First, (Outsourcing) *NE (Off shoring).
I'm sure there are (domestic) midrange service providers who might like
to see their names mentioned. At least one of the larger providers had
staff who used to participate in this list and who presented at COMMON.
Those on this list who discourage outsourcing should keep an open mind
and realize that the service providers may also have skilled staff who
contribute to & support the midrange community.
Besides, there are a lot of outsourcers on this list. Any of you who
handle the entire development or sysadmin effort for your clients are
outsource service providers. According to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsource: "Outsourcing is subcontracting a
process, such as product design or manufacturing, to a third-party
company." and "Outsourcing involves the transfer of the management
and/or day-to-day execution of an entire business function to an
external service provider."
Soliciting for an outsourcing provider is not significantly different
than soliciting for a long-term contract programmer/analyst.
Still, as this is not a technical issue, midrange non-tech or possibly
the Jobs list would probably be more appropriate for this discussion.
And as Joe mentioned, more details as to what is being considered for
outsourcing - operations, sysadmin, development, etc. - are needed.
As for outsourcing in general, at my employer we generally keep
strategic IT in-house and outsource operational functionality. As a
global company, 'off shoring' is a foreign concept. :)
midrange.com
