Find the Perfect Software Team | Client Types
Dave Hecker continues his series on getting the best price for offshore development by understanding who you are as a client and which software vendor is your match. He outlines how to write a Client Profile to find that perfect match.
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Large Enterprise Clients
These types of clients are the counterparts to the large enterprise software vendors mentioned above. They typically need months or years of development from larger teams, and tend to use technologies like Java or Oracle for projects valued in the high hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.
Mature Clients with Medium-Sized Projects
These clients are generally the most desirable from the perspective of many offshore vendors. They can be loosely described as companies that have experience in out- sourcing software, have budgets of $50k or more, and have internal resources such as in-house developers or project managers that can co-manage the project. These types of clients are attractive because their experience makes them easier to negotiate and work with. They understand the estimation process, risks associated with scheduling, cost overages, and other aspects of outsourcing, so they are seen as more likely to be realistic clients that are successful offshore.
Resellers
Resellers are domestic companies that sell software services to domestic clients, but outsource much or all of the development work overseas.
Resellers are highly desirable clients for offshore groups of all sizes because they are experienced with offshore development and can bring steady work to an offshore team without the need for a sales cycle. Resellers tend to be savvy customers, and will usually retain the best vendors and get better rates than ordinary clients for the same work.
Reseller arrangements are usually “white-label,” which means that both client and vendor keep the relationship a secret. So you may never know that the vendor you are negotiating with is the same team that builds software for your competition. Reseller arrangements are particularly popular with software companies as well as SEO, virtual- assistant, and QA/testing agencies. One thing you can assume, though, is that if you are a small business or a startup you’re probably getting quoted higher rates than you would be if you were a reseller. Resellers are your unseen competition.
Small Businesses, Startups, and Individuals
This is the largest and most diverse category of clients. It includes bloggers, funded startups, small and home businesses, vanity efforts, non-profits, and others, usually with values ranging from $10,000 to $25,000. This category is typically serviced by upstart companies, freelancers, boutique teams, and, unfortunately, the bottom-feeding vendors (see below).
Clients in this category have a tough time finding success for a variety of reasons, including:
Upstart companies are bidding for this type of work, but cannot always deliver quality
Great boutique firms take these types of clients, but are relatively expensive
Bottom feeders are abundant and make it hard for these clients to choose
The marketplace is extremely noisy and confusing
Many clients in this category are relatively inexperienced, which makes them less attractive to the best vendors
Bottom-Feeding Clients
This category is difficult to characterize but easy to understand from a motivation standpoint: Almost everyone would love to get something for nothing. They may have legitimate reasons – they’re a startup or non-profit, revenues are tight but if they can just get this new website or app launched they’d be a solid customer, their friend at another company did it and succeeded – but the truth is a bottom-feeding client will rarely if ever rise to the top for a legitimate vendor.
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