Outsourcing Engineering Research

I keep an eye out for real world stories on outsourcing new product development especially research and prototyping of new technologies and concepts.

I came across this interesting article by Steve Mezak, an outsourcing consultant titled How to Outsource Research Needed to Create Software-- And Get it Right.

Sometimes you know exactly what you want your software to do. You can easily hire an offshore programming team or a freelancer if you have a small project, and direct them to develop what you need.

Other times, you may not be so sure. You need someone to research what is best,or even possible, before software development can begin. Outsourcing of your research before you begin development takes a special type of engineering team.

He gives couple of examples of his experience outsourcing research and prototyping. He concludes be saying:

The key result of outsourcing your research is knowledge. Use that knowledge you gain to minimize the technical risks before you develop your software.

From my experience working with customers in providing research for a new product has been that customers who understands working with remote teams (be it within your country or outside) have been able to capitalize on outsourcing research work. Outsourcing the entire concept to market cycle of a product is challenging, however I can vouch for it from my experience that it is a workable model.