TEAM International Newsroom

TEAM’s Capabilities in Meeting the Nation’s Healthcare IT Needs

2009-10-20T02:13:00.000-07:00

TEAM International provides a brief overview of its healthcare IT staffing capabilities and partnership philosophy that allow its clients to successfully and cost effectively reach their aggressive EMR/EHR implementation goals.

On December 6, 2008, U.S. President Obama announced the three main pillars of his economic recovery plan. Electronic health records deployment was named among these three pillars. Our policy makers clearly realize the importance of healthcare IT for patient safety. However, according to the research commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), transferring patient information and other medical records across broad healthcare networks lags behind the IT adoption in other sectors of U.S. economy. Specialists claim that to be able to design practical and sensible solutions, healthcare providers should first and foremost identify areas in which most of the medical errors are made. In-house medical administrative staff is not enough to reduce and eliminate current medical errors and create a solid platform for effective implementation of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Electronic Health Records (EHR). An eye from outside is needed to respond to Obama’s call to integrate robust IT solutions with healthcare practices.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provide stimulus grants to speed up the EMR/EHR implementation process in healthcare networks. In order to qualify to this money, a healthcare provider must show “a meaningful use” of qualified IT systems. Although the Act does not clearly define the term “a meaningful use”, practitioners interpret it as a provider’s ability to keep its EMR/HER system up and running. These and other innovative policies suggest that healthcare providers should hire IT consultants, developers and other specialists to have all of the required IT systems put in place.

TEAM International has gained significant experience with healthcare IT staffing and has helped several healthcare providers with their Clinical Information Systems staffing needs by providing them with the best IT talent all over United States. Our professional candidates understand HIPAA compliance and provide high level healthcare functions including but not limited to clinical systems support, clinical systems management, implementation and upgrade, clinical coordination, clinical risk management, clinical research management, patient registration, customer services, health information management and financial services.
TEAM International offers competitive pricing due to complimented offshore operations and service oriented culture. Thanks to our unique partnership philosophy, TEAM International allows healthcare companies to save an average 32% of their IT spending within one year and beyond.

Our formalized recruiting methodology has allowed us to place over 4,700 IT specialists over the years. Below are examples of how this methodology works in a real-life practice:
• TEAM’s method ensures that our clients will have an assigned and dedicated Healthcare Account Executive (AE) to work with those who hold “ownership” for accurately and timely fulfillment of each job request received from the client.
• AE submits candidates to client who then reviews resumes and either rejects a candidate or requests interview.
• If rejected, AE will work with client to ensure further submittals better match client requirements.
• TEAM recruiting sources and qualifies candidates using our proven thorough interview screening process.
• AE performs further qualification interview with candidates, validates their technical or professional skill sets, assesses candidate fit and either submits candidate to client or rejects candidate and notifies recruiter on how to modify search requirements for further submittals.

Our offshore recruitment model blended with our domestic operations allows us to charge clients below standard industry rates.

Since our core business is Healthcare IT and general IT staff augmentation, we work in all areas of staffing, direct hire, contract to direct and contract consulting. With regards to healthcare IT staffing, TEAM is a Tier 1 Supplier to U.S. leading healthcare IT systems providers, with a very strong Healthcare IT niche in EMR/EHR, Eclipsys, Epic, Siemens, Meditech, Cerner etc. On the IT side we are very strong in PeopleSoft, Lawson, SAP, SAP HR, Oracle and Java/.Net. We are strongly committed to quality of delivered products and services due to standards and requirements of TechServe Alliance and CMMI Level 3.

While many U.S. healthcare providers rack their brains over how to cost effectively integrate EMR/HER with their medical practices, some already enjoy the benefits of outsourced healthcare IT recruitment.

As Don E. Detmer, President and CEO of American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), once said: “If you spend only enough money on an electronic record (with which) you essentially just do the data reporting function but not decision support, you will get some benefit but you won’t get that much. It’s really when you put in decision support that you get the true major benefits.” IT decision support is exactly what TEAM International offers to all of its clients.

For more information on our healthcare IT and healthcare IT staffing capabilities please go to http://teaminternational.com/services_IT_staffing.html

(Based on publications in Surgistrategies < www.surgistrategies.com > and Bradford-Scott Data Corp )

TEAM’s Corporate Social Responsibility Update

2009-09-28T06:51:00.000-07:00

Even tough economic conditions could not stop TEAM International from running its philanthropy campaigns. TEAM continues to be a socially responsible company that aims at creating sustainable charity community among other local businesses in Kharkiv/Eastern Ukraine.

For several years TEAM has provided patronage to local Orphan House #3. The company representatives regularly visit newborn babies and other Orphan House’s inmates and supply the House’s administration with child care goods such as diapers, toys, medications etc.
Most of TEAM employees voluntarily donate money for children and take active part in overall company’s charity efforts.
By its own example TEAM intends to create a role model for other Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian IT companies running business in Kharkiv and promote the idea that social responsibility is an important criterion of assessment of any company’s business performance.
TEAM International believes that the more we give, the more we obtain in return and, thus, plans to expand its philanthropy programs in spite of unstable economic conditions and other negative factors encouraging other companies to curtail their CSR activities.

Central and Eastern Europe IT Outsourcing Review: Q1 2009

2009-09-01T08:19:00.000-07:00

TEAM International provides a brief overview of Central and Eastern Europe’s progress as an attractive and promising IT offshore outsourcing destination.

Recent research commissioned jointly by Central and Eastern European Outsourcing Association (CEEOA) and Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS), confirms active development of IT offshore outsourcing markets in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in general and Ukraine in particular. Central and Eastern Europe IT Outsourcing Review’s 2008 research suggests that CEE are gradually transforming from the fringe to preferred locations in the global outsourcing market.

Review Summary:

• More clients from Western Europe are choosing near-shoring IT functions to their less developed European neighbors rather than outsourcing to traditional Asian destinations. Organizations are no longer satisfied with just low-cost and are focusing on vendors’ competence, high-tech know-how and staff integration. CEE countries consistently execute high quality projects and have shown business and technical competence and cultural compatibility with customers from Western Europe and North America.
• The CEE region is ranked No 3-4 in the global marketplace in terms of the number of people involved in IT outsourcing and the value of provided services respectively.
• The CEE countries are notable for technology-oriented educational system and a solid Research & Development foundation.
• In 2008 CEE faced a small number of company closures and staff reduction (5-7% across the industry). In 2009 many new businesses and start-up projects boomed in the region.
• Despite the economic downturn, rates remained relatively stable in Q1 2009. However, a considerable rate drop is predicted to take place in Q2.

The most distinguishing findings related to Ukraine:

• Ukraine is ranked No 1 in terms of the market value, the main indicator of IT outsourcing market development. In 2008 Ukraine’s market value equaled $530 million.
• Ukraine is ranked No 1 in terms of the number of companies currently doing business in the CEE. In 2008 it was estimated that Ukraine had approximately 850 offshore outsourcing services providers.
• Ukraine is ranked No 1 in terms of the number of IT professionals based on 2008 estimates with approximately 14,400 IT specialists. In contrast, the Czech Republic, Serbia and other CEE countries employ approximately 4,000 – 5,000.
• Ukraine is ranked No 9 in terms of market rates. Ukrainian rates range from $28,200 to $56,840.

These findings reveal that the Ukraine is a country with great potential in becoming a powerful leader in the CEE outsourcing market. The research indicates that CEE countries are aggressively increasing their ability to compete with the traditional outsourcing destinations and are able to offer clients from different world regions state-of-the-art product and service quality, competitive rates and technological innovations.

(Based on ‘Central and Eastern Europe IT Outsourcing Review 2008’)

TEAM International Becomes A Microsoft Certified Partner

2009-07-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

TEAM International proudly announces being appraised as a Microsoft Certified Partner 2009-2010. As a Microsoft Certified Partner, Team International can provide our customers with the highest level of technical expertise, strategic thinking, and hands on skills in the delivery of technology solutions. Certified Partners have a high degree of competence and expertise with Microsoft technologies and have demonstrated their proficiency in one or more areas of expertise.

Why work with a Microsoft Certified Partner?
- Microsoft Certified Partners have demonstrated expertise. Each Microsoft Certified Partner must employ a minimum number of Microsoft Certified Professionals (MCPs) who have a demonstrated level of technical expertise and the proven ability to deliver solutions featuring Microsoft products. MCPs must pass certification exams developed by Microsoft.
- Microsoft Certified Partners have a broad-range of experience. Microsoft Certified Partners typically offer several areas of technical expertise including infrastructure, networking, office automation, e-commerce, collaboration, business intelligence, and other leading edge disciplines. Microsoft Certified Partner services include consulting, training, implementation, maintenance/support, and hosting services.
- Microsoft Certified Partners have direct support from Microsoft. Microsoft Certified Partners have access to 24 x 7 x 365 support for your project whenever they need additional support from Microsoft.
- Microsoft Certified Partners offer a real world perspective to your technology strategies. Microsoft Certified Partners have been in the business, on average, for more than 5 years. They bring experience to your projects gained through conducting similar projects over many years of service.

TEAM International believes that partnership with Microsoft will have a positive impact on our customer experience and Team’s bottom line.

Current trends in European and North American Offshore Outsourcing

2009-06-18T03:24:00.000-07:00

TEAM International highlights the changing offshore outsourcing landscape in Europe and North America.

TEAM International has analyzed offshore outsourcing market trends in Europe and North America and would like to share the three trends most likely to influence the market in the near future:

Trend #1 – Increased demand from Western Europe

According to a report commissioned by IDC, an IT market intelligence company, global offshore outsourcing has grown by 25 percent over the past two years and has generated as much as $30 billion in revenues. As per A.T. Kearney 2009 Global Services Location Index, the outsourcing landscape has changed worldwide, as Europe already spends more on outsourced services than North America. North America has been regarded as the leading user of offshore services for many years.

Trend #2 – Western Europe prefers nearshoring to traditional offshoring

Western Europe displays increased interest in using nearshore locations such as Central and Eastern Europe, North Africa and Middle East, locations where English is not as dominant. Additionally, Western Europe is moving away from captive center model and opting to utilize offsite development centers run by third-party providers.

Trend #3 – Offshore outsourcing will remain an important element of the global economic equation

An A.T. Kearney study reveals a rather optimistic forecast regarding the future of offshore outsourcing. A. T. Kearney predicts that offshoring has become an integral part of the supply chain for the finance and banking industry and the information technologies industries and expects the industry to continue to grow over the long term.

TEAM International believes that when the world economy becomes more stable, more companies will realize many advantages of offshore outsourcing including cost-cutting and talent acquisition and will continue to utilize both offshore and nearshore suppliers.

Top Offshore Outsourcing Trends to Watch in 2009

2009-06-01T05:55:00.000-07:00

TEAM International is outlining the key trends to be anticipated in the international offshore outsourcing market in 2009.

The 2009 World Outsourcing Summit was held by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) on February 16-18 in Carlsbad, California. At the Summit TEAM International was represented by Joe Chiovarou, VP of Business Development. One of the most important outcomes that we gained from the Summit is a better understanding of the top offshore outsourcing trends to watch in 2009. During the Summit Joe Chiovarou had a chance to collect and validate information among the most reliable and knowledgeable market analysis professionals and came to the conclusion that the following trends are most likely to catch on in the next few months:

1. Enhanced Nearshoring
As a term, nearshoring (nearshore outsourcing) means offloading all of or part of the processes to be completed by a vendor located in the geographically closest region. This trend will be most observed in Europe. According to the IAOP, Europe is currently outpacing US in closing outsourcing deals. The number of offshoring contracts rose in Europe by 17 percent from 2007 to 2008 and hit 271, compared to 243 US deals closed.

2. Reliance on smaller deals
Global uncertainty as a result of the world economic meltdown led companies to lower their overall spending on IT and create short-term business plans focused on spending rather than long-term investment. Due to this, companies are now seeking shorter outsourcing contracts to be able to properly adjust their volume and service level terms. This trend will gradually lead to significant change in vendor’s outsourcing mindset – more and more vendors worldwide will strive for creating service offering at competitive rates and with appropriate differentiation for the marketplace.

3. Importance of professional expertise
According to the IAOP Summit, in 2009 customers will be focused on a more predictable operational model provided by the offshoring vendors. Vendors’ professional expertise will be valued more than any higher-value propositions. A self-service oriented customer model is expected to become increasingly popular throughout 2009. One of the predominant vendor selection criteria will be the organization’s ability to manage its internal processes and operations. That translates into dealing with organizations that have certifications such as CMMI.

4. Enhanced competition
In 2009 vendors are predicted to face the toughest competition ever. Global economic uncertainty has already brought about a certain slowdown in outsourcing deals. Companies are reorganizing to create an environment conducive to transforming internal business processes in an effort to reduce cost and increase the quality of the product delivered. Per the IAOP, the roller-coaster ride anticipated in 2009 will only be endured by companies with multi-dimensional service offerings. Such companies will both survive and create even stronger base for future competition. Strategically poor vendors will either exit the market, or be absorbed by larger outsourcers. Customers are expected to have even greater influence vendors measured by cost and quality of services purchased.

5. Enhanced social responsibility
Social responsibility is predicted to be a trend in the Outsourcing space in 2009. This trend is predicted to evolve and continue and play a greater role in outsourcing decision making. The Obama administration is promoting a better socially responsible business environment, which, in its turn, will drive vendors to create appropriate solutions.

These are five top trends predicted at the IAOP World Summit. Team International is well poised to take advantage of these trends and has modified its engagement process to assure the proper positioning to thrive throughout 2009 and into the future. Below is a list of features that will attract growth at Team International in 2009:

1. TEAM International has its Offshore Dedicated Center located in Ukraine (Eastern Europe), which is a perfect hub for nearshore outsourcing;
2. TEAM International is ready to provide short-term project oriented services along with emphasis on longer-term partnerships;
3. TEAM International has CMMI Level 3 certification and is currently in process of higher level certification;
4. TEAM International provides customers with multi-dimensional services offering, from traditional software development and QA and testing with multiple models of engagement including project, dedicated development center and Build Operate and transfer.
5. TEAM International is a socially responsible company running a local orphanage charity program in Kharkov region.

We believe these and other features will help TEAM International advance its Center of Excellence and make its professional expertise attract more customers in the upcoming quarters of 2009.

TEAM International Announced A Rising Star in UK by IAOP

2009-05-28T07:57:00.000-07:00

In April 2009 The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) completed its 2009 Global Outsourcing 100 program and announced TEAM International ‘A Rising Star in UK’.

The IAOP 2009 program was marked with the enhanced competition among an increased field of outsourcing service providers and advisors. The Global Outsourcing 100 List along with the several sublists were revealed in the May issue of FORTUNE magazine and other industry-wide publications. TEAM International was named ‘A Rising Star in UK’ (by Region Served), and we value it as a recognition of our successful partnership with UK clients.

Getting to the Global Outsourcing 100 Sublist is very important both for current success of our quality-focused efforts and for the further development of our company’s track record as a reliable global IT outsourcing services provider. Being listed among the rising starts in UK means better visibility at the global offshore outsourcing market and better chance to get to the next year’s Top 100 List.

Understanding the tough competition, TEAM International is planning to participate in the 2010 Global Outsourcing 100 List and believes that our hard work during the current year will help us enhance our position in the global ranking.

Now that TEAM International is one step closer to being recognized as the world’s best outsourcing provider, we feel more responsibility to instantly improve our customer satisfaction rates by providing only the state-of-the-art-quality software products and services.

Why Outsource Healthcare IT Staffing?

2009-04-08T08:14:00.000-07:00

The healthcare industry is ultimately the most complex in needs, data demands, regulations, market size and revenue models, core functions and outsourcing niche vendors. Regardless of the fact that in recent years the complexity of healthcare IT solutions has significantly increased, this industry is still projected to be one of the most dynamically developing and fastest growing segments of IT technologies’ implementation and development in 2009.

Current call for EMR/EHR implementation in US healthcare

On February 17, 2009, US President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("ARRA") as a $787 billion “economic stimulus law”. This Act launched new federal mandates on health information technology (HIT) and privacy of personally identifiable information (PII). ARRA encourages healthcare and patient care facilities to adopt a wider use of electronic medical/ health records (EMR/EHR).

The benefits of EMR/EHR are too obvious to list. First and foremost, EMR/EHR technology helps increase productivity by supporting automation of clinical processes from filing paper charts and prescribing medications to storing sensitive patient data, managing accounting information and consulting on treatment options. The second benefit of EMR/EHR consists in revenue increase. Implementation of medical billing software allows healthcare facilities to offer new services to patients, to attract new businesses and reduce workload on the medical staff. In spite of rather high costs of implementation, EMR/EHR technology promises to boost healthcare profits in a long-term perspective by improving patient satisfaction and office image resulting in increased patient referrals and retention. EMR/EHR software comes with many in-built and added-on tools able to help physicians make faster and prompter decisions. Such tools include, but are not limited to: diagnosis and prescribing medications, automated appointment reminders, automated treatment planning etc. EMR/EHR technology is also able to eliminate queues in the physician’s office and missed appointments by allowing patients to arrange an appointment and receive an electronic reminder online.
In overall, EMR/EHR will allow better physician-patient interaction, physician-physician communication, higher quality treatment and protection of sensitive information.
The federalization of encryption and security norms for PII and EMR/EHR promises a new wave of government-funded IT contracts with private contractors, advisors and consultants.
According to Accenture Electronic Health Records Survey (2005), the major barriers to successful and effective EMR/EHR implementation are:
• Capital costs
• Physicians’ resistance to learn new technology
• Lack of technology standards
• Increase of IT staff workloads

It is important to note that the increasing of IT staff workloads is one of the most frequently cited obstacles. As many as 17% of the Survey participants reported the drastic impact of EMR/EHR adoption on IT staff. Considering that the task of implementation is a temporary one augmenting in-house staff with the contract IT specialists would be a better solution than hiring permanent workers.

Vendor market notes

According to Wipro Health Industry Insights Report (2008), healthcare IT vendor market is fragmented by solution set, geography and segment. The market is dominated by the major hospital information system vendors such as Cerner, Epic, Eclipsys, GE Healthcare, McKesson, Siemens, Meditech etc. In regards to physician adoption of EMR/EHR, the vendor market is both fragmented and opened for new joiners.

Healthcare IT staffing outsourcing: current state of affairs, benefits and expectations

Today’s US healthcare organizations are faced with growing pressure to reduce overall labor costs and at the same time to improve the quality of patient care. In order to painlessly and efficiently implement the required technology, organizations need to access the best IT talent pool requiring the latest technology skills coupled with excellent recruiting expertise.

Progressive healthcare organizations are currently resolving the problem of IT talent shortage by choosing to partner with recruiting experts with enormous side experience and outside perspective. The professional vendors can support healthcare services providers with qualified teams of IT experts able to fill in all of the gaps relating to poor technology implementation.

No secret that in the healthcare industry people are the single biggest expense (nearly 60% of the total cost structure). To find, attract and retain qualified professionals to meet the growing IT demand is a real challenge.

Healthcare IT staffing outsourcing can be a valuable option to leverage the organizations’ screening capabilities of narrowing the funnel of prospects to those people who have qualifications, desire and commitment to bring a positive IT change to the company.

Besides leveraging screening capabilities, healthcare IT staffing outsourcing can help companies standardize their recruitment practices, increase turnaround times and reduce vacancy rates down to 2.3 percent and increase overall efficiency by allowing healthcare facilities to focus on their core competencies.

President Obama’s call for total automation of processes in the healthcare is matching a time of limited IT human resources, which puts a serious barrier in the way of successful EMR/EHR adoption. Today’s healthcare administrators are facing a challenge of having to transform and innovate while maintaining and/or reducing the total operating costs to the organization. Healthcare IT staffing outsourcing offers an effective means of increasing IT efficiency while cutting costs.

Sources: Accenture ; Wipro

TEAM International Launches Software Development QA and Testing Center of Excellence

2009-03-31T05:40:00.000-07:00

TEAM International announces the launch of our new QIQ Assessment Tool, designed to assist companies with in-house QA and testing teams to measure the maturity and effectiveness of their software development QA and Testing processes and capabilities.

“The Statistics support our decision to build a separate QA & Testing offering” said Chris Walton, President of Team International. “In early 2005, we decided to separate our software development teams from our QA & Testing teams in order to increase the quality of our deliverables to our clients. Our clients loved it and we expanded our offering as a stand alone capability” said Chris.

According to a CIO survey, finding and fixing bugs accounts for almost 50 percent of the total cost of a software project. The same survey reveals that the migration of the QA & Testing function to an offshore third party can save companies up to 75 percent compared to in-house costs. Another survey conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) finds that US companies spend as much as $60 billion on fixing software defects at the post-release stage. This study also reveals that third party QA & Testing could have saved companies nearly $20 billion had they focused on quality early in the software development life cycle.

TEAM encourages all organizations that take our QIQ Quiz to get a better understanding of potential areas for improvement.

Ukraine Included in Gartner’s Top 30 Countries for Offshore Services in 2008

2009-03-31T05:27:00.001-07:00

For the second year in a row, Gartner’s research named Ukraine as one of the top 30 countries for Offshore IT Outsourcing In 2008 Gartner used 10 criteria to determine its Top 30 countries: government support and infrastructure, language and cultural compatibility, educational system and talent pool, cost, political and economic environment, global and legal maturity and intellectual property privacy and data security. The fact that Ukraine was included in the list for the second time proves its strive for excellence in providing outsourced services in a variety of areas.

On assessing 72 offshore locations, Gartner generated its new list of Top 30 Hot Spots for offshore outsourcing. According to Gartner, the analysis of offshore locations showed the dynamic growth of the outsourcing market and helped identify countries that are most likely to become credible alternative to such traditional locations as India and China.

Ukraine is listed in Gartner’s Top 30 among other EMEA countries (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, Romania, Egypt etc. Gartner determined that Ukraine as well as other EMEA locations became a powerful nearshore center for outsourced services. Ukraine continues to attract its mature neighborhood such as EU and the Nordic regions as a high quality and low cost services provider.

TEAM International hopes that in the conditions of the economic turmoil Ukraine will grow as one of the most effective offshore and nearshore destinations in EMEA region and will continue to be listed among Gartner’s Top 30 countries in 2009.

Why Outsource QA and Testing?

2009-03-31T05:15:00.000-07:00

Software testing is a vital phase in any software development project. Frequently changing requirements coupled with a reduced product development life cycle has increased the risk of application deployment before a product is ready for the market. According to a CIO survey, finding and fixing bugs accounts for almost 50 percent of the total cost of the software project. The same survey reveals that migration of the QA & Testing function to an offshore vendor can save companies up to 75 percent compared to in-house costs. Another survey conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) finds that US companies spend as much as $60 billion on fixing software defects at the post-release stage. This study also reveals that third party QA & Testing could have saved companies nearly $20 billion. The direct cost of quality in terms of staff time by itself is a compelling reason for considering a new business model for QA & Testing. More difficult to measure, though just as significant, is the lost revenue in terms of new business and current customer satisfaction that may have turned into increased revenue opportunities. Using an Offshore Outsourcing organization can reduce both direct staffing cost (by using less expensive resources overseas) and lost potential by assuring a higher quality product and ultimately more satisfied customers before the product is launched into the marketplace. Migration to a test driven lifecycle model with the goal of Independent Verification & Validation will give organizations that choose to focus on creating a culture of quality a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Benefits of outsourced QA & Testing

The objective of using Offshore Outsourcing is based on price arbitrage where lower cost resources are used to perform functions that would otherwise be more expensive when compared to domestic staffing. There are always tradeoffs in terms of which functions make sense to port overseas. When a function such as systems architecture is outsourced, many CIOs feel uncomfortable and perceive that they may be losing control of a strategic function or a core competency of the organization, QA & Testing is a prime candidate for outsourcing as the function is considered rote and not perceived by the average IT professional as a career path to greater responsibility within the organization. At the same time, the strategic importance of the QA & Testing function continues to increase in the enterprise in terms of the overall IT budget and the cost of releasing a defective product to the market.

The main benefits of outsourced QA & Testing can be divided into two categories: quantitative and qualitative.

Quantitative Benefits:

• Reduced Costs

Current economic conditions have forced organizations to focus on the bottom line. Top line revenues are under pressure, so cost reduction is one of the focuses of business leaders. Focusing on cost reductions only takes a company so far. The best and brightest organizations are emphasizing new product development to assure that once the economy moves in the right direction, they are poised to capitalize on revenue growth. Based upon the statistics in the first paragraph, the cost of deploying a software product with significant defects has a staggering effect on both internal costs and marketplace perception. IT organizations that have their QA & Testing functions right-sized spend approximately 25% of the overall IT budget on QA & Testing. One of the main objectives of any outsourcing engagement is to reduce cost. Offshore outsourcing can bring an experienced QA & Testing team to the table and save up to 75% of the overall QA & Testing budget. But the benefits don’t stop simply at cost alone.

Having a third party perform the more mundane functions allows the organization to redirect resources toward new development projects that can positively impact bottom line profitability. Each stage of the Software Development Cycle (SDLC) requires a unique set of skills and competencies. What is one of the primary roles of the IT organization? Understanding the internal and external competitive landscape of the industry in which the organization operates and proactively develops products and services to create a competitive advantage. Outsourcing the QA & Testing function allows the organization to focus employees on core competencies while leaving the functional subject matter expertise of QA & Testing to the offshore firm. When Outsourcing the QA function, the QA Team should be viewed as an independent QA team to validate that the application/product is ready for market.

• Cost Avoidance

In a traditional waterfall model where an IT shop migrates through the SDLC in measured steps, completing each phase, before passing a project into implementation. The influence stakeholders have over cost is significantly reduced. When the IT shop adopts the Test Driven model, the development process is modified to allow for the creation of test cases during each phase of the SDLC. The earlier in the cycle that a defect can be identified, the less costly the defect is in terms of impacting the enterprise. For example, if a defect is found in the Design phase, the cost to correct the defect is minimal. If the same defect makes it all the way through the SDLC and the software is deployed into production, the cost to correct is multiplied by a factor of ten. If a defect is caught in the Implementation phase, the cost to correct is multiplied by a factor of five. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where the investment should be made.

Qualitative Benefits:

• Revenue Optimization

Once the software product is marketed to end users, the informal evaluation by customers begins. As we all know, information travels over the worldwide web at the speed of light, in particular when it comes to product quality. The tech community is filled with user groups and associations performing real time informal product evaluations. When a product goes to market with significant defects, the negative comments move quickly throughout the user and prospect community. Though business leaders are pressed to deploy new capabilities at a breakneck pace, quality needs to be at the forefront of thought leadership. The best way to reduce the probability of significant software defects negatively impacting perception and sales is to have a robust third-party QA & Testing process. Investing in quality processes increases both current customer satisfaction and the probability of closing on new business.

• Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V)

Much has been written about the maturity model related to QA & Testing. The final stage of the maturity model is Independent Verification & Validation. Organizations that invest in quality come to the conclusion that to institutionalize quality processes requires separate processes and separate people within the organization, along with using an independent third party to perform the function. An independent third party has many advantages, the first being that they are compensated to perform the function properly. Their continued existence relies upon process and quality. Secondly, since another organization is contracted to perform the function, separate processes and people are performing the tasks by design. And thirdly, the Outsourcing Company already has mature processes. After knowledge transfer, the QA & Testing team will be up and running quickly.

• Decreased Defects/Increased Application Quality

Mature processes capable of moving the enterprise toward Independent Validation & Verification are vital to the success of an outsourcing QA Project. Problem/defect identification and documentation are best performed by an organization familiar with process quality improvement. In software development one of the certifications that a potential outsourcing customer needs to look for is the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI). CMMI in software engineering and organizational development is a process improvement approach, that seeks to provide organizations with the essential elements of effective process improvement. It can be used to guide process improvement across a project, a division, or an entire organization. CMMI helps integrate traditionally separate organizational functions, set process improvement goals and priorities, provide guidance for quality processes, and provide a point of reference for appraising current processes. Organizations that have received CMMI already have mature processes and are more capable of integrating provider processes with customer processes. This is a very important component of the contracting process and is a predictor of successful outsourcing initiatives. Partnering with a certified vendor means immediate focus on project quality, correctness, compliance with the customer requirements and elimination of budget overruns.

Corporations around the globe are under pressure to survive in a harsh economic environment. Outsourcing has become main stream for many industries and when economic times are difficult, reducing cost while increasing quality is a value equation that cannot be ignored. For organizations assessing outsourcing strategies for the first time, focusing on QA & Testing is an easy place to start. For Organizations that have developed sourcing strategies, segregating the QA & Testing function and contracting with another supplier can significantly increase product quality. Migrating to a Test Driven QA Process with the goal of reaching the pinnacle of the maturity model, IV&V will build credibility within the organization and outside, where it counts most, marketplace perception. Reducing staffing costs, increasing product quality and avoiding the expensive cost of post deployment errors can only assist growing a profitable business.

(Based on materials from CIO.Com and Computer World
<>)

Why Choose a CMMI Certified Outsourcing Vendor?

2009-03-31T05:12:00.000-07:00

What is CMMI?

Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) is a specific guidance derived from the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) methodology that has been developed by Software Engineering Institute (SEI) of Carnegie Mellon University from the late 1990s. Initially the methodology was designed as a tool to objectively measure the ability of government and military contractors to properly use their processes for effective performance of contracted software projects. CMM was fully funded by the US Air Force through the military research. In 1989 it was gradually adapted for commercial organizations’ certification.

SEI defines CMMI as a model providing “guidance to use when developing processes”. Based on this definition it becomes clear that the CMMI models are, in fact, not the processes, as misunderstood by many organizations, nor are they the process descriptions. They are guidelines that contain criteria of the processes’ quality assessment and methods of their improvement. The actual processes used within the organization depend on such factors as application domain, organization’s structure, size and many others. The process areas of a CMMI model do not map one to one with the processes used within the organization.

There are five CMMI levels:
Level 1 - Ad-Hoc: The processes are undefined and unstructured. There is chaos in each organization’s process area.
Level 2 – Managed: The processes are defined at the project level. The solutions are very reactive.
Level 3 - Defined: The processes are defined at the organizational level. It is one of the most important levels, since it suggests that the company has learnt how to put the processes to the project level and how to make them work in each certain case.
Level 4 - Quantitatively Managed: All the key processes are properly managed and controlled. The project metrics are gathered and analyzed.
Level 5 - Optimizing: The processes are improved based on the gathered metrics.

Key benefits of outsourcing to CMMI certified vendor

- Higher quality of a product due to constant quality control on each of the development steps
- Lower costs due to a more productive and efficient way of creating a product
- Better communication between client and vendor due to established rules and procedures
- Better visibility of the product life cycle and development activities due to better organized documentation
- Higher quality and lower costs due to use of the newest technologies and tools

What TEAM guaranties as a CMMI Level 3 outsourcing vendor

TEAM International Services, Inc. is CMMI Level 3 Certified since July 2008. This designation acknowledges the fact that we have adopted an institutionalized quality management system, confirmed by an accredited CMMI Certifier, to ensure we provide quality at any phase of service delivery. The high–quality service capability is conducted through the implementation of industry best practices with respect to and with consideration of specific conditions: legal and company policies, customer requirements regarding product, product components, and process of production, as well as selected/required software development lifecycle models.

Achievement of CMMI Level 3 attests to TEAM’s deep commitment to a customer-oriented approach to business. Working closely with client needs and applying quality assured methods – including (but not limited to) requirements traceability, scientific project management approach (based on historical and current project data collected and analyzed), quality control during the entire project lifecycle (in the form of peer reviews, testing, and work product validation), systematic evaluations of defined and adopted processes – we have a superior capability to prevent defects and non-standard practices in our completed delivery.

CMMI Level 3 Certification is only a first step which TEAM has committed to take in the pursuit of better delivery and client satisfaction. While these endeavors are often costly, requiring time, money, and the dedication of support (i.e. non-billable) personnel, TEAM believes the resulting value-add to the quality of our work far exceeds any tangible costs associated with these efforts. We are proud of the steps which we have taken, and we are delighted with the opportunity to provide better client satisfaction as a result.