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Offshore Dedicated Team"
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
- What is an Offshore Dedicated Team (ODT")?
- What's the difference between ODT" and traditional project based outsourcing models?
- What are the advantages of the ODT" model versus the traditional project model?
- What are the challenges of the ODT" outsourcing model?
- Under what circumstances is the ODT" outsourcing model most effective?
- How much will I save if I use your offshore team?
- I don't believe an off-site team can be as effective, or even more effective as my on-site team. You're saying the costs will be lower, but how do I know your team will provide the same or better performance as my on-site team?
- You claim that the offshore team will work as an extension of my company. Where does the responsibility of Intetics lie then?
- Offshore dedicated centers and teams are offered by many vendors. What makes you different?
- May I have some of your clients' contact information, as well as your permission to perform a background check?
- Will I own all of the source code produced by my ODT"?
- Can I have a fixed-price project implemented first to see the quality of your work?
- Where are your offshore teams located?
- How is ODT" security ensured?
- What kind of facilities and equipment do you have? How fast is your Internet connection?
- Do I have to pay any bonuses to the team apart from monthly wages?
- Does the billing rate depend on the team members' experience, skills, language proficiency, etc.?
- What is the minimum size of a team?
- What if I need just one offshore dedicated programmer, not a whole team?
- Does an ODT" consist of specialists who work for you on a permanent basis, or do you form each new team from scratch?
- How soon can you assemble my ODT"?
- Can you put together a team with expertise in such specific areas as PL1, SAP, Cisco, etc.?
- Can you put together a team to work for me onshore?
- How will the members of my team be selected? Will I be able to participate in the selection process?
- How do I make sure that programmers, managers, and other specialists on the team have appropriate experience?
- Is it possible to establish a test period for an offshore team? Say, three months?
- What if I'm not satisfied with the performance of a team member?
- Is a team member temporarily replaced when he/she takes a sick leave or vacation? If so, who covers the related expenses?
- What should I do to increase the efficiency of the offshore team?
- I can solve most in-house problems fast enough not to hamper the implementation. How will I be able to work things out with my ODT"?
- Do you provide a local manager with whom I can meet in person on a regular basis?
- How will I communicate with my ODT"?
- Is the difference in time zones a problem?
- Will all of the team members be able to communicate with me? Are they fluent in written and spoken English? Can you set up a test in English for the team?
- Will I be able to communicate with each programmer on the fly (via phone, instant messaging, or e-mail)?
- How is reporting arranged? How often will I be updated?
1. What is an Offshore Dedicated Team (ODT")?
ODT" provides full-time dedicated offshore resources on a long-term basis. It gives you the access to the skills you need, and allows you to fully control a team working solely for you. ODT" is a virtual extension of your staff and facilities. With your ODT", you cut costs, save time, and avoid the risks associated with traditional vendor outsourcing. On the whole, ODT" provides better control and higher overall efficiency at lower cost.
2. What's the difference between ODT" and traditional project based outsourcing models?
Your ODT" is customized to your requirements, practices, and even culture. You select, manage and continually interact with the members of your ODT", just as you do with in-house staff. Using an ODT", you get access to specific skills, gain better control over the entire development process, achieve easy scalability, reduce the development costs, and have the accumulated expertise transferred back in-house. Whereas, project based outsourcing is performed by unknown resources, generally outside of your direct control, and little or no knowledge is transferred to you.
3. What are the advantages of the ODT" model versus the traditional project model?
The ODT" model turns a number of outsourcing disadvantages into advantages. It secures your tight control over the entire process, and makes it possible to increase the quality of work, while decreasing the amount oversight required. Thanks to the recruitment conditions and process control provided by the ODT" model, shift overlapping and, moreover, round-the-clock programming become feasible.
4. What are the challenges of the ODT" outsourcing model?
In the project based outsourcing model, the vendor takes control, at least in part, over the outsourced project and manages all of the daily affairs, while the customer is mostly interested in the final result. When using an ODT", you control the entire process, and this is when effective communication, planning and reporting (standard project management activities) become vitally important.
Another challenge is the security of your data revolving around legal protections available in different countries. The best way around this problem is dealing with a U.S. based company with offshore operations. In this case, your business relationship remains governed by U.S. laws and regulations.
5. Under what circumstances is the ODT" outsourcing model most effective?
The ODT" outsourcing model works best when:
- Establishing in-house expertise is not affordable
- Specific skills are required to complement the in-house team
- Development should start soon
- Continuous development and/or long-term assignments are anticipated
6. How much will I save if I use your offshore team?
Overall savings may vary from up to 30%, compared to the traditional project based outsourcing model, and up to 60%, compared to in-house development. Moreover, there are no infrastructure, benefit or payroll tax expenses.
7. I don't believe an off-site team can be as effective, or even more effective as my on-site team. You're saying the costs will be lower, but how do I know your team will provide the same or better performance as my on-site team?
The performance of your ODT" will be continuously monitored by you and us. First, you assign a Manager from your staff to supervise the development process and report to you on a regular basis. Second, you establish the communication processes and frequency you require. Third, task management and reporting is a top priority. This way, you will be able to effectively supervise the development process and gain trust in your ODT's performance.
8. You claim that the offshore team will work as an extension of my company. Where does the responsibility of Intetics lie then?
Intetics is responsible for providing office space, as well as infrastructure set-up and maintenance - these are the issues that our customers don't have to worry about at all. We are responsible for personnel recruitment, payroll and all HR issues. We are responsible for comprehensive security that is extremely important for offshore outsourcing. On the whole, Intetics is responsible for ALL the organizational issues related to your ODT" operation.
9. Offshore dedicated centers and teams are offered by many vendors. What makes you different?
We are a U.S. corporation with headquarters in Chicago and offshore development centers. The onshore/offshore delivery model ensures a better customer service experience, more reliable communications, and comprehensive legal protection, when compared against the pure offshore model.
Our offshore development centers are located in Minsk, Belarus, and in Kharkiv, Ukraine. The European cultural and business practices are similar to the American ones. This similarity reduces the probability of problems occurring when the customer and vendor belong to different cultures. And we are available for direct communications during the normal U.S. business day.
Finally, our decade of experience with custom software and web development speaks for itself. You can review our customers' testimonials on the Testimonials page.
10. May I have some of your clients' contact information, as well as your permission to perform a background check?
You can begin with the selected list of our customers.
To find out what our clients think about us, please visit the Testimonials page.
Selected projects are presented on the Case Studies page.
For references, please feel free to write at 
. You may also run a background check on us if you want to.
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11. Will I own all of the source code produced by my ODT"?
Yes, you will. ALL work products created by your ODT" are considered "work made for hire," and the intellectual property rights embodied in it are your sole and exclusive property.
12. Can I have a fixed-price project implemented first to see the quality of your work?
No problem. Just contact us now for your free initial consultation or a detailed proposal for your project: .
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13. Where are your offshore teams located?
Our teams work at our offshore development centers located in Minsk, Belarus, and Kharkiv, Ukraine.
14. How is ODT" security ensured?
Our commitment to our customers' privacy is reflected in our Privacy Statement and Non-disclosure Agreement that we sign with our customers.
Security in the Intetics' ODC facilities is maintained through photo identification, with physical access controlled by security staff on a 24x7 basis. Access to the facilities is also restricted through the use of failsafe electric door locks, to ensure only authorized personnel are allowed to enter.
Our data networks are divided into discrete segments to eliminate data saturation and to physically separate teams, preventing any unauthorized access to/from a segment. Common security policy and access control devices are used to administer the access to the information stored on the company servers.
External routers for connection between the company's network and the Internet provide basic packet filter protection. A firewall and Proxy ensure the internal traffic policy, prevent the network from unauthorized access, and secure communications between the company LAN and external resources. We also employ tunneling with strong encryption for connection with common networks via the Internet. Finally, we maintain a secure VPN between our Chicago headquarters and our offshore centers.
15. What kind of facilities and equipment do you have? How fast is your Internet connection?
The company premises are comfortable and spacious. The workstation areas provide enough room for every employee to work comfortably and ensure high productivity. The workplace interiors are designed to contemporary standards. The reliable and secure electrical system has built-in redundancy, ensuring power availability at all times. Multiple levels of back-ups, including UPS devices and auto mains failure (AMF) panels for automatic switching, ensure additional reliability of the electrical system.
An intelligent fire/smoke detection and alarm system for notification and evacuation of personnel gives an early warning in case of fire. All rooms are equipped with fire extinguishers.
The company's routers provide error-free high speed access to the Internet for all company employees, up to 8 Mbps downstream and 2 Mbps upstream. These communication channels allow us to maintain day-to-day project monitoring, and ensure real time interaction with clients on a continual basis.
The company hardware platform comprises high-end dual Pentium servers (under Linux and Windows). We use high performance Level3 Stackable Switches as active network equipment to get powerful, fast, and flexible solutions for reconfiguring network infrastructure upon any changeable tasks and requests. The network hardware and services are proactively monitored on a on a 24/7 basis.
16. Do I have to pay any bonuses to the team apart from monthly wages?
Only if you want to. You can determine the amount of bonuses awarded, and you can offer any other incentives to the team members at your discretion as well. Please note, however, that all payments have to be made via our company's Financial Department.
17. Does the billing rate depend on the team members' experience, skills, language proficiency, etc.?
Basically, no. However, if you need a team with skills and expertise that are in great demand (e.g., SAP, Lotus Applications, or Cisco), it may cost you more.
18. What is the minimum size of a team?
The minimum size of an ODT" is three software engineers.
19. What if I need just one offshore dedicated programmer, not a whole team?
The keystones of the development process are effective project management and quality assurance. If you are sure you can properly manage the dedicated programmer's work and provide reliable quality assurance, you can contact us at to discuss the details.
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20. Does an ODT" consist of specialists who work for you on a permanent basis, or do you form each new team from scratch?
Management is always performed by key Intetics personnel whose expertise is the essence of our quality software and web development services. Also, core team members are selected from our experienced software engineers. If necessary, we employ additional programmers and testers, using our database of qualified and skilled candidates.
21. How soon can you assemble my ODT"?
It depends on your requirements. Normally, it takes us a couple of weeks, but if you need specialists with skills and expertise that are in great demand, or if you need a large team, it may take us up to 30 days to completely staff your ODT".
22. Can you put together a team with expertise in such specific areas as PL1, SAP, Cisco, etc.?
Yes, we can. However, it may take us a little longer to provision your ODT", and it may cost you more due to assembling higher demand resources.
23. Can you put together a team to work for me onshore?
Yes, we can. Note, however, that onshore outsourcing doesn't save nearly as much as offshore outsourcing does because the wages and infrastructure expenses in the US are significantly high.
24. How will the members of my team be selected? Will I be able to participate in the selection process?
A manager, with appropriate expertise, is always picked from within Intetics key personnel. The core team members are selected from our experienced software engineers. If necessary, we employ additional programmers and testers using our database of qualified and skilled candidates.
During the selection phase, you review the resumes of all potential team members, and can interview the candidates via the telephone.
25. How do I make sure that programmers, managers, and other specialists on the team have appropriate experience?
The best way to make sure all of the team members have appropriate experience is to personally participate in the team selection process (i.e., review the resumes of all potential team members and interview the candidates via the telephone).
26. Is it possible to establish a test period for an offshore team? Say, three months?
No test period is available for the ODT" service, but it's possible to establish a minimum six months period, after which our contract will renew, unless you wish to terminate it.
27. What if I'm not satisfied with the performance of a team member?
If you are not satisfied with the performance of a team member, we will replace them within 30 days of your request at no cost to you.
28. Is a team member temporarily replaced when he/she takes a sick leave or vacation? If so, who covers the related expenses?
Replacing team members that take sick leave or vacation, if necessary, is our responsibility, and Intetics covers any related expenses.
29. What should I do to increase the efficiency of the offshore team?
Most importantly, manage your ODT" as part of your in-house team. Also, you can use our management tools for planning and reporting, project tracking, task management, and change request management. The tools Intetics has available are:
- Bugzilla - a flexible collaboration tool for bug tracking.
- SharePoint - a document management system for reviewing documentation in the course of distributed development.
- CVS (Concurrent Versions System) - a version control system with plug-in functionality. This is a robust open-source cross-platform network-transparent system that serves as a common repository for your in-house staff and ODT".
- RequestTracker - a technical support system; an open-source web based system for managing new tasks and efforts.
- ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger and other instant messaging programs, as well as the Skype Internet telephony - collaboration tools for online communications.
- VPN (Virtual Private Network) - a network that is constructed by using public wires to connect nodes. We have experience with Cisco VPN and Checkpoint VPN to improve the security of communications.
30. I can solve most in-house problems fast enough not to hamper the implementation. How will I be able to work things out with my ODT"?
You'll do it the same way you've always done it. The physical distance between you and your ODT" and the difference in time zones will be compensated for by prompt communication. Also, you'll have a dedicated manager (selected from among our most qualified and experienced specialists), who will supervise the team as your representative. They will ensure your plans are implemented, and your instructions are followed.
31. Do you provide a local manager with whom I can meet in person on a regular basis?
We can do it if we have a representative in your region. However, being separated from the rest of the team, this manager will serve as a liaison rather than a team member, and you will be billed for their time in addition to your ODT" charges. Since our inception, however, we have not needed someone in this position, and have an unbroken record of success.
32. How will I communicate with my ODT"?
Telephone conversations, e-mail, and instant messaging allow you to establish prompt and reliable communication with your ODT".
33. Is the difference in time zones a problem?
The difference in time zones is a natural consequence of the situation when the development team is in another area of the world. The best way around this is setting mutually acceptable times for online meetings.
If you want to have your ODT's working hours shifted so they better align with yours, we can arrange it, but it needs to be done when we are assembling the team. However, this requirement can raise the cost of the service, as the team members will have to work a nonstandard schedule.
Also, note that the time difference may be an advantage, if you are interested in "round-the-clock" programming. Working with the overseas team in shifts, so that programming goes on 24 hours a day, is extremely efficient if you need to reduce the time to market.
34. Will all of the team members be able to communicate with me? Are they fluent in written and spoken English? Can you set up a test in English for the team?
All employees of the company must successfully pass an English proficiency test before they are hired.
35. Will I be able to communicate with each programmer on the fly (via phone, instant messaging, or e-mail)?
Yes, you will. Telephone conversations, e-mail, and instant messaging will allow you to establish prompt and reliable communication with the all the members of your ODT".
However, practice shows that all major issues should be discussed with the ODT" management personnel, as dealing with the rank and file can be counterproductive to quickly achieving the required solution.
36. How is reporting arranged? How often will I be updated?
Normally, formal reporting is done on a weekly basis via e-mail or one of the communication / collaboration tools. Also, you can always review the progress of the project yourself by using the common repository that is continuously updated. If you want to change the reporting procedure, it's up to you. After all, you run the show.