Offshoring is not as popular as it seems. According to a recent German survey, only 1.5% of all outsourcing activities target offshore locations. This is a remarkably small figure taking into account the widely published purported benefits of offshoring. In this paper we demonstrate that communication problems are at the core of offshoring woes. This does not come as a surprise as they also play a major role in onshore projects. Based on our experience in tackling these challenges with our well established communication-centered agile design and development approach, we present case-study-reinforced advice for successful offshore projects. We show that a common view of the underlying architecture is of paramount importance for these projects.