ExperExchange: Software Solution Provider

ExperExchange's Sino-OSE^® Center is built and run in Tianjin, China, which is ODC (Offshore Development Center) in nature and made up of a dedicated team of programmers and developers who have been handpicked to complement the client's skill set and culture.

We set up a dedicated or shared offshore development center for a client who has long-term IT cooperation with us in China, which would allow the client to be able to continue development on their projects and serve their internal and external customers with the same or improved quality levels, but at a drastically reduced cost. Leveraging our China advantages, ExperExchange is able to provide services to our global clients that allow them to save approximately 40% on cost, and reduce time-to-market without any compromise on quality.

This customized team works exclusively on behalf of the client at ExperExchange's site. The infrastructure can be designed to meet the client's own standards and specifications. The goal of a Sino-OSE^® Center is to replace or seamlessly extend the client's IT division. In addition, the advantage of ExperExchange's Sino-OSE^® Center depends on the support from two aspects of resources, which are the Market Research Team and the Core Technology R&D Team in ExperExchange.

ExperExchange's Marketing Department has a long-term history in market research within extensive industries throughout Europe and the United States. We conduct projects for our clients who need services ranging from market research to market targeting, or from product design to IT Solution. A client may need research on their target markets, competitors, similar products and target customers demands before a campaign. ExperExchange's Marketing department is ready to give them invaluable input, which cannot be found elsewhere.

ExperExchange's R&D Department is headquartered and operated at the Institute of Machine Intelligence of Nankai University. The client has options to choose Dedicated or Shared ODC:

By utilizing a flexible business model ExperExchange clients are assured of greater value as the relationship progresses through each stage:

Typically a Sino-OSE^®Center setup goes thru many steps in six phases as explained in the following figure:

To get familiar with ExperExchange's Sino-OSE^® Center, the client can start with a Pilot Project:

1) The client chooses a short-term task which can be completed in a few days or weeks
2) Jointly select suited programmer(s) to develop and evaluate the result

3) ExperExchange assembles a core team for the client
4) Hand pick Project Manager and the business analyst

    5) Domain Knowledge Enhancement if necessary
    6) Relationship building with client's development organization
    7) Knowledge transfer of design and coding standards
    8) Transfer of client development environment & configurations
    9) Jointly define the Sino-OSE^® Center process
    10) Create the Sino-OSE^® Center infrastructure

    11) Create first SOW
    12) Start the work
    13) Define the process & infrastructure over first delivery

    14) Refine and test methodologies and the process
    15) Verify against agreed norms
    16) Increase headcount-maintain quality and productivity within agreed norms

17) Ability to run multiple projects
18) Shift from establishing performance to maintaining and improving over time.

If the client has experience with ExperExchange's engineering team, the setup process will be greatly simplified to less than 10 steps in 3-4 phases for the client to start gaining benefits in shorter time.

The Sino-OSE^® Center provides the following services either in a sequence or for the client to choose from:

1. Product Marketing

Before starting the product development, our engineers and consultants help the client conduct market research to gain insight to the market environment, technology trends, customer demand and existing competition. Based on research results, we can help the client formulate marketing strategies and perfect product design.

ExperExchange emphasizes management controls throughout all processes in order to ensure successful delivery of offshore services. The management of a Sino-OSE^® Center has to ensure that all processes meet internal standards and the requirements of our clients. At the start of the project, ExperExchange will adjust & modify our proven project management workflow & methods according to the client's special needs and their particular management style. The revised workflow and methods are then submitted to the client for approval before the Sino-OSE^® Center is put into operation. This section is only a description of our normal project management, which is subject to adjustment, modification and approval by the client. A Project Management Guide forms a part of the Quality Management System and documents the project management processes. The guide covers all project management functions, from project planning to project wind-up. The guide also stipulates which tools are to be used to achieve the stated objectives. There are systematic processes for project tracking and control with multiple levels of status reporting and project review. Each of these reviews covers a particular aspect of the project such as risk management, software quality assurance, project progress, inter-group dependencies, product and process metrics, progress against project baselines and the status of configuration management. General Project Management Guide include following contents:

Within the Sino-OSE^® Center, ExperExchange allocates a Program Manager, a Quality Manager and an Onshore AM to ensure smooth delivery of services. They are responsible for the successful operations of the Sino-OSE^® Center in terms of delivery and quality.

The Program Manager is responsible for ensuring that all deliverables are on time and within the defined quality.

The Quality Manager is responsible for monitoring and maintaining project metrics on productivity and quality on the behalf of the client, reviewing and signing off all testing and ensuring the deliverables meet agreed standards.

The Onshore AM is responsible for phone or live communication with the client, collecting client's requirements, studying client's business process and dealing with emergent proceedings.

The Statement of Work for each work pack defines the pack's phases, including entry and exit criteria. These must be met in full prior to moving onto the next stage of the project.

A progress report for each work pack is regularly produced against metrics defined for the pack. This ensures that any process gaps or communication problems are managed immediately and appropriately.

A work pack's Statement of Work also defines milestones, each with a planned completion date. This enables project monitoring based on the milestones, and also helps to identify issues and address them at an early stage.

Effective management of issues and their resolution helps to improve quality and manages slippage. Escalation reduces impact on the project. Risk assessment and contingency planning are key factors of the ExperExchange project management philosophy.

Reviews and meetings with the client play an important role in the successful management and control of a project. Periodic reviews between the onshore AM, Sino-OSE^® Center PM and the client's Project Manager via a conference call based on a periodic progress report submitted by the PM. The periodicity is mutually decided based on customer requirements, the criticality and the size of the project.

Changes during the development life cycle of a project are inevitable. However, unless they are controlled with some degree of discipline and correctly managed, they can prove detrimental to the project's progress and its ultimate success. The objectives of Change Management and its associated procedures are not to suppress change or to freeze specifications, but rather to provide the opportunity to assess the impact of a recommended change and to make informed management decisions in the light of costs and benefits. ExperExchange's technique stresses careful evaluation of the effort, schedule impact and cost of a Change Request.

The Change Management process is followed for all Project Change Requests for items that form a part of the software baseline library. Once an element has crossed the quality gate defined for it, it is brought under Configuration Control.

All such configurable items (source code, design documents, user documentation etc.) can be changed only through a formal change request procedure.