Does your Development Partner & Integrator Know their Off-Shore Team? Here’s why it Matters.
It’s not uncommon for professional services firms to have an off-shore team. What is less common is for that off-store team to be actual employees of the firm.
If you’re a company looking to work with a tech services partner or implementation firm like BTM Global, this distinction about off-shore teams is really important.
How on-shore and off-shore teams work at BTM
BTM Global Vietnam is an incorporated enterprise in Vietnam and a wholly owned subsidiary of BTM Global (headquartered in Minneapolis). Our Vietnam employees include development experts, functional and technical skillsets (engineers, tech leads, testers, QA) and project management. The teams serve both our U.S.-based clients and Vietnam-based clients.
Our founder and CTO, Andy Huynh, emigrated from Vietnam as a child (you can watch his story here). BTM has strong client, employee and philanthropic connections to the country,
and our Vietnam employee team is core to that.
BTM Global leadership has full control over the schedules and priorities of our USA and Vietnam employees. Unlike a contracted vendor that decide to prioritize other projects over yours, we control where our employees’ skills and expertise are applied, and ensure our clients receive the highest level of service no matter what.
We have a consistent team on each project and each employee feels valued (that’s why our attrition is so low). Are there cultural and communication differences when working with people from another part of the world? Absolutely. And we’ve worked really hard to achieve a collaborative culture that ensures our teams are 100% aligned with open communication and trust. These are things that are built over time with co-workers; not with a revolving door of contractors.
Interviewing tech partners: What to ask about off-shore teams
I wrote this article because more and more prospective clients are asking about our off-shore team make-up and tenure, and our ownership structure.
If you’re interviewing partners for your Oracle Retail or NetSuite project, here are some questions to ask them about their off-shore team.
- Who owns your off-shore team? Is it really “your” team, or are they contractors?
At BTM Global, our off-shore team (BTM Global Vietnam) is fully owned by BTM Global. - How much control do you have over the off-shore team’s schedules and priorities? What if they get a big client and shift resources away from us?
BTM Global leaders have full control over the team’s priorities and schedules. We treat employees like the valued and driven human beings they are. As a result, we have high employee dedication and low turnover. - Tell me about the relationship between your USA employees and the off-shore team.
At BTM, our teams trust each other because we know each other. We’re in this to deliver the best client outcomes. When there’s a roadblock, we work together to solve the problem because we’re all on the same team.
Ready to learn more about working with us? Get a look into our culture and why so many of our clients return to us again and again.