I’m thinking of new services and marketing methods but don’t have the enough resources to implement them. At the same time, I’m afraid that outsourcing the implementation would result in wide spread of my source code as if I’m revealing business secrets for free! How ethical are the outsource companies in India and Western Europe? Do they keep the source code, documentations, and communications after handling projects to customers? How to write a good development outsourcing contract?

I’d like to hear from people/companies that have outsourced developments of new projects and what they recommend.

Thank you.

generally I would say there is a always a risk in communicating new ideas, even to employees. they could quit and start a rivaling business

as for outsourcing, I would start off with a NDA (non disclosure agreement). that protects your ideas to some degree, but, for example, doesn't keep friends of the outsourcing partner from competing with you (since you can#t probably couldn't prove they got the information from your outsourcing partner)

you will have to trust your "gut feeling" to some extent and your people skills and evaluate the people you are dealing with -
talk to them on the phone on different occasions and maybe try to meet them. just get a feel of the "authenicity/genuine-ness"

hope that helps

I'd suggest you outsource to someone you can meet face-to-face. The less contact you have with an individual, the greater the chance of your ideas floating around without your approval.

Dave

Thank you. NDA is a good idea to minimize the risk. Face-to-face is not possible in my situation.

Other experiences please?

My recommendation is to outsouce parts of the project / code to different parties.

Basically break the idea up into distinct areas that separately are difficult to determine the final outcome. So no one developer has full access to the entire source code of the idea..

The way I develop is very OOP with Classes / Modules for each distinct area - this way I have very flexible but re-usable code. I would, if needed, outsouce a single Class to someone (I would define the input and output condition). Create something like that...

Then like others said, trust your gut.

If you are looking for developers please feel free to PM me and we can talk...

Originally posted by Veign
My recommendation is to outsouce parts of the project / code to different parties.

Basically break the idea up into distinct areas that separately are difficult to determine the final outcome. So no one developer has full access to the entire source code of the idea..

The way I develop is very OOP with Classes / Modules for each distinct area - this way I have very flexible but re-usable code. I would, if needed, outsouce a single Class to someone (I would define the input and output condition). Create something like that...

This is really a good one. Thank you Veign :)

We provide services such as those you are seeking

My suggestion would be for you to look for a solution in your country as the company or persons involved will be bound by its laws and will be easier to deal with should something happen.

I can't speak for other countries, but if you are in the US:

If you use a individual, this should be setup as a work for hire. As such any work performed on the product reverts to you since they are working directly for you.

If you're using a company make sure the agreement includes a waiver of all rights to you for any and all services performed on said project.

NOTE: If you have a account past due (Money Owed) in either scenerio, the rights revert to the persons or company performing the work. [ Basicly, if you don't pay for it, you won't own it ]

Veign, did have a interesting concept which would work however, it also has it's share of potential problems. For example, instead of you dealing with 1 developer you're dealing with many at the same time. Developers will need to be in almost continous communication in some instances especially in tracking down and patching bugs.

I'm not saying these "will" be a problem, just that there is a potential for the problems

I agree. Thats why the definition of the input and output parameters is so important. When you learn how to do it and find a good developer that understands it, its really a seemless and secure way of protecting ideas while still getting the code outsourced...

Thank you very much guys. I'll try to divide the project to smaller tasks and assign each task to different developer.

Originally posted by Veign
My recommendation is to outsouce parts of the project / code to different parties.

Basically break the idea up into distinct areas that separately are difficult to determine the final outcome. So no one developer has full access to the entire source code of the idea..

The way I develop is very OOP with Classes / Modules for each distinct area - this way I have very flexible but re-usable code. I would, if needed, outsouce a single Class to someone (I would define the input and output condition). Create something like that...

Then like others said, trust your gut.

If you are looking for developers please feel free to PM me and we can talk...

I had a friend do that a while back. About a year ago, he had this "super secret" project and he was really paranoid about it. So he broke it up into components and hired four different companies in India to implement it. It turns out that three of them were the same company :P

Originally posted by pergesu
I had a friend do that a while back. About a year ago, he had this "super secret" project and he was really paranoid about it. So he broke it up into components and hired four different companies in India to implement it. It turns out that three of them were the same company :P

Ouch! :emlaugh: I think giving parts of the project to different developers in different countries is safer :stickout:

I have outsourced many new ideas overseas and to contractors in the USA. Generally, you want to have an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement/Confidentiality Agreement) signed by all individuals who you will be communicating with and anyone who your contractors will be communicating with. It is also very important to stress to whomever you are speaking with that the information is confidential. I usually start out my meetings by saying "Just wanted to remind you that this project is confidential".

I have never had a problem in the past.

Just my 2 cents...NDAs are designed to cover information that you're supplying to a potential outsourcing firm so that they can provide a bid. If you decide to go with a specific outsourcing firm then you want a contract that specifies (1) that you own all the intelliectual property that is part of the agreement, (2) Specify penalties for disclosure of confidential information, (3) gives you the right to audit that the information is kept in a confidential manner, and (4) gives you the right to perform unannounced inspections.

Lastly, people forget that contracts are only enforceable if you're willing to hire a lawyer to enforce it. If you're contracting in India, be realistic that managing a lawsuit in India is unlikely and your ability to enforce the contract is small.

Mitch