Every company interested in leveraging the upsides of BOT offshoring models wants to have this sailing smoother. This article will provide companies with the fundamental information on how to approach a BOT outsourcing model by taking a professional service provider on their side through step-by-step prerequisite activities and tentative time frame to build BOT model successfully.
What Are the Main Approaches to Implementing a BOT Model in IT?
Different approaches to implement BOT models have emerged in the field of IT, especially in software development. The most commonly used approaches are mentioned below.
Approach #1
In this approach, the local service provider in any remote country is used for establishing a build, operate and transfer (BOT) subsidiary first, and then the provider operates for a certain period. After a certain operating period, the subsidiary is sold to the parent organization. This approach of implementing the project build operate transfer scheme is characterized by the following things:
- Parent organization decides the right time to take over already built subsidiary
- Suitable for all stakeholders like the client, provider, teams, and contractors
- The transfer process is quick and in a single go
- Increased organizational and documentation work
Approach #2
In this approach, the human resources and infrastructure are arranged on the provider’s payroll and responsibility respectively. The establishment of an independent subsidiary for the parent organization is done when it wishes to take over, otherwise, the teams work as an IT staff augmentation model. The main characteristics of this approach include:
- Reduced risks for parent organization initially
- Sufficient time to work in remote offshoring environment
- Reduced organizational and documentation work required
- Increased documentation, organizational, and technical work at the time of transfer
- Transfer process at later stages is a bit complex and cumbersome
As we know, the environments, nature of the business, and workflows vary from business to business. In such circumstances, business partners – parent entities and service providers –, can also agree on a hybrid or customized approach to carry out the build operate transfer for international businesses if required.
What Should Companies Do with Good BOT Model Software Service Providers?
Finding and taking a professional-level service provider for BOT model implementation by any company on its side is a thoughtful job that requires professional acumen and understanding of the outsourcing industry. A company should be pre-equipped with the prerequisites for making effective decisions at the right time. A few major step-by-step processes that a company should accomplish for implementing the BOT schemes are mentioned below:
- Aligning objectives and scope – Defining the objectives of the project and scope of the work is the first and major step for kickstarting the BOT scheme through any professional BOT service provider company. The setting up of short-term and long-term goals are also defined in this step.
- Organizational structure and governance – In this step, the size, type, roles of a remote team are defined. This step is very crucial in managing and operating the team remotely. The organizational hierarchy commonly known as organogram is also defined in this step so that the governance of the team is managed properly. The definition of project milestones along with reasonable timeframes is also defined in this step.
- Choosing the right approach to building a subsidiary – In this step, the client has to finalize the way to approach the development of a subsidiary. The company can choose any one of the approaches defined in the above section in this article.
- Setting up an office – Setting up an office is important physical work to be done on the ground of an offshore country. This can be done either by hiring a legal advisor, real-estate agent, and local support staff or directly choosing the BOT scheme service provider that will carry out all processes required for establishing an office.
- Team building – Team building is a very important factor in implementing a BOT scheme. It is highly recommended to choose the local BOT partner for helping the client in hiring and onboarding the entire technical as well as support staff team on the ground. Building a team through a DIY project will be very costly and time-taking; thus, you need to establish a partnership with the local BOT service provider.
- Reporting and update – Once the team starts working in the offshore office space, the reports and updates about the team’s work become very critical for the parent organization to know. In this step, a proper mechanism of reporting and updating the performance, activities, and changes in the processes should be in place.
- Transfer planning and execution – This is the last step in the BOT scheme implementation. In this step, the entire process for the transfer of the facility is conducted. This may include, preparation of documents, transfer procedure, operational orientation, technical training, commercial billing, project closure activities, and much. A smooth and seamless operation of the team should be handed over to the parent organization.
Typical Timeframe of Implementing BOT Model
The BOT model is implemented in three major phases, which are listed below:
- Building phase
- Operating phase
- Transferring phase
There are many small activities and processes in each phase of the BOT model. So, each phase should be defined with a tentative time frame. The typical time frames assigned by the BOT model service providers for different activities are defined in the following table.
| BOT Model Phases | Major Activities | Timeframe |
| Build | Establishment of the local entity | 1 month |
| Signing initial employees | 1 month | |
| Opening of office with initial employees | 1 month | |
| Operate | Onboarding additional employees for a complete team | 6 – 9 months |
| Transfer | Local entity and team transfer | 4 – 6 months |
| BOT Scheme Complete | Handing-over and taking-over of local entity completion | 13 – 18 months |