In the oil world, offshoring literally means “out of the coast line” and refers to the activities on oil drilling platforms. The service industry, among which the information technology or IT, adopted this term for the phenomenon of relocating processes and activities to other parts of the world, like for example India, generally from a cost saving perspective. A related term is “nearshoring”, the only difference there is that the target country is generally located closer to the west, like for example Romania. The term “outsourcing” signifies nothing more than relocating processes or activities to third party organisations, so outside the own organisation. In effect, granting an order to an IT-offshore company is actually a combination of both.
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There are multiple reasons for this. First of all, we at ByProxy have come across Nepal previously under different circumstances. Jan Kees van Mourik previously had an application developed in Nepal, while Martin Schoenmakers previously lived in Nepal. Therefore we knew the country and its possibilities. Second, Nepal offers a unique proposition by means of price / quality ratio. The country offers the same possibilities as India, but on a much smaller scale and much cheaper in comparison. Therefore, Nepal is an extremely interesting destination for small and mid sized enterprises. Third, we think its an enjoyable and interesting country, with an hospitable, hard working and motivated population.
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We definitely think so. Nepal is a disadvantaged country and eager to import foreign investment and employability. We as IT entrepreneurs offer employment to dozens of people, not only programmers, but also support staff such as cooks, cleaners, gardeners, security guards and office assistants. General unemployment in Nepal is very high and our employees are important income earners in their respective families. Each ByProxy employee brings home a relatively high amount of income and the whole family profits from that. Furthermore, we offer advanced education possibilities to both our current staff as well as to disadvantaged youngsters with the ability of becoming an employee at a later stage.
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Offshoring is a process that needs good guidance. Most “known” problems in offshoring are caused by language and cultural differences between the customer and the delivering parties. In the communication process between western project managers and, for example, Indian programmers, a lot can go wrong despite modern communication technologies. We have prevented this by offering a guaranteed and continuous presence of Dutch (English speaking) management on site. The customer and the programmers / project manager are never directly exposed to each other and all documentation and correspondence can be exchanged in Dutch or English.
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No, there is no need for that. We offer Dutch (English speaking) management on site. All communication and correspondence with the customer will run through the Dutch manager and the communication medium desired by the customer (email, phone, VoIP or Skype). We will phone the customer at a moment of his choice, in his office, in his car or on the ski piste. In many cases however, the focal point of contact will be the head office in Aalsmeer and the communication between our offices in The Netherlands and Nepal will be conducted internally.
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We work according to well known methods of planning and quality control. For a start, we will always conduct a detailed requirements analysis with the customer, in order for both parties to establish in black on white what will and will not be delivered in the project. In the next step, we will produce a graphically oriented functional design for the customer, in which (s)he will be able to conduct elementary browsing. This is followed by a detailed technical design, produced by our ICT architecture department, during which phase the most comprehensive .NET techniques will be inserted in the design. Not until the customer has approved of all the phases and designs, we will start producing a planning, a quotation for development and final agreement on delivery times. Production and progress are monitored daily in our project management system, which is accessible for the customer as well. Changes in scope or processing time are being signalled well in advance and discussed with the customer. So far, this methodology has always resulted in timely deliveries.
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ByProxy is the company involved in developing software. ByProxy Netherlands is the office for sales, customer communication, support and systems management, while ByProxy Nepal undertakes the actual programming work. All products of ByProxy Nepal are being delivered to ByProxy Netherlands before they are being forwarded to the customer. ProxymiT is a product organisation containing the applications Dealer Desk and Survey, among others. This role will be taken over by the new organisations Contact Engine and Contact Engineers. Please contact Jan Kees van Mourik, jankees@contactengineers.nl for more information on the Contact Engine.
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Dealer Desk is a versatile customer contact system offering possibilities to generate customer contact moments continuously, timely and automated where possible. The system is primarily focussed on the car sales market (dealers and importers) but has applications in other markets as well. The system contains modules for customer management, file / complaint management and interactive surveys and offers contact moments by all possible media: email, SMS, mail and PDA (mobile internet). Contact moments can be automated with respect to content (“what do I want to tell”), client scope (“who do I want to tell it to”) and sending frequency (“when / how often do I want to tell it”). Furthermore, the system, offers extensive possibilities for management of incoming emails, for conducting call campaigns and for design of customer specific templates for letter and emails. Please contact Jan Kees van Mourik, jkvmourik@byproxy.nl for more information on Dealer Desk.
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