Saturday, January 20, 2007
The world is flat : experimenting with oDesk
Hiring one full-time is completely out of the question. I’d like to start small. The ideal would be to contract a programmer to design my killer site. :-)
That’s when I remembered a thing I read in Thomas Friedman’s excellent “The World Is Flat”. I recalled Tom had illustrated the flattening power of technology with the example of outsourcing. Accountants and IT managers in the US and elsewhere have successfully outsourced some work to India ... why not give it a try ? While looking for such a service, I came across an incredible number of websites that offered just that.
Rentacoder seems to be a good one.
The service relies on a reverse-auction system. The buyer posts a detailed job description, complete with the technical requirements of the project and additional skills. Once the job is posted, programmers apply and try to outbid each other by lowering their rates. The lower the better. However, the lowest bidder does not automatically win the job. The buyer remains free to choose whoever he wants. Once the project is completed, the buyer gives a rating to the programmer. Ultimately, higher rated programmers will be able to sell themselves at a better price.
Another such platform I found was oDesk.
On top of what Rentacoder offers, oDesk enables buyers to closely monitor programmers’ activity. A tracking software installed on programmers’ computers monitors their activity: keyboard activity and time spent on project among others. Buyers are even able to see their programmer(s) via a webcam.
While this can sound like Big Brother, I find it to be no different to being overlooked by your boss from the next room. oDesk also uses Yahoo! Messenger and Skype to chat in real-time with your team of programmers like they were in the the same office. This has been possible for some time now for companies, but services like oDesk and Rentacoder are a breakthrough as they now empower mere individuals to benefit from outsourcing.
