Ask HN: Has your company ever hired an outside software factory? Was it good?

[helloiloveyou]

Hey HN friends!

With a friend of mine from college we're starting a software factory and want to learn from the experiences that you may have. What things can a software factory do to provide a great customer experience?

[oaw-bct-ar-bamf]

Current day job company is big enough to have it’s own “software factory” abroad.

It’s horrible. Some good guys but mostly Indian freshers that get burned in 1-2 years.

Time zone difference sucks.

Zero understanding of the product.

To get the proper end result you have to specify the work chunks on such a deep level that you are faster doing it yourself in the first place.

[giantg2]

Same for our large company - lack of product understanding, poor outcomes/outputs/quality, communication issues (including SOW definitions), and regulatory constraints that limit what they are even allowed to work on.

[tgflynn]

I've never heard of a software development consultancy referred to as a "software factory" before. Did you just invent that term ?

[tucaz]

It’s a very common term.

Technical specification goes in. Developed software goes out.

It usually doesn’t work but that’s the premise.

[rdtwo]

I don’t think it’s possible to actually get anything other than garbage out. Generating a technical requirement that generates a good outcome takes a higher level of competence than just generating the product internally

[tucaz]

You got it