Flexible collaboration models

To outsource successfully it is essential to understand and define what is going to be outsourced. It sounds simple, but it means thorough pre-outsourcing estimation and evaluation. Afortio always help clients with clarifying existing situation and identifying how it would be changed in outsourced environment.

We can handle internally or delegate to a partner or a customer the following roles:

• Definition of customer's needs
• Strategic project coordination
• Acceptance of the project deliverables
• Participation in system deployment and customer's stuff training

Following outsourcing schemes of work may be used during our collaboration.

Outsourcing scenarios

Whole project outsourcing

Working in close collaboration with client, Afortio specialists identify opportunities, discuss with client all requirements and expectations for the project, and in agreed term deliver ready solution, fulfilling all processes within Afortio.

Team sharing

Often our clients need powerful and experienced team for some period of time to be able to solve specific task in timely manner. Afortio is ready to organize the team with necessary requirements within Afortio in agreed terms and let customer load it with specific tasks. Depending on client preferences Afortio may assign managers to the team or handover all management efforts to client's managers.

Workflow sharing

Typically, IT projects include various workflows, like Business Analysis, Visual Design, System Analysis, Programming, QA, User documentation creation and training, Product/system deployment, Support, Localization, etc. Afortio can carry out all of these stages or can be involved in some of them, depending on the project scope and customer's resources.

Billing schemes

Prosperous project means successful performance/price combination, that's why we are very flexible in combining outsourcing schemes with billing schemes:

Fixed Price

Some buyers consider it as the best approach, because they know exactly what the final price will be. With this scheme it is important that buyer and supplier have equal understanding of scope of the project before signing the contract, otherwise changes to the project scope might appear beyond the scope of contract, which leads to extra charges. Also, this approach could be combined with incentive-based (or performance-based) pricing. Here, the buyer provides incentives to encourage the supplier to perform at peak level (or complete a one-time project ahead of time, for example) by offering a bonus reward if the supplier performs well, as well as the supplier pays a penalty in case of non-satisfactory level of service as designated by the agreement.

Unit Pricing

This is a flat rate determined by the supplier for a particular level of service or resource usage, and the client is billed on resource usage basis. Such scheme works well for projects with floating scope, where it is impossible to fix requirements or constant evolving of solution is necessary

Risk/reward sharing

Usually in cases where new business idea is being developed, neither customer nor supplier understand whole project scope and all risks associated with it. In former billing schemes risks for changing project scope are taken only by customer in a form of paid change requests or paid extra resource usage.

Sometimes the business idea may appear attractive for both supplier and customer, and parties may agree on co-investing into the project by sharing and share profits or equities. We in Afortio are always open for such type of collaboration and can consider risk/reward sharing opportunities.

Summarizing, Afortio customers and partners have possibility to choose the collaboration model that best fits their business objectives in each particular aspect.