My boss sent me an article recently. It says that Donald Trump is cracking down on H-1B visas, meaning it will get even more difficult to hire non-citizen/non Green card holders.

I constantly strive to better understand the motivations and dynamics between you (buyer) and I (vendor) and how to improve the process.

In fact, I would write an article “How to save time and money with outsourcing,” but am not really knowledgeable enough yet. Anyway, there are already many articles, like this one, if you google it.

The world moves fast, IT moves even faster and software iteration/development is approaching the speed of light.

Talent, especially those with specific critical skills, such as AI, x, x, and x are in the shortest supply, difficult to source and very expensive to hire.

We move very fast in IT era and now, in 2017, hired labor is gradually disappearing into the past – it is much more profitable for companies to work with outsourcing teams than hiring employees in staff. Organizations that adhere to classical HR policies, and who close all positions exclusively in-house, are doomed to stagnation

It’s even difficult for companies with vast resources and tremendous cachet, such as Google, Facebook, and Apple, to fill their openings locally, which is why they have opened development facilities around the world.

Multiple development facilities are a luxury few startups and fast-growth companies can afford — or can they?

Outsourced, distributed teams from the right vendor can provide the same time and cost-effective talent solutions the big guys enjoy.

Last year we ran a series of posts about outsourcing — Clear expectations and communication, Reasons for outsourcing, and How to find the right vendor .

I think it’s time to revisit the subject starting with a look at some of the best tools for managing distributed development teams.

Slack connects all members of a project in one channel to facilitate discussion and collaboration.

Trello uses a Kanban board to view project status and manage tasks visually.

Gitlo = GitHub + Trello – Syncing tasks on Trello makes working on GitHub simpler.

Solo is a freelancer’s best friend for managing project details.

This is the first post from a new series on distributed, AKA, remote, team usage.

I’m planning on keeping it interesting for you; behind-the-scenes stories, sharing useful tools and learning in depth why, when and how to add a distributed team to your in-house resources.
Join me next Thursday for a close-up look at the process my company uses, whether as a comparison tool or to give you a look at what it’s like to work with NTR.