Outsourcing Companies Gone Wrong

I have been working with outsourcing companies for over 15 years in several countries, dealing with budgets ranging from tiny to several million.

Most outsourcing companies often boast about being great partners with expert teams. They may offer various tailored options to suit your needs. However, I have encountered some amusing and dreadful experiences during my career.

One of the most memorable and somewhat comical stories involves a project I witnessed while working at a renowned company in Korea. The project aimed to develop a business-oriented solution and was assigned to a team that included my colleague. They decided to engage a relatively large outsourcing company based in India for the project. I remember the project being substantial, spanning over a year in duration. However, as the project approached its final stages, my colleague joined as a junior project manager, despite having no prior experience as an entry-level engineer. This lack of experience made it challenging for him to understand the project’s intricacies.

As my colleague delved into the project, he discovered that some core features were not functioning as intended. In his attempt to investigate, he reviewed the project’s code only to find that it consisted mostly of pure UI elements. Concerned about the issues, he attempted to contact the outsourcing company but received no response for over a week. Eventually, the truth emerged: the CEO of the outsourcing company had fled, closing the company overnight. All employees had vanished, leaving my colleague in a difficult predicament.

With the project deadline looming, my colleague found themselves alone, unable to resolve the issues independently. It became evident that their seniors had already noticed that something was amiss but chose to turn a blind eye to the situation.

In the end, my colleague had to face the CEO alone and explain the project’s unfortunate turn of events. Unfortunately, the outcome was far from favorable.

#experience #engineer #startups