Outsourcing work to a another country...

I have come into work today only to find out that for the last 3 weeks things have been going on behind the scenes to outsource the conversion of our huge app from VB4/5/6 app to VS 2005.

We have this app, it's absolutely huge, but it was strated in VB4, that didn't have things like withevents. Anyways as time has progressed a few developers are left behind to work on this app in VB6. The rest of us here have moved to .NET and are writting new code for our intranet protal app, which does the same as the VB6 win32 app.

Anyways, we want to rewrite this vb6 app completely in .NET.
It appears that we might be outsourcing this to another country, not in the EU, that said they will chuck 30 developers at it and do the whole lot in a month.
They will be coding line for line, so i am assuming that they would use the .NET converstion tool and then go through fixing the bits that convert properly.

The end result will be an app that is constructed in the same crappy way as it was 9 years ago, but just in .NET instead. The DB will still be pants...by the way, the DB doesn't uyse auto number. We MANUALLY have to create the next ID in sequence!!!

This to me seems like a VERY VERY bad idea. A rewrite, yes!, a conversion...pointless and a waste of time.

Then you also come to the stage where the app may be eventually be completely outsourced. I don't want this. It seems like a VERY bad idea when we have good enough developers to do it here.

My job ain't under threat here in the slightest, I am just cheesed off that A) I've been kept out the loop, and B) It stupid. Why do brown field work when green field is MUCH MUCH better and beneficial.

Any thoughts.

Woka

There really isn't much to say except that the Corporate mind works just like God...in mysterious ways. :D

What is "brown field work" and "green field work"?

Thats a bad decision by your company. Its like you posted, if they are going to convert it to .NET then they should improve the code and not just "line for line". They could use this opportunity to add new features, improve old ones, increaase performance, make it easier to use, and basically give the current users a reason to but the new version and upgrade. Horrible way to go about outsourcing to say the least.

Tell them that if they do this you will bring your Badger to work at let it loose. :D

Hahaha. I have threatened them with a badger b4, they don't take me seriously :(

"Green field" is a term used when starting an app from scratch, ie new app or complete rewrite of another app. "Brown Field" would be converting a VB4 app, line for line, into VS 2005, with a DB that doesn't have identity fields, and then continuing development in VS 2005, but in the same old pants 8 year old style the app was written in.

Woka

Software development can be rapid, error free and cheap - but not all three at the same time.
The company has chosen rapid and cheap - can you see where this will lead?

yup. that's why I vented some steam on here :D

Woka

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Merrion

Software development can be rapid, error free and cheap - but not all three at the same time.

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I really, really, really like this post! In fact, I think I'm going to make a poster out of it and tack it on my wall. :thumb:

In fact, I think I just might add this to the signature line for my in-house email. :D

Quote:

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The end result will be an app that is constructed in the same crappy way as it was 9 years ago, but just in .NET instead. The DB will still be pants...by the way, the DB doesn't uyse auto number. We MANUALLY have to create the next ID in sequence!!!

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hmmmm...

this sounds familiar to a contract thatI took on pesonally without the usual sub -commite voting, then me giving the final word...

I wrote the thing line for line in Pascal, adn worked beautifully, apart from the Id, where they wanted some crappy random number manually generated...

that was 5 years ago.

Now the company has come to me and asked if Ill run it into .NET

so I said why??

they came back with "well we want it to be scaleable to new languages and new technology."

I asked again "WHY"...

"dunno really, thought it would be a good idea" was the real reason I got off the junior developer in the company....

Company directors are like women. Jsut when you think youve got them figured out... They do something either completely stupid, or drive you insane with contradiction...

Kai

This situation reminds me a bit of something that happened at my last job.

They had to get part of a project done quickly, but the 'in-house' consultant who would normally do it was busy, and couldn't guarantee the time before the deadline. So instead, management decided (without consulting him) to hire 10 eastern programmers (same cost as 1 of him) to get up to speed & do the work.

Before these guys even understood the product (after about 3 weeks of calling him for advice), he had found an hour to 'play' with a couple of ideas he'd had on the way into work.. and one of them worked first time - job done.

His 'quick play' in a brief period of downtime (which he could have done earlier if he'd known) would have been much better for all concerned... except of course for the company collecting money for a bunch of techies to do essentially nothing!

Heheh... brown field. :rofl:

its like puttin a bum in a pimp suit!.. but still a bum.