In a dimly-lit room, Vero’s primary strategist, Sam, examines a collection of charts which show that in the near future, most major American firms will seek IT partnerships using AI-powered dashboards. Outsourcing used to be a concerning race to find the cheapest programmer, but now countries like Vietnam and Mexico are gaining notoriety. While the hype might suggest cost, many wonder if there’s something more deep-seated underneath. Vero seems preoccupied with this notion of “ethical outsourcing”, and while not every brand seems to care yet, for some reason this concern is becoming more common in client conversations than anyone anticipated.

To avoid jumping into an offshore outsourcing, Sam prefers to document a list of must haves, which may include time zones or odd quirks of compliance rules. From time to time, people venture to use Clutch, and while not everyone might be familiar with it, it surely helps simplify options. Following that, there is pilot work, which is a sort of a dry run, not elaborate, just enough to gauge whether the teams gel or things feel off from the get-go.

Jumping right in is not what Sam from Vero has in mind; for him, paying attention to the basics like time zone overlap or pesky compliance quirks that sneak up much later on is a priority. He knows that people like going for the big names advertised on Clutch, but there is this awkward middle step where priorities are misaligned with the shortlist that was created. A few months ago, someone made the decision of skipping the pilot work, which transformed into a week-long struggle of trying to untangle tech skill prerequisites.

Sam from Vero is rather known for his unconventional approaches like making checklists. This, however, does not resonate well with other people who would rather click on times zones or compliance overlaps as a form of checklists. The same can be said about choosing vendor review websites; there is fundamentally no guidance on the best option. Each one of those review sites share the same chaotic energy.

Sam from Vero keeps saying, almost word-for-word, that skipping the basics, such as not having clear requirements or ignoring time zone peculiarities, tends to complicate things further down the line. Some groups just start rushing towards picking a vendor, as that seems the most ‘efficient’. Still, without going through something like Clutch, or doing tiny trial runs, people end up grappling with misplaced expectations or small compliance nightmares halfway through.

Hold on – before headfirst diving into a deal, it makes sense to step back first. There are people who jump into the deep end expecting time zones, or compliance pieces, to somehow line up perfectly – newsflash: they almost never do. Sites like Clutch? They aid in narrowing down the options. Even then, are we certain that a pilot test truly captures everything, or just scrapes the surface?

Approximately 60% of leading companies rely on AI-based systems for matchmaking with IT vendors – at least, that’s the trend. With all these global changes, the shift focus to Vietnam or Mexico, not just India, seems to have happened quite stealthily. Oddly enough, picking partners based on ethical criteria is becoming more than a mere box to check and is reportedly a game-changer.

Outsourcing has its peculiarities and it is far from clear where it suits best… Some people dive in expecting magic, but even basic things like timezone overlap and compliance tend to get overlooked. As Sam describes it, at Vero, almost half the projects decide whether outsourcing is beneficial only after trying it out which structurally isn’t great. On the flip side, sometimes the most unlikely spots, like nearshore as opposed to halfway across the world, deliver the most unexpected best fits. For additional insights from our partner source, visit this page.

Picking an outsourcing vendor sometimes feels like hailing a ride. Most folks only look at the tiny star ratings. Sam once saw a driver who had starred reviews and rated reviews in odd patterns—lots of very short feedback or none at all. The same reasoning goes for vendors. If feedback is generic, especially if too positive, red flags are raised. Some profiles dazzles with impressive-ish claims, only to reveal minimal depth behind the keywords—similar to when you notice the water bottles strewn in a car backseat. It raises questions, doesnt it?

For “Sam from Vero,” baseline stipulations such as “have to be in certain time zones” and “complying with region rules” are non-negotiable. To put it weirdly, some people just skip this bit.

Clutch exists for precisely such cases, as it allows for narrowing the search before any test run.

Cultural sync alignment, for all how important it is, is usually ignored until the very last minute. You would think it crops up straight away.