand and expect those changes to occur frequently.