Follow-the-sun

What Is Follow-the-sun?

Follow-the-sun, as the name hints at, exploits time zone differences to speed up project work. It is much like a factory running three shifts, 24 hours per day, producing three times the volume.

For example, if a company has service desks in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, when Australia completes its business day, support transfers to the service desk in the United Kingdom.

When its business day is completed, the United Kingdom service desk transfers support to the service desk in the United States, which transfers support back to Australia when its day is done. These service desks use common tools and common processes and are able to share common data and information sources as knowledge and configuration management systems.

Using follow-the-sun development, a company may be able to save months from the development cycle and release a product earlier, thus giving it a competitive advantage.

The advantage of follow-the-sun approach is that the company is able to leverage technology and maximize its return on investment, while analysts within each service desk are able to deliver personalized service to their customers—that is, service that addresses issues such as language and culture. This approach also eliminates the costs associated with shift work, as each service desk works only a single shift. Large, multinational companies often take a follow-the-sun approach.