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

4 points by helloiloveyou ↗ HN
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?

6 comments

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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
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.