Outsourcing: Building Trust and Confidence in a Service Provider

Building Trust & Confidence in a Service Provider – How to hand your project to strangers and trust they will build what you need

Event Description

This event emerged in response to the dozens of horror stories we’ve heard from startups and small businesses that have attempted to outsource software/product development and subsequently run into challenges. In some cases, those challenges were fatal for the company. We want to help. Outsourcing is hard. There is no magic checklist that is going to make everything run smoothly but there are folks, like Eric Byron, with vast experience in IT outsourcing who are willing to share their stories and experiences to help you avoid costly mistakes.

Who Should Attend?

If you are just starting the process of looking for an IT Service Provider, have already engaged, or are further along in development, and still don’t feel comfortable or in control of the process and relationship with your vendor, you should attend this workshop.

Agenda

Each of the speakers will take 10 – 15 minutes to share their stories and some of the lessons they have learned with regards to their IT outsourcing experiences, followed by a 20 minute panel discussion. 15 minutes for open Q&A will conclude the session.

Speakers

Eric Byron

Eric Byron is a freelance IT Consultant and Educator who has more than 25 years of experience in IT. He has worked on both sides of the IT outsourcing equation, leveraging development teams in Asia when he worked for EA in the US, and later when he managed one of those vendors for 5 years, handling projects from China for companies all over the world. He has seen the good and the worst of IT outsourcing and will share practical advice on how to avoid costly mistakes. Originally from the US, Eric’s career began in stage management and later IT at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Serena Pau

Serena is a "Generation Now" startup founder. Her first venture is Ozmo (www.ozmo.io), an Internet of Things device that helps people to stay hydrated and motivated, used outsourced hardware and software development teams both China and India. She is also currently Head of Product Management at CLP’s Innovation Hub, a startup within CLP that is currently looking to work closer with early-stage companies on enterprise level products to deliver energy solutions for its clients. Serena earned a degree in German and Marketing from Oxford Brookes University in Oxford, England.

Jens Wernborg

Jens has over 20 years of experience related to sourcing and outsourcing with companies in Hong Kong, China, India and Sweden across a wide range of industries. His current consulting firm has built up specialties in numerous core service areas including digital solutions, market intelligence, change management, business process outsourcing and supply chain management. He is also the Hong Kong Chapter Co-Director for Startup Grind. Jens arrived in Hong Kong during the Dot-Com boom in 1998 helping Swedish internet companies establish themselves in Asia. Originally from Sweden, Jens finished high school in the US and has master’s degrees in business and civil engineering from the Stockholm School of Economics and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, respectively.

Moderator

Michael Kerr

Mike is a Partner at Ameyethon and the Director of Marketing at Gamatech, a Hong Kong-based cybersecurity firm focused on access and identity management. He was formerly the Program Manager for Cohort #1 of the Betatron Startup Accelerator and VP of Business Dvelopment for Cherrypicks. For most of his early career he was a programmer and consultant for two early-stage companies developing financial software in Canada. For too long he worked for variety of banks and other financial institutions. In 2009 he came to Hong Kong where he found sanctuary in the burgeoning startup community, in roles that included CTO and co-founder of a gaming-related startup. Mike holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Guelph and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario.