We just finished putting together Our Hero’s Journey, a comic-like story of what many of our clients go through when they decide to grow their development team with Nearsoft.

In the Beginning …

Instead of taking the easy road and doing what “everybody else is doing,” our clients have had the guts to take the road less traveled. They needed to grow their development team with talented engineers who could contribute fully to their team. For that they had to look beyond the traditional “solutions” and take a risk.

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1. THE ORDINARY WORLD

For the hero of our story it was not an easy journey. It started when he decided to pay no heed to traditional “advice.”

  • “Go to India,” said one, “they’re pretty good and cheap.”
  • “No, go to Eastern Europe, the old Soviet bloc,” said another. “People are highly educated there.”
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2. THE CALL TO ADVENTURE

Instead, our hero searched for an alternative that made more sense for a software product company like his. Raw cost was a factor, but the most important factor was to find a partner with high affinity and matching values and practices.

  • “What about somewhere nearby … with talented engineers who can be full participants in my team.”
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3. REFUSAL OF THE CALL

Our hero looks hither and yon, but to no avail. Tired, he is ready to give up the search.

  • “That’s it! I won’t outsource, at all. I don’t want a bunch of code monkeys to mess with my software.”
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4. MEETING THE MENTOR

The mentor, Nearsoft, shows up. His solution makes sense and it seems to be a perfect fit. However, our hero can’t relax, yet. He must make sure …

  • “Sounds enticing, but … I know: I’ll challenge them.”
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5. CROSSING THE THRESHOLD

The Nearsoft team overcomes the challenge easily. This convinces our hero to go forward.

  • “I am going to grow my team with Nearsoft, in Mexico!
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6. TESTS, ALLIES, and ENEMIES

Nevertheless, his ORDINARY WORLD friends scoff at him.

  • “Mexico? Really? How’s their education system?” says one.
  • “Are you going to find people with the right experience there?” wonders another.
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7. APPROACH

As the US team starts to interact with the Nearsoft team, they see the value of working together.

  • “The Nearsoft folks are pretty talented,” says one developer. “They speak up, self-direct, and show initiative.”
  • “We love working with them,” says another.
  • “We are pair program with them right now!” says a third.
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8. THE ORDEAL

First major release is coming up. There’s tension in the air.

  • “Will their code hold up?” our hero wonders. “Did they design for scalability?”
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9. THE REWARD

All’s well, the release holds up. There’s much to celebrate. Kudos all around.
However, our hero worries. He knows that he must next face THE ORDEAL.

  • “Now I need grow the team … will the Board approve?”
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10. THE ROAD BACK

Our hero tells the Board the great news of how things turned out with his new team.

  • “These folks are invested in our success. They are great and they care!”
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11. THE RESURRECTION

The questioning from the Board is intense. More like an interrogation, really. Our hero’s story challenges everything they know.

  • “How can this possibly be?,” says one.
  • “Everybody knows that India and Eastern Europe are the tech powerhouses, not Mexico!” says another.
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12. RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR

However, the results speak for themselves and the Board relents. The Nearsoft teams expands and continues to bring happiness to our hero.

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And in the End …

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References