Insights For Success

Strategy, Innovation, Leadership and Security

Outsourcing

Crowdsourcing design work with 99designs.com (a review)

Crowdsourcing, Design, Identity, Management, Outsourcing, Partnerships, StrategyEdward Kiledjian

If you are planning to start a new small business or have a small business that requires some design services, you may be tempted to try out one of the newer crowdsourcing websites. The first time a customer asked for my advice about these sites, I had no idea. As a manager in a larger organization, I have never used these types of services but decided to check them out. I asked my network of contacts and found a handful of individuals that provided their real-world experiences.

Wikipedia defines crowdsourcing as “Crowdsourcing is the act of sourcing tasks traditionally performed by specific individuals to a group of people or community (crowd) through an open call.”

The site that came up most often was called 99Designs. The concept is simple, you submit a brief, determine how much you are willing to pay for a good design and you let the market bring you fantastic designs at an unbelievable price. At least that is the promise made by the site. Out of the 8 people I spoke to, only 1 had successfully run a project to completion using the site. This one person was satisfied and said designers in his area wanted close to $1000 for similar work (it cost him $300).

The 7 others had a very different perspective. They all said that very few designers actually came forward with design proposals and of the designs they received, nothing looked professional.  On a positive note, every one of the 7 was able to contact customer support and quickly get a full refund.

If you have enough time to wait and see then it may be worthwhile to give 99designs a try and see what you get. If you’re not satisfied, you can always ask for a refund. Who knows, you may be able to snag an amazing design for an unbelievable price.

Other crowdsourcing sites you may like to checkout

Chaordix

Crowdsourced Market Intelligence

PopTent

A site that allows you to crowsource design of a video commercial

Ponoko

Crowdsource the design and manufacture of your product ideas.

Outsourcing ITO/BPO best practices

InfoSec, Outsourcing, PresentationsEdward Kiledjian

 

As mentioned in my post on November 7 2011, I was a guest speaker at a breakfast meeting for  the Montreal Association of Information Security. My presentation was about best practices, tips and tricks about outsourcing.

As promised, I am making my presentation available here in PDF format. It can be freely distributed as long as it is left intact.

You can download it for free from my Evernote account by following this link : file.

 

4 Tips to remember when Outsourcing to China and beyond

Behavior, Economy, Investments, Management, Outsourcing, Partnerships, Risk Management, StrategyEdward Kiledjian

I have spoken and written about outsourcing to China for a couple of years now. Although China does require special handling, many of the high level recommendations are the same as regardless of where you decide to outsource.

So here is a summary style high level overview of some of the important considerations:

Ask Why: Ask yourself exactly why you are outsourcing. It is because you want to reduce your costs, access specialized skills or as a risk management exercise? Understanding exactly why you want to outsource should be your first question. Take the time to get granular and as detailed as possible. If you want to save money, then decide exactly how much and how? Time spent thinking about this will help your decision making and later negotiations.

Ask Who: Once you’ve decided why you want to outsource, then the next logical question is who. What type of provider is best positioned to meet your why requirements? What is the ideal size of the provider? What is the ideal geographic footprint of the provider? What type of experience or client list does the ideal provider have?

Ask How: If I had to pinpoint one reason why most outsourcing deals fail to meet client expectations is SM&G (aka Service Management and Governance).  You should have as much SM&G that you need to keep the delivery adequate and the relationship healthy but no more.  Think about how you will measure successfully delivery and how you expect the vendor to report on it. What methodology should they use? How will you periodically check their reporting? Some aspects of SM&G that get forgotten are data privacy, IP handling, financial performance, etc. When dealing with offshore providers (India, Malaysia, Philippines, China, etc.), this can get doubly complicated because many times the small to mid size providers won’t have local presence and may have communication issues. Make sure all of this is clearly thought out and documented in your contract. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Chinese Model Cities: The Chinese government has built the concept of Chinese Model Cities. These cities are locations where government encourages a specific type of product or service. When dealing with China, it is important to consider this fact and deal with organizations that deliver the product or service you want from the designated Chinese model city for that product or service. Failing to do so may lead to huge headaches.

This is not an exhaustive list but hopefully it has given you food for thought. If you have questions, feel free to contact me using the Contact Form.

Discussion about Outsourcing Best Practices Nov 15 in Montreal

Events, InfoSec, Outsourcing, PresentationsEdward Kiledjian

I wanted to let you know that I will be discussing Outsourcing best practices at an ASIMM event on November 15 in Montreal.

This event will cater to new and experienced professionals alike. We will also have a Q&A session at the end where I will answer your questions (using my 15 years of international Outsourcing experience).