Got a new problem. Have an international client. What are the dangers ?

[OddDog]

Hi all, anyone with this experience care to hi-light any danger zones on this one.

This is a first time for me. We are based in Spain, the client is based in Casablanca (have already heard loads of play it again jokes form my friends). Ok got the contract translated into English, with Spannish law as binding for both parties.

Anybody have experience on this type of thing. Any guidance greatly appreciated.

[nocrapchurch]

I've done work for and with people in other countries and I've had people in other countries do work for me.

The biggest problem I had was communicating. Phone calls are not the cheapest and usually timezones are out of wack. So as I send an email to someone in Germany, I will get a reply the next day.

There's also the issue of not being able to walk over to the person's place of business and sit on their desk.

I think as long as you either know the person well or have done a background check on them, you should be fine.

Scott

[nocrapchurch]

Oh, and have a contract! But you already got that covered.

[juxtaman]

Comment on that contract thing, some contracts that are tight on your contry mean nothing in theirs. I found the best way was stage payments, if you can negotiate atleast 3 stage payement phases and you get the first one your good to go.

I have found that all clients will follow thourgh on their initial investment providing you complete your end.

[mediapup]

Greetings to OddDog,

We've done quite a bit of work with foreign entities in the IT arena over the years. Crucial to our success when dealing with language and cultural barriers is to have a rock solid SOW in English that all parties sign before beginning any work of any kind.

All work to be performed is covered contractually, including SLAs.

Everything is punted over to OGC for attorney review first. Nothing is ever signed that isn't covered, even down to Acts of God. That has worked for us.

Good luck!

Ms. M.

[OddDog]

thanks all for the input

[aeroflash]

I personally can attest to the time-zone problem, as we have an office in brazil (+3 hrs) and France (+6hrs). It's hard to put out fires cross the ocean when the people you need to help are in bed fast asleep.