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European companies may think about India when it comes to outsourcing of software development projects but many of them forget the rapidly developing Vietnamese IT sector. More and more companies from USA, Canada, UK, The Netherlands, Germany, Japan and others outsource their projects to small or medium sized software development companies in Vietnam. Is this not very risky and will I for sure be able to increase profits of my company? Well, it fully depends on how you handle it but with the right approach you can generate a healthy profit with minimum risks.

What do we need before we outsource our first project?
Vietnamese people are incredibly friendly, hard working and extremely eager to work with professional overseas companies so the basic ingredients could not be better. However when you decide to outsource your projects it is important that you:

• are ready for it
• have defined what kind of company you are looking for
• have decided what software projects you do and don’t want to outsource
• have establish a long term goal
• are willing to make an investment

How to get started?
If this is the first time you outsource a project to Vietnam you should locate a company that is aiming for a long-lasting

relationship and is willing to invest in this new venture. In most cases the first software projects will not result into profits and you will spend a lot of time fine-tuning communication, develop processes and decide what online tools will be used for collaboration (i.e. subversion, CVS, Trac, bugtracking software, ..) [More information about tools will be provided in another post].

• Start with a risk-free trial project
  Do not panic if the first code you get back isn’t perfect, that’s quite normal and it takes time to get this correct.
• Document coding conventions, tools to be used and the DOs and DON’Ts.
• Provide Frequent code Submissions
  Use a versioning control system such a CVS or Subversion
• Be prepared for cultural differences.
  [More info on cultural differences will be provided in a follow up post].

Communication
Both parties need to learn from each other and you will soon be reminded that if you don’t have your specifications correct, you will run into trouble. Correct specifications and weekly reporting is necessary. The developer needs to assign a project manager who is fluent in English but don’t get shocked if you receive email containing text such as:

 ”where is my information!!!!!” or “I DO NOT UNDERSTAND???? What do you want??”

Many Vietnamese manager use uppercase characters, lots of exclamation marks or question marks. It may sound rude but the intention is probably not. As written above: Vietnamese people are very friendly so most likely you will never receive a rude mail on purpose.

The best thing is to establish an email convention which outlines the DOs and DON’Ts in emails and how they should be formatted. In a follow up post I will provide a sample convention that you may want to use as a start for your own business and provide some classical sample of miscommunications that I’ve received during the 12 years that I’ve been in Vietnam. One note as a reminder: Be polite at all time and show mutual respect at all time

They seem to be on holiday and I urgently need some feedback??!!

• Keep each other well in advance informed about upcoming holidays.
  Tet (Chinese New Year) is a very important holiday in Vietnam and do not expect to get any work done during that time. Out of respect you should even not ask if this is possible.
• Plan ahead and arrange for backup during the holidays.
  If the project manager takes holiday ensure that you know who you can contact during that time.

If you get the basics right, you will be able to establish a healthy business relationship which will help you both grow the business. More post on this topic will follow but if you have any questions do not hesitate to leave a comment.

Marcel

PS: don’t forget to visit http://www.csharpjobs.net

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