Product Engineering Outsourcing has come a long way and has evolved over the years. The process or phases from initiation to the closing phase vary, depending on the product and on the provider. Product engineering outsourcing includes not just the mechanical, but also the electronic engineering field. Just like any other outsourcing industry, product engineering involves different phases. However, practically every phase in product engineering is outsourcable - from formulation of idea, to design and analysis, to simulation, conversion and documentation, to creating of prototype, to quality assurance testing, to production, and to knowledge based engineering.

1. Phases of PEO:
What is outsourcable
and what is not
Author: Girish Gaitonde, CEO, Xoriant Corporation
Contact: girish.gaitonde@xoriant.com
© 2007 Xoriant Corporation info@xoriant.com 408.743.4400

2. Phases of PEO: What is outsourcable and what is not
Product Engineering Outsourcing has come a long way and has evolved over the years. The process or
phases from initiation to the closing phase vary, depending on the product and on the provider.
Product engineering outsourcing includes not just the mechanical, but also the electronic engineering
field. Just like any other outsourcing industry, product engineering involves different phases. However,
practically every phase in product engineering is outsourcable - from formulation of idea, to design and
analysis, to simulation, conversion and documentation, to creating of prototype, to quality assurance
testing, to production, and to knowledge based engineering.
Most companies have different phases, wherein one or two jobs are integrated into a single phase.
While these phases vary in name depending on the company’s preference, all key phases are included.
These key phases include design, development, production, documentation and quality assurance.
Generally, companies have phases focused on efficiency, cost effectiveness and quality. These phases
are standard found in the outsourcing market.
Phases ensuring quality and efficiency
The Project Management Institute formulated global standards that are vital to project management.
These standards, which are used globally, are built on a framework that ensures quality output in
outsourcing projects. In the United States, National Standards Institute recognized PMI as the
“Standards Development Organization” because of its impressive standards.
Taking several applicable processes from the PMI-recommended standards and integrating it with your
product engineering projects would really make a difference. Prithvi Information Solutions, one of the
leading product engineering outsourcing firms in the world, has come up with its renowned phases of
PEO developed for quality and efficiency. These four phases -define, design, develop and deploy -
incorporate skills in business strategy to PEO.
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3. Phases of PEO: What is outsourcable and what is not
The first phase, define includes gathering and collating all project requirements, from which estimation
and activity planning are formulated. Then the team shall design creative interface templates and
finalize the project through functionality or specification of function.
Second phase is design. During this stage, the modules, architecture and dependencies of proposed
project are designed. Also created for subsequent use in the next phase is the coding and creation of
GUI Standards. Moreover, prototypes are prepared, in case they are needed as a component of
the product.
The third phase, development of the product includes the execution of software design, writing and
revising of specifications of the program and codes and finally, testing of the unit. To complete the
System Integration, user interface templates are developed and system testing is done. The user
manual is also created, reviewed and revised during this entire phase.
After the development of the product, comes deployment. This is the last phase wherein the product
is delivered to the client. Here, proper deployment procedure is followed to ensure that the client
receives the product as it was specified. Prithvi, after considering the major obstacles faced exclusively
by clients engaged in product development, has organized an intense tactic for collaborating with
them. Prithvi has created teams with outstanding expertise in creating design, planning for
development, for project management, testing and evaluating of requirements for each of its clients.
Phases ensuring Cost effectiveness
When it comes to ensuring cost effectiveness and providing value-added solutions, the phases
formulate by Nous Infosystems takes the cake. The first phase is product design and development.
During this stage, the company ensures a clear and definitive understanding of the product through
extensive research to identify the suitable technology to be used for the product. Another part of this
stage involves the identification of component library, wherein the company could use later on. The
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4. Phases of PEO: What is outsourcable and what is not
product testing comes next, where as its name suggest, the product is tested for lifecycle. During
testing, the product is developed under the environment specified by the client. This ensures reliability
and trust (of the client) in the software used in the product.
The next phase is the product customization. The product is customized based on client specification
to fulfill all the customer’s requirements. The best solution is offered for native formats needed for
customization for other end users. This is followed by integration and component design phase, where
interfaces are developed and the documentation phase where all pertinent data and information are
collated and then formed into useable documentation. Included are the lifecycle, specification, cases,
manuals and guidelines.
The next phase is product support. This is included as one of the phases to ensure clients’ satisfaction.
At Nous, a 24/7 support department and remote support divisions are available for its clients. Their
support team handles all the complaints, inquiries and problems of the client. This phase builds a
continuous good partnership between the client and the vendor.
Phases Ensuring Quality
Headstrong, founded by James Martin, considered as fourth in ranking among the 25 people who have
most influenced the world of computer science, formulated phases in ensuring quality PEO products.
Their Headstrong Product Engineering Services uses HeadAid or Headstrong Adaptive and Iterative
Development method for software development that enables the refinement of the product as it
evolves. This ensures all products are able to adapt to the growing demand of the market. To be able
to facilitate for such evolving and quality products, Headstrong Product Engineering Services followed
four phases for their product engineering outsourcing. Since the company has prided itself of providing
quality products over the years, all four phases are more focused on quality.
The first phase is product requirement engineering. Here a group of specialists specifies the business
requirement (MRS, BRS, PRD) specifications, system and functional specifications, modeling, rapid
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5. Phases of PEO: What is outsourcable and what is not
prototyping and proof of concept. Second phase is product architecture, where consulting is
conducted on constructing the technology needed by the product. Areas included are enterprise
application integration, transaction management, distributed computing and architectural styles and
patterns. Third phase is design and development. To reduce cost, risk and to produce ahead of
deadline, proven designs, models and guidelines are used.
Last phase is the quality assurance phase. To guarantee quality product, a team of experts, analysts and
specialists tests the product under the environments required by the client. Quality assurance includes
Advisory and Management, Security Testing, Test Base Maintenance, Blackbox Testing, White Box
Testing, Performance Testing, Test Automation and Usability Testing. In Headstrong Engineering
Service, this phase is more detailed and rigorous, compared to other companies.
It All Boils Down to One
Different companies have come up with different phases to match their expertise or the edge they want
to give to their clients. However, most of the phases are quite the same. Of course, some companies
cater to specific clients and thus develop phases that are more specific. For instance, for those in the
automotive industry, their focus is on innovation and design. With the increasing growth of aerospace
engineering outsourcing, several companies have created domain knowledge phase or end-to-end
solutions to global aerospace engineering.
Nevertheless, outsourcing companies should make sure that all the phases included within their plan
ensure the quality and efficiency of the product. With hundreds of available vendors, companies can
choose and employ firms that are most suitable to their products. By evaluating the different stages of
product engineering offered by the firm, companies now have more options as to what aspect they
would want to focus on. For companies with specific problems that needed to be addressed, such as
cost cutting, by scrutinizing different phases offered by potential vendor, they can find the best
candidate that will definitely solve their problem or need.
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