WHITE PAPER: Offshore Software Development
Aspire Systems, Inc.
www.aspiresys.com Page 7 of 17
4. OFFSHORE DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY
The offshore development process usually begins at the customer's site. A team of analysts led by
a Project Manager carry out the initial requirements definition and analysis in consultation with the
customer. The design, development, and testing phases are carried out at the offshore
development center with a larger team. The acceptance testing, implementation, installation, and
user training are done at the customer's site. On an average 70% of the total effort is done
offshore and 30% onsite.
An outline of the steps involved in the Onsite/Offshore model is:
1. A Project Manager from the development team and a Project Coordinator from the
customer's end are nominated to oversee the entire project.
2. To start with, the Project Manager and a team of engineers from the vendor firm visit the
customer's office to establish rapport with the Project Coordinator. Here, they discuss,
understand and document requirements, establish communication protocol and finalize
reporting format and frequency. It is absolutely necessary that the Project Manager and his
team gain an in-depth understanding of the requirements and communicate the customer's
vision of the application back to the offshore center.
