*  General

What is outsourcing? How can it help my business?

Outsourcing refers to a service offered by a firm that contracts with another firm to provide services that might otherwise be performed by in-house employees. Process of outsourcing encompasses four pillars: Strategic Thinking, Process Evaluation, Contract Development and Proper Management.

Why outsource to Viet Nam?

In today’s scenario where globalization is the key, outsourcing has become more of a necessity than demand. With the constant pressure of workload and time limits, outsourcing seems to be one of the best solutions. Outsourcing to Viet Nam particularly has its own benefits-cost effective and high quality, being the premier. The favorable government with its yet suitable tax incentives; the development of the infrastructure, particularly in the field of telecommunications; also gives the reason to import services from Viet Nam. More or less, Viet Nam has invested heavily in the technical field thus yielding a good and ready supply of bright minds at relatively low cost. In fact a survey in US confirmed that for most of the global corporations, Viet Nam is ranked as the first choice for outsourcing. Outsourcing is done to stay competitive and companies worldwide realize that the key for staying ahead is to provide high quality products, using latest high-tech skills at relatively low cost. Time zone advantages also lead the way to outsourcing your business to Viet Nam as organizations willing to provide 24x7 customer support seek to Viet Nam. Last but not the least Viet Nam provides services in all the latest technical skills and grounds, thus giving a one more strong reason for outsourcing.
 
Why outsource to IHT?

We have explained this in greater detail in the section “Why choose IHT” section. Please click here to read more about unique advantages of outsourcing your business requirements to IHT Viet Nam.
 
How can I trust a company on the other part of the globe?

Any kind of exchange requires trust. And trust never comes free. While outsourcing to the other part of globe may give you worries about the job done and the quality restrain, trust is one big factor that needs to come in at this time. If someone trusts you then he can expend his time, money and energy in managing the risk of being deceived or otherwise won’t be interested in keeping your side of the bargain. But that's not how the deal is done. Trust comes with lot many facets as when the trust is scaled up to nations, the transaction costs effect the overall economy. Trust is the basis of any deal but while you trust the other part of the deal, just handling the work and turning away would bring in lots of problems later by. The wisdom is in managing the relationship and sustaining the cost at the same time.

* Services

What outsourcing services does IHT provide?  

IHT is a full service digital agency. We offer a complete spectrum of services in Web based solutions and Internet based consultancy services including web design, web development, ecommerce solutions, and Internet marketing and consulting services.

Our competencies also lie in setting up dedicated offshore software development teams for outsourced product development, e-business application development, quality assurance and maintenance of web applications.
 
What kinds of skill sets are available with IHT?    

We have strong expertise in Microsoft centric technologies such as ASP, ASP.NET, C#, MS SQL Server, and open source (LAMP) technologies. We also compliment our technology offerings with strong graphics / GUI design capabilities, QA / QC teams and strong project management capabilities.

Our professional team consists of Business analysts, Creative designers, web designers, web developers, project managers, search engine optimisers, internet marketing consultants, web security professionals, and maintenance and support personnel.
 
Do you have English speaking resource or do I need to hire translators?

We have English speaking resource and so you won’t have to hire translators. Here we can show one more benefit of outsourcing to Viet Nam. In Viet Nam, finding English-speaking resource is not a problem as because of the globalization, English has become like the second language in the country. Unlike few countries like China and similar, the need for translators increase as they tend to do most of their work in their native language. Thus the aspect of English-speaking resource and translators is solved.
 
How do you ensure credibility of your resources?
      
We put considerable amount of time in choosing our staff. We have stringent hiring process in place with multi tier screening processes. We also conduct background check of all our employees and job confirmation is done after getting the report.

We take all legal and physical measures to uphold the credibility and commitment of all our employees. All employees are required to sign legally binding contracts document and Non disclosure Agreements. Our network has proper authentication and permission based authorisation processes. Apart from the regular monitoring of the resources, we also do random checks on the entire environment to find out any possible cause of vulnerability.

* Processes

What are the processes IHT follow?

IHT follow the processes of Software Development, Quality Assurance, NDA & IP protection, communication etc… read more
 
How do you ensure quality of the project?

IHT strongly believes that Quality Assurance is an ongoing process, a continuous journey and not a destination. IHT has its own strong quality process which is tightly coupled with development process to make sure end solution is of very high quality / standards catering to all business needs of the customer. Read more…
 
What are the tools you use for project management?

We use Microsoft’s MS project to manage most of the crucial aspects of the project like tasks, resource allocation, documents etc. Further at each level of the software development process we use various other tools like for database design we use DBdesigner, for high level architecture we use MS Visio etc.
 
How do you perform requirement analysis in an offshore arrangement?

Initially we need a brief either in form of document or verbal discussion of your views about the project / product. And then we collate the thoughts and discuss among our self to present our understating of the brief. This is done to make sure we both stand on the same platform and after getting approval we move things forward. Read more on our Requirement Analysis process.
      
How do you ensure data confidentiality and IP protection?
      
We take data confidentiality and IP protection very seriously. All the legal and physical measures are in place to ensure that your data is protected.

We have stringent hiring process and choose our resources very carefully. We conduct background check of all our employees and job confirmation is done after getting the report. Also all employees are required to sign legally binding contracts document and Non disclosure Agreements.

Our Network and infrastructure is highly secure with multi tier security implementations. We have monitoring processes in place and conduct vulnerability testing periodically. We also have adequate network policy and AUP (Acceptance Usage Policy) implemented which are binding on all employees. Our network has proper authentication and permission based authorisation processes.
 
What is reporting structure? How do I monitor progress on my project?

Well we submit project report / status on weekly basis or as per the mutual discussion / requirement of the client. We also give client access to our central issue tracker system wherein they can log their concerns or queries which is promptly attended by concerned team @IHT.
 
What are the communication methods? How can I communicate to project team?

We understand that communication is pivotal for success of any outsourced software projects and hence employed tools and processes to facilitate clear & unhindered communication. Read more on our communication methodology.

* Relationship Development

What should I do to maintain a good and effective outsourcing relationship?
     
In any relationship, the key component for success of the relationship is best laid during negotiations, which eventually leads up to the signing of the Service Level Agreement.

It is important that you communicate your expectations clearly, define a operational model and communication process, make sure that you sign a service level agreement and keep a check on it. Review the relationship on monthly basis.

Make the refinement and improvement in the operational and communication model a regular process. Make sure that you also adhere to terms and conditions of the outsourcing contract and make payment on time as agreed. Click here to read our thoughts on how to maintain an effective outsourcing relationship.
 
How do I pay? What are different payment methods?

We accept international payment methods. We send you invoice through email as per the agreed payment terms. You can then send payment via any of the following methods

1 Direct Bank Transfer (Wire Transfer): This is one of the most used methods to send payment to us. We provide you wire transfer instructions which you provide to your bank to do wire transfer to our account.
2 Online Payment: For regular payments this is a convenient method. We have tied up with ‘remit2Viet Nam.com, an online money transfer service. You will be required to setup an online account with this site which is one time process. You can then create payment reference and pay through your bank account online to our account.
3 Paypal: For small recurring payments, you can also pay us through Paypal (www.paypal.com)
      
Have you got onsite coordinators?

Yes, we have onsite coordinators based in UK and USA for smoother relationship management. We will provide you the contact information of our onsite coordinators who are just a local call away.