In July 2020, an international flight from a non-domestic airline, with a recently upgraded IT system, took off from a U.S. airport. But there was a problem. The flight crew received the incorrect “take off weight” (TOW) before departure. This directly resulted in thrust that was lower than required for the actual TOW, which risked compromising safe aircraft operations. Thankfully for all involved, the weather was calm that day, and the weight differential was not significant enough to endanger passengers and crew. The problem was rectified quickly, and the flight continued and arrived without incident.
But what happened?
It’s All In the Name
A programming bug was to blame because of the term “MISS.”
Weight assumptions that affect flight decisions are made based upon standard weights applied to adults versus children. When confirming passengers, the airline’s IT system erroneously classified passengers with a title of “MISS” as children and continued to assign the standard weight for children. But not all of the passengers with titles of “MISS” were children; they were, in fact, adult females, with standard weight inputs much higher than children.
Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to
How could such a mistake happen? Programming for the responsible IT system was outsourced to a country where the title of “MISS” is used for female children and “MS” for female adults. The resulting software was, therefore, designed to allocate standard children weights to all passengers labeled as “MISS.”
Until the software was updated to fix this error, a team identified upcoming flights and corrected all bookings for adult females from “MISS” to ”MS” while the airport’s ground control worked with the airline to ensure the data in the system matched the actual information of all passengers during the check-in process. Throughout the weekend, until the automated system correction was implemented on that Monday, all female passengers were manually entered into the system as “MS” if they were in reality adults.
Not Just About Safety
Of course, not all software is as consequential as determining correct load weights to comply with safety protocols. But software must work in the context that it is meant to function. So, when relying on outsourcing partners, it is important to partner with companies that are closely aligned with U.S. business and cultural norms.
Business and Cultural Norm Criteria
There are three norms that stand out when choosing an outsourcing partner:
- Time Zones: Better communication means better code and better product outcomes. And communication is far better when it is synchronous due to nearshore-aligned time zones versus asynchronous with offshore teams multiple time zones away. Consider time zones when selecting outsourcing partners.
- Maturity: Resources in areas with established IT services and a sizable software industry provide a foundation for more experienced and consequently successful outsourcing services. Companies benefit from the collective wisdom of these outsourcing hubs. Pick an outsourcing partner in one of these tech areas.
- Cultural Alignment: Many development leaders have war stories on unsuccessful attempts to offshore development. All too often those engagements fail because neither side successfully navigated the cultural differences. Communication suffered while outcomes fell short of expectations. Neither culture is to blame, as it is basically an unfortunate consequence of square peg meeting round hole. The solution, however, remains simple. Make life easier and find an outsourcing partner where that cultural gap stays small.
A Bridge Across the Gulf Divide
The broader Latin American market fits these important norms easily. Depending on daylight savings within the United States, most countries’ working hours are American working hours.
Many Latin American countries including Colombia, Bolivia, and Brazil have provided technology services not just for a few years but for decades. In particular, Barranquilla—the 4th largest city in Colombia and where Velozient has one of its development centers—IT services comprise 58% of the city’s exports.
Latin American countries’ strong cultural and business alignment with the United States is continually confirmed by the international business community with repeated increases in regional investments. During the first quarter of 2021, for example, Colombia received nearly $1.6 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) from countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the United States. That is an increase of 66% from the same period in 2020. Latin America not only continues to remain a reliable place to do business, but it shows continued growth as a strategic marketplace for technology.
