Björn Stansvik Getting the most out of offshore developers: a cultural, organizational and technological perspective

Adam Smith's invisible hand is hard at work shaping the constellation of work teams across the globe. Distributed teams present both challenges and advantages. The advantages include access to a wider talent pool, cost, scale, and round-the-clock development among other things. The challenges include; communication, differences in time zones, culture, logistics, management, language and work habits. Any organization wishing to reap the benefits of a distributed offshore development team must continually adhere to a comprehensive program of measures to ensure maximum productivity. The three pillars of these measures include Culture, Organization and Technology. Culture refers both to national and corporate culture, how well are they understood and meshed? Organization refers to the task divisions and work flows designed to deliver the best result for the client. And Technology refers to the underlying IT infrastructure and standards / processes necessary to produce a smooth workflow.

Mr. Stansvik immigrated to the United States in 1999 and founded MentorMate, Inc. in 2001. The company now employs a software development staff in Bulgaria and business operations in St. Paul, MN. The company manages its remote workforce using best-of breed standards and tools including ISO 9001:2000 and MS Project Server Web Access.