As soon as I saw the recent post about Trust and then the comment that was made that a customer didn't trust Indians should not have been posted I knew it was going to cause a bit of a furor.
And it certainly has! Outsourcing has become a very hot topic in the past several years as Americans have lost jobs to other countries and I'm sure that countries who are sourcing those jobs to the U.S. feel like they're getting the raw end of the deal at times as well.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that there are certain pitfalls that anyone looking to engage in outsource needs to look out for.
I'm not sure that there is a solution to all of those pitfalls that are listed other than to take it a bit slower and analyze things a bit more before jumping on the outsourcing bandwagon.
As far as that comment that was made, I don't think 2K meant any harm by it. I've often heard statements like that - from customers I've dealt with as well as companies I've been an employee of.
G-Man
Outsourcing is a natural occurrance of business practises around the world. People will always be looking for the better deal, but identifying that better deal is not always as easy. I've outsourced quite a few projects and find that the language barrier sometimes causes problems. Being South African though and in the 'middle income group' of the world we can still provide good deals and have no language barriers at all. Time differences are also sometimes a factor, but a well established design/development studio will have learned how to work around these issues. Developing long term relationships with outsourcing suppliers can be of major benefit when you're in a squeeze...
I'm not Anti Indian - my Mum was born there, have many friends and live on the food etc.....
I'm a Brit living in the US and outsource myself to the UK where I have a registered business so YEAH I outsource myself. More money comes from there than here???!!!
David
As a developer, I used to fear outsourcing, as I saw it as a threat to local job security.
These days I think it is great, but the trick is you need to Cosource. You need to have a team locally based who have the same skills as your outsourced provider, generally I aim for a 1:4 ratio. A good example is a web application. Most developers are not designers, so why not outsource the design element, and keep the programming aspect in house.
Outsourcing is gaining momentum, so instead of fighting it learn to use it to your advantage.
Richard
Nice topic. I'm just sad that obviously-semantic "anti-Indian" debate is over. Praveen, your comments are offensively hypersensitive. As an Indian myself, I politely request you pipe down before you embarrass us any further. ;)
That said, I outsource so damn much it's ridiculous. I've got teams of people in phoenix, new york, boston, here in LA and elsewhere throughout the US.
Outsourcing is just so tough because training is involved inevitably. I feel like it's a necessary evil to be employed for as short a time as possible.
But there's a point of critical mass, which if not yet reached makes outsourcing necessary. The toughest part is knowing exactly when you've reached the critical mass to bring these items in house.
abhilash, I agree with Praveen is saying and don't find the comments hypersensitive. You are not speaking for 'us' when you ask her to not so politiely pipe down.
Sorry if this looks like a personal attack, but it is not and i have no intention to do so as well.
i had to visit your about me section in abhilash.us before replying here.
For someone living in Santa Monica and born in Chicago, it is interesing you call yourself an Indian. maybe American Indian is more suited.
the point is, you are not in India to know the details first hand and understand things from a Proper Indian's perspective.
so, i am not going to waste my time in answering your polite request.
maybe you find it offensively hypersensitive because of where you are.
Personally I have nothing against outsourcing. It can provide real value in some cases, and IMO it's a win-win for all parties if goes well.
If I could change one thing about outsourcing, it would be the agressive way companies try to push their outsourcing services. It's bloody annoying and most business people I know think the same. Instead of waking up the interest, it is working as the exact opposite.
Most of my work is done by employees, but I sometimes post a job at scriptlance or elance. So far all projects that I have posted there have been done well and very quickly. I almost never take the lowest bidder and very often select the bidder who has posted a small portion of my job as a sample of how the work will be completed. I've gotten jobs done there by people in Poland, Russia, Pakistan, India and New Jersey. How's that for a mix?
In my mind, outsourcing isn't extremely different from hiring someone locally, you have people who do good work and others who do sub-par work. That being said, I do outsource some work, but that's usually because I run across an attractive offer and the company or individual has a reputation for acceptable work. If it's something sensitive, I might be more apt to hire someone locally because I really need to make sure it's done correctly. Now I have found some quality and imaginative packages available abroad that I don't necessarily see locally. That being said, I recently discovered and am using a service from someone locally (locally being US) that I am satisfied with at a decent price. Also, there are some things I outsource that I probably wouldn't hire anyone to do locally or do myself because of time and the price of getting it done locally wouldn't justify the task I am hiring them for. I'm using outsourcing, in some cases, as lagniappe or in addition to everything else i've got going on.
So, I suppose what i'm getting at is that the value I receive from outsourcing isn't always supplanting or taking a job away from someone but is giving me some avenues to pursue that I might not have considered beforehand.
Geoffrey,
since this is to an extent let me comment here as well.
2K's intention was just to point what his clients have said which is fine. But when you specifically mention one country, it looks like he is targeting them only.
If you delve into the economics of outsourcing, its not that all Indian companies or for that matter the Indian Govt demand US/UK/or any other country to outsource it to them.
Its each business owner's decision to do so - where he wants to and in what manner he wants. If someone burnt their fingers, then its their fault at not doing enough research first hand before giving the task to x company in India.
Obviously there are good companies and bad companies, the decision to choose one is yours(the company). If you make a bad choice then you are going to feel the brunt. dont forget the currency exchange rates, One USD is close to 50 Indian rupees. so when someone gives a quote it will obviously be far far lesser than what an American firm's quote will be. Simply because the conversion rate brings them on par with the actual cost of doing the work. Hence it looks like cheap labor when in reality if you remove the exchange rate stuff, its one and the same.
Maybe in 20 years time, the scenario will be the opposite of what it is now. maybe Companies from India will outsource to US/UK and say the same thing as what has been pointed out.
I'm sure they will complain in the same fashion. I am pretty certain that outsourcing to India will not be so hot in the next 5 or 10 years. It'll be Vietnam, China or some other country. It's basically businesses bottom feeding as much as they can :)
I understand what you're saying when you say that if you only mention one country you are targeting that country. However, in 2K's case, it might be that was the only company mentioned by his customer(s) since India does happen to be the hot spot for outsourcing at the moment.
G-Man
That could be true but all the people will not know about it as well.
Like Gomer2 pointed out, if he had used a generic term then it would have been fine.
i badly want to give an example, then it becomes too political which is something i want to avoid.