Ok - let’s talk about Effective External Development.

This is such a big and nuanced topic that I actually had quite a hard time figuring out where to start.  I finally settled on THE BIG PICTURE - the industry at a macro level - with much more to follow.  And with that said, off we go!

We’re living in an incredible era where the video game service industry has matured to the point that game companies no longer question the necessity or benefits of external development. Instead, they are shifting their focus towards optimizing operations.

This shift has led to the emergence of job titles like 'Global Services Manager,' 'Outsourcing Manager,' 'External Development Manager,' and, at larger publishers, the formation of entire departments dedicated to providing vendor services to their portfolio studios.

And these roles are not only growing in number, but their scope of responsibilities is also expanding.

So, why has there been a massive explosion in investment in vendor operations on the buyer side?  And what do these professionals do?

The second answer is: a LOT.  We’ll get to that in detail later.  But first, to address the initial question:

Setting your company up for success in external development requires ongoing investment. At the most generalized level, this investment can be crudely bucketed into three main areas:
1) Stay ahead of your needs by maintaining a fresh vendor network
2) Invest in the appropriate tools and processes to gain operational efficiencies
3) Proactively maintain good relationships with your active providers

Regrettably many studios, especially those lacking dedicated outward-facing personnel, invest unevenly in external collaboration.  And it leads to problems.  Consider this scenario:

1) A lack of network leads to a reluctance to acquire new providers, because of the high costs involved.  Studios tolerate less-than-ideal vendor fits.

2) This is compounded by inefficient operations, which drain time and budget on unnecessary overhead and misalignment.  Frustrating and demoralizing.

3) Which, in turn, leads to stress: the client is overwhelmed and unhappy.  Vendors refrain from proactively raising issues to their busy, unhappy clients.  Issues go unaddressed, problems pile.

Spiral.

Ultimately, the essence of Effective External Development lies in operational efficiency and strong vendor relationships.  And the more your company embraces these elements, the more you’ll be able to leverage the incredible service talent available in games today to improve the competitiveness of your own organization.