RE: Outsourcing "trend"

Exactly right!

You're now up to >= $.04...

I'm about to start leadership of an outsourced project with a well-respected
Indian firm; we'll have 20 coders and 10 managers/supervisors working on
making changes to my transportation/logistics system.  The Indian firm is
making a fixed-price bid and guaranteeing a delivery date of the changes;
this is a smart political move for the IT management of the U.S.-based
division of an extremely well-disciplined worldwide company headquartered in
the U.K.

The Indians I've worked with so far have been very competent.  The
overwhelming issue will be the specifications; I predict >> rework not
because of "them or us" but because of "them AND us".

Regards,
Reeve Fritchman
Ayers Rock Software LLC
4915 S. West Shore Boulevard
Tampa, Florida 33611-3329
(813) 831-8574 (voice)
(813) 832-6391 (fax)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: midrange-nontech-bounces+news=ltl400.com@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:midrange-nontech-bounces+news=ltl400.com@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
> Of John Myers - MM
> Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2004 10:42 AM
> To: Non-Technical Discussion about the AS400 / iSeries
> Subject: Re: Outsourcing "trend"
> 
> I think that outsourcing to India will prove to be a "fad" ... something
> that is fashionable for a short time, but whose popularity
> evaporates.  This was a predictable follow-up to the advent of the
Internet
> and the glut in telecommunications capacity world-wide.  Today, in my
> opinion, the pendulum has reached it's extreme and is starting to return
to
> the middle.
> 
> Sure, you used to be able to hire a programmer / help desk tech in
> Bangalore for peanuts, but the boom has triggered a wave of job hopping
...
> projects are suffering ... programmer wages are skyrocketing there ...
> sounds like the USA in the late 1990's!
> 
> Outsourcing, in the long run, will be a viable strategy for large
> corporations who can totally spec a system in writing and have huge
> projects that keep the interest of the outsourcing firms.  Americans are
> too used to doing things verbally without the discipline of firm written
> specs (especially in all but the largest companies).  That is a formula
for
> disaster in systems development!
> 
> Small and Medium sized businesses, the heart of the AS/400 community, are
> especially "spontaneous" in their systems development initiatives.
> 
> I'm just waiting for a rash of intellectual property lawsuits from
software
> companies who outsource overseas ... IP and business ethics are viewed
> differently there ... it's difficult enough to sue someone in a different
> region of the USA ... try to sue a foreign firm ... good luck!!!
> 
> There will be a series of changes that will come from this:
>   - generic programmer salaries will be held in check (coders are becoming
> commodities)
>   - business knowledge and the ability to create precise written systems
> designs will have increasing value
>   - companies like IBM and Accenture will increase their presence in large
> company IT budgets ... at the expense of USA-based programmer salaries
> 
> If you are concerned about your position being outsourced away, consider:
>   - working for a small or medium sized business
>   - working for a company (like mine) whose "staff value proposition" is
> based on understanding the value of "local talent"
>   - ensuring that you are viewed as more than a commodity coder (and
> delivering that value every day ... NOT JUST "GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS")
>   - ensuring that you know your company's business processes, can design
> precisely, and can put those designs in writing?
> 
> ' just my $.02 ...
> 
> John
> 
> John Myers
> Strategic Business Systems, Inc.
> 17 S. Franklin Turnpike, Ramsey, NJ 07446  USA
> E-mail: mailto:jmyers@xxxxxxxxxx   Phone: +1 (201) 327-1780 x131
> Web:    http://www.sbsusa.com      Fax:   +1 (201) 934-5684
> 
> At 09:41 AM 4/22/2004, you wrote:
> >This was in our local paper this morning:
> >
> >http://www.indystar.com/articles/5/140262-9565-092.html
> >
> >  Chuck
> 
> _______________________________________________
> This is the Non-Technical Discussion about the AS400 / iSeries (Midrange-
> NonTech) mailing list
> To post a message email: Midrange-NonTech@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
> visit: http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/midrange-nontech
> or email: Midrange-NonTech-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
> at http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-nontech.