While outsourcing, several key factors must be considered and one should not jump into the vendor selection process without taking the necessary steps to arm them with a clear definition of the desired relationship.

A decision solely based on cost cut out may result in the waste of the energy, and probably a reason to regret later.

The following strong footholds of Strategic Alliance shall definitely help you in evaluating Strategic Alliance as one of the strong contenders for the place on your preferred vendor list.

1. A Very Strong and Project Centric Approach: As far as the Project is considered Strategic Alliance knows what the exact requirements are. It is usual practice to document the requirements and make sure that the offshore firm completely understands it. This then acts as the guideline for the project.

2. Continuous and Focused Communication:It is a very healthy practice to be in constant touch with the offshore firm. Reporting is continually done to inform and to know what the progress of the project actually is. This helps us not only keep track of the project but also avoids unnecessary hassles later on. There can be circumstances when the project goes haywire if one does not properly track it, and hence the same is avoided.

3. Risk Management: The software projects are always somewhat risky. The risks can be related to the schedule, the pricing or the deliverables, etc. We adopt a practice to make all these assessments before hand. It is always assured that the project is delivered in a phased manner. Complete Testing is carried out separately for each delivery.

4. Experience: While handling the software projects it is always an advantage that there is some experience in handling such projects before. This helps one in knowing that whether the project is on the right track or not.

5. Testing: This is one of the most important issues as the projects need to be properly tested before implementation. There are various phases of testing such as Alpha Testing and Beta Testing wherein the stability of the project is judged.

6.Documentation: Documentation is the most important thing in offshore project development. You will need all the documentation of the offshore project you have got developed. This documentation may contain the following:

• Requirement Analysis.
• System Design.
• AS-IS Systems Documentation.
• TO-BE Systems Documentation.
• Software Testing Report.
• Implementation Documentation of the System.
• User Guides in PDF format.

8. Maintenance: Maintenance of the software plays the most important part in offshore software development. Once the software is developed, it needs maintenance till the people who are using it are well experienced. This is generally gained by providing the client a maintenance support for a agreed upon period that will be called "Warranty Period". During this time the technical support shall be provided.