How Offshoring Works for Granite Properties
Author: Clint Osteen & Craig Scullin - Granite Properties
Source: Realcomm Advisory (1/31/2008)

While Granite Properties is not a small company by commercial real estate standards, we are a small IT shop. Our team consists of four people: Director of IT, Manager of IT, Network Administrator, and Business Applications Specialist. For many years, we discussed our increasing need for an application development resource, but struggled with how we could justify the premium we would have to pay for an experienced resource and how we could keep that resource challenged. We also talked about offshoring but never seriously considered it, because we felt that was something "only really large companies did". Plus, Granite Properties' leadership team was very skeptical of offshoring based on the challenges inherent with working with people you never see, who are thousands of miles away in another country, especially when it can be challenging enough working with people in other offices even in the same city.

Then, in 2007, we received an unsolicited call from an offshoring company in India named Annet Technologies that was offering both functional and application development services focused on commercial real estate. They caught us at an opportune time. We had just embarked on a resource search for a couple of upcoming projects with our enterprise system, and we were evaluating Microsoft SharePoint and anticipating a need for additional technical resources around that. Annet Technologies had technical resources that knew our enterprise system; they had SharePoint resources (which, by the way, are not easy to find); they were very familiar with commercial real estate; and they were offering about a 75% reduction in cost compared to our contractors.

We decided to give offshoring a try through Annet Technologies, but we were nervous about having our resources thousands of miles away in a place where English was not the native language. We started small by giving them some report modifications to complete to see how we could handle the communication challenges. Their work was thorough and the results came quickly, so we gave them a few more items. This time, the work involved troubleshooting report issues and small application modifications in our enterprise system. Again, the results were good. So, after about six weeks, we decided to give them our two large projects: continuing the same application work that began the year before with stateside developers, and rolling out SharePoint throughout our organization. During the remainder of the year, we used two to four resources per month; depending on project load and the specialty required (they had many to choose from). The SharePoint project was flexible, but the application work had a very strict deadline. The one project goal we had to achieve or "die trying" was rewriting a complex revenue calculation, and the developers did not let us down. It worked "to the penny" every time.

While the outcomes were good for us, there were challenges along the way. Communication and detailed design documentation was the key. We started off with two members of our staff on status calls once a week with the development team, and limited detail in our design documentation. On their side, Annet Technologies assigned a dedicated project manager who had an excellent command of English. Although the majority of the actual development staff had limited knowledge of English, we discovered that we were able to overcome language issues by limiting the interaction with our developers to a single point of contact in our office. The designated team member held regular status calls twice a week, with impromptu calls handled as needed. In addition, we were forced to get much better at design documentation. We found that, with contractors who work in our office, it is very easy to shortcut documentation because you can just "walk down the hall" and have a discussion. With developers on another continent that is impossible, plus the language barrier further complicated the "quick conversation" approach to design. Therefore, we had to write detailed design specifications before a project was given out. In addition, Annet provided a Web-based project management tool that allowed everyone to see the status of open items and comment as necessary. This gave everyone on our end visibility into the project but required rigid communication protocols. For example, quick e-mails sent from Blackberries, over the weekend, had to be documented in the Web tool.

Proximity of the team is a challenge, particularly on technical projects. We couldn't simply point to the screen and say, "Look what this is doing." Time zone differences meant that the team started their day at 2:00 a.m. our time and left at 12:00 noon. While it seemed there was no problem they couldn't solve, if a critical problem occurred after lunch, it was often the next day before it was fixed. On the other side of the coin, the development team had six hours to work on issues before we arrived at the office. Tasks that were assigned at 5:00 p.m. were usually ready the next morning with our first cup of coffee.

Using offshore development resources does not work for everyone. However, for Granite Properties, it has allowed our small IT group to accomplish things that much larger IT organizations struggle with. To make it work, you have to be patient and flexible when it comes to communication; work with the development staff to create standards for detailed design documentation; and be willing to dedicate at least one resource in your shop to manage the relationship with your virtual development staff. Today, every member of the Granite Properties leadership team is a believer in offshoring, and we are not shy about sharing our success story with peers in the real estate industry.