10 things you should know about working with an offshore team

Every project has challenges — and having part of your team on the other side of the world only amplifies them. But knowing what to expect when working with an offshore group will help you avoid misunderstandings and keep the project on track.

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As companies try to get the most for their information technology dollar, it seems the conversation inevitably leads to the merits of offshore services. It should be no surprise that there are both advantages and disadvantages to using offshore resources for some, or all, of your IT needs. A brief treatment of the factors involved is not likely to influence whether your company outsources to offshore. But acquainting yourself with the various aspects of offshoring will prepare you for what to expect and help you be more effective in your interactions.

“Offshore” is broad in its implications and can cover many cultures and types of relationships. For simplicity, we will consider the situation of a United States-based company offshoring the programming portion of its project to India.

Note: This information is also available as a PDF download.

#1: The time difference is good

When you are sleeping, work can continue on the other side of the world. At 9:30 PM Eastern Standard Time on the east coast, your colleagues in Bangalore will be arriving to work at 8:00 AM their time. The design problems you have been mulling over during your workday can be bundled up and shipped off for the offshore team. They can continue their development work, while you get a good night’s sleep.

For this to work, of course, there must be good coordination and processes. In fact, it will require more coordination than you might realize. However, if you come up with a process that works effectively, you can leverage the time differential for an operation that runs day and night.

#2: The time difference is not good

Different parts of a project’s life cycle require different levels of communication. With a relatively narrow window during which the workdays of India and the United States overlap, it can be difficult getting the answers you need when you need them. When that happens, a question that can be answered in five minutes by a colleague in the next cubicle might take until the next day. In fact, a one-day turnaround might be optimistic. If your problem or question is not understood, the back and forth can result in days passing before a problem is resolved — a disastrous situation for a project-critical issue.

Fortunately, the problems associated with an offshore time difference can be mitigated to some degree. The work schedules off shore can be shifted later, and/or the work in the States can be pushed up to increase the time for interactions. A 7:00 AM meeting may not be the way you would like to start the day, but your offshore counterpart may not be especially thrilled about staying late, either. The good news is that you really need to do this only when the need arises and not throughout the entire project.

#3: Cultural communication differences can create confusion

This probably is not true of everyone in India, but there does seem to be a tendency to avoid giving negative responses. And if you’re dealing with junior individuals, they may not speak up on an issue without permission by a supervisor.

“Yes” is a word you are likely hear quite a bit. If you ask your offshore counterparts if they can have a task completed by the end of business tomorrow, and they say “Yes,” you may not have received the response you think. While you think you heard “Yes, it will be done,” they are more likely saying “Yes, I understand” or “Yes, I’ll do my best.” Understand this subtly of communication, and things will go much smoother.

#4: They have a life too

I have, unfortunately, witnessed an attitude in the United States in which offshore resources were viewed as slave labor. I don’t think that those situations were the result of conscious thought or mal-intent. But being out of sight and somewhat out of mind, offshore can start to become a faceless dumping ground for as much as you can throw at them. That is just plain wrong on many levels.

Your colleagues offshore have families, lives, and bills to pay just like you do. Treat them like you would a team member in the next room. Do this, and you will have the foundation for a healthy, effective team. Besides being the right thing to do, it makes for better collaboration and is simply good business.

#5: High turnover is a problem

The India IT job market is plagued with high turnover. I have seen figures ranging from 20 to 50 percent. You need to be aware that the person you are working with today may not be the person you will be working with tomorrow. Further, your current team may not have been there very long.

This represents a huge potential for knowledge loss and an overall low level of expertise with your system. Be prepared for it and manage it as best you can.

#6: Different life/business experiences mean different assumptions

You know how your users respond to situations and what their work environment is like. Your offshore team probably does not. Whether it’s how an input screen is designed or the way your users utilize reports, you will probably need to be painfully specific in your design because your assumptions will likely be different from those made offshore. Those workers are not inexperienced; they have just had different experiences.

#7: Things may get lost in translation

A number of offshore team members I have worked with spoke better English than some of their American counterparts. That said, you will probably find that there are differences in the more British English they are using in India as compared to American English. Even everyday expressions may come off sounding very strange when heard by a foreign ear.

This does not mean you have to worry about what you say or choose your words extra carefully. What it does mean is that you should not assume everything you are saying is being immediately understood. Just as you might wait until after a conversation to look up a word you didn’t understand, your offshore team may be doing the same with parts of your speech.

#8: Good in one thing does not mean good in all

Like any other IT shop — or any other business, for that matter — skills and expertise may be specialized. Just because the offshore group is well known for its programming prowess doesn’t mean that it’s capable of creating a test script you would dare show your quality control person. First, make an honest assessment of the team’s capabilities. Then capitalize on the strengths and compensate for the weaknesses, just like you would for anyone else.

#9: Remote communication is the norm

When you’re on opposite sides of the globe, face-to-face meetings just are not going to happen, at least not very often. This is something you will just need to get used to. Sure, you have been on conference calls and have had your share of meetings via e-mail, but when working with offshore, be prepared for nearly all of your contact being done by remote means.

I would be remiss if I did not share that the most successful offshore projects I have been on have had some degree of onshore presence. Even having a single person who can be your point of contact can make all the difference in the world. Frankly, I believe there is no substitute for some face-to-face contact. With so much of our understanding coming from nonverbal communication, any effort spent to have some face-to-face contact will not be wasted.

#10: Hidden costs are likely

In spite of the distances between the parties, communication still must happen. That will mean telephone calls, telephone conferences, Web-based meetings, and possibly video conferences. All of this is an additional cost to your project. And if you follow the advice above by having someone onsite as a point of contact, the costs will skyrocket. Make sure everyone understands that these costs will be there. Note, however, that these costs are small compared to the costs to the project of not being well connected.

Summary

Every project has its challenges. Having part of your team on the other side of the world only amplifies them. But if you heed the factors described above, there is no reason the experience can’t be an interesting and positive one for everyone on the project.

 

Carbon content, steel classifications, and alloy steels

By Bob Capudean, Contributing Writer
August 28, 2003

Generally, carbon is the most important commercial steel alloy. Increasing carbon content increases hardness and strength and improves hardenability. But carbon also increases brittleness and reduces weldability because of its tendency to form martensite. This means carbon content can be both a blessing and a curse when it comes to commercial steel.

And while there are steels that have up to 2 percent carbon content, they are the exception. Most steel contains less than 0.35 percent carbon. To put this in perspective, keep in mind that’s 35/100 of 1 percent.

Now, any steel in the 0.35 to 1.86 percent carbon content range can be hardened using a heat-quench-temper cycle. Most commercial steels are classified into one of three groups:

1. Plain carbon steels
2. Low-alloy steels
3. High-alloy steels

Plain Carbon Steels

These steels usually are iron with less than 1 percent carbon, plus small amounts of manganese, phosphorus, sulfur, and silicon. The weldability and other characteristics of these steels are primarily a product of carbon content, although the alloying and residual elements do have a minor influence.

Plain carbon steels are further subdivided into four groups:

1. Low
2. Medium
3. High
4. Very high

Low. Often called mild steels, low-carbon steels have less than 0.30 percent carbon and are the most commonly used grades. They machine and weld nicely and are more ductile than higher-carbon steels.

Medium. Medium-carbon steels have from 0.30 to 0.45 percent carbon. Increased carbon means increased hardness and tensile strength, decreased ductility, and more difficult machining.

High. With 0.45 to 0.75 percent carbon, these steels can be challenging to weld. Preheating, postheating (to control cooling rate), and sometimes even heating during welding become necessary to produce acceptable welds and to control the mechanical properties of the steel after welding.

Very High. With up to 1.50 percent carbon content, very high-carbon steels are used for hard steel products such as metal cutting tools and truck springs. Like high-carbon steels, they require heat treating before, during, and after welding to maintain their mechanical properties.

Low-alloy Steels

When these steels are designed for welded applications, their carbon content is usually below 0.25 percent and often below 0.15 percent. Typical alloys include nickel, chromium, molybdenum, manganese, and silicon, which add strength at room temperatures and increase low-temperature notch toughness.

These alloys can, in the right combination, improve corrosion resistance and influence the steel’s response to heat treatment. But the alloys added can also negatively influence crack susceptibility, so it’s a good idea to use low-hydrogen welding processes with them. Preheating might also prove necessary. This can be determined by using the carbon equivalent formula, which we’ll cover in a later issue.

High-alloy Steels

For the most part, we’re talking about stainless steel here, the most important commercial high-alloy steel. Stainless steels are at least 12 percent chromium and many have high nickel contents. The three basic types of stainless are:

1. Austenitic
2. Ferritic
3. Martensitic

Martensitic stainless steels make up the cutlery grades. They have the least amount of chromium, offer high hardenability, and require both pre- and postheating when welding to prevent cracking in the heat-affected zone (HAZ).

Ferritic stainless steels have 12 to 27 percent chromium with small amounts of austenite-forming alloys.

Austenitic stainless steels offer excellent weldability, but austenite isn’t stable at room temperature. Consequently, specific alloys must be added to stabilize austenite. The most important austenite stabilizer is nickel, and others include carbon, manganese, and nitrogen.

Special properties, including corrosion resistance, oxidation resistance, and strength at high temperatures, can be incorporated into austenitic stainless steels by adding certain alloys like chromium, nickel, molybdenum, nitrogen, titanium, and columbium. And while carbon can add strength at high temperatures, it can also reduce corrosion resistance by forming a compound with chromium. It’s important to note that austenitic alloys can’t be hardened by heat treatment. That means they don’t harden in the welding HAZ.

* Stainless steels always have a high chromium content, often considerable amounts of nickel, and sometimes contain molybdenum and other elements. Stainless steels are identified by a three-digit number beginning with 2, 3, 4, or 5.Figure 1 Be sure to check the appropriate AISI and SAE publications for the latest revisions.

Steel Classification Systems

Before we look at a couple of common steel classification systems, let’s consider one more high-carbon metal, cast iron. The carbon content of cast iron is 2.1 percent or more. There are four basic types of cast iron:

1. Gray cast iron, which is relatively soft. It’s easily machined and welded, and you’ll find it used for engine cylinder blocks, pipe, and machine tool structures.
2. White cast iron, which is hard, brittle, and not weldable. It has a compressive strength of more than 200,000 pounds per square inch (PSI), and when it’s annealed, it becomes malleable cast iron.
3. Malleable cast iron, which is annealed white cast iron. It can be welded, machined, is ductile, and offers good strength and shock resistance.
4. Ductile cast iron, which is sometimes called nodular or spheroidal graphite cast iron. It gets this name because its carbon is in the shape of small spheres, not flakes. This makes it both ductile and malleable. It’s also weldable.

Now let’s take a look at a typical steel classification system (see Figure 1). Both the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) use virtually identical systems. Both are based on a four-digit system with the first number usually indicating the basic type of steel and the first two numbers together indicating the series within the basic alloy group.

Keep in mind there may be a number of series within a basic alloy group, depending on the amount of the principal alloying elements. The last two or three numbers refer to the approximate permissible range of carbon content in points (hundredths of a percent).

These classification systems can become fairly complex, and Figure 1 is just a basic representation. Be sure to reference the most recent AISI and SAE publications for the latest revisions.

That’s a look at some basics concerning the iron-carbon-steel relationship and its influences on welding and metal alloys. Next time we’ll look at hardening and ways to make metals stronger. We’ll also consider the influences of some key alloying elements and the effects of welding on metallurgy.

Bob Capudean is the owner of and a fabricator at Back Alley Customs, Waterford, Mich., and is a welding instructor at Oakland Community College, Auburn Hills, Mich. He can be reached by e-mail at Shorty1340@comcast.net.

From the Fabricator.com

 

Sejarah konflik Palestina-Israel (3)

Surabaya, 1945

Langit gelap. Bukan oleh awan yang hendak menurunkan hujan. Angkasa dipenuhi pesawat sekutu yang bergemuruh. Di dalamnya, para serdadu masih menyisakan keangkuhan. Mereka baru saja menghancurkan pasukan Jepang di Front Pasifik. Dari langit, mereka menebar ancaman:

“menyerah, atau hancur”.

 

Sejarah Konflik Palestina-Israel (2)

Kalau ada ribut-ribut di negara- negara Arab, misalnya di Mesir,
Palestina, atau Suriah, kita sering bertanya apa signifikansi
dukungan terhadap Negara tersebut. Misalnya baru-baru ini ketika
Palestina diserang. Ngapain sih mendukung Palestina?

 

Sejarah Konflik Palestina-Israel (1)

Sejarah Konflik Palestina – Israel dari Masa ke Masa

Pada tanggal 1 Januari 2009 ini serangan rezim zionis Israel ke Gaza atas
bangsa Palestina sudah berlangsung 5 hari (27 Desember 2008). Ratusan
orang sipil Palestina tewas menggenaskan, sedangkan ratusan lainnya
luka-luka. Kutukan atas serangan tersebut berdatangan dari berbagai
negara, namun sayangnya Amerika Serikat ternyata mem-veto resolusi PBB
atas serangan Israel ke Gaza tersebut

 

Kisah Mualaf- Febian

Febian, seorang peragawati model busana dari Perancis. Ia seorang pemudi yang berusia dua puluh delapan tahun. Saat ia tenggelam dalam ketenaran dan hangar bingarnya duniawi, hidayah Allah menghampirinya. Sehingga ia menarik diri dan meninggalka dunianya yang gelap itu.

 

Islaminpedia

Suatu ketika si ncep berdiskusi dengan seseorang tentang masalah syiah,dan
berlanjut diskusi di belakang layar dalam intensitas harian sampai
akhirnya beliau menghujat dan menyimpulkan bahwa si ncep tidak sesuai
dengan sunah rasul salafus salafih,,,