Friday, September 30, 2005

Offshore Outsourcing: The Statistics

Offshore Outsourcing nonetheless has also truncated millions of job opportunities in the respective home countries. Over 2.2 million people in the US alone lost their jobs in the preceding four years.
US Senate is contemplating to ban Offshore Outsourcing of government contracts. This posits an ironic premise US, in theory, stalwartly campaigns for global acceptance of free trade practices, but in practice it mulls over legal restraints to offshore outsourcing from foreign lands. But the recoil may be puffed up. One of the hottest studies designates that the trend may actually be creating more jobs.
In the past decade, US companies single-handedly have devoted $7 billion in their ancillary operations in India, garnering a profit in excess of $26 billion. Telstra, an Australian telecom company, for instance, accumulated more than $75 million a year by outsourcing several assignments to Indian ventures proving an apparent clue that, notwithstanding separated outlooks in the US, Britain, France, Germany, and other first world countries, corporate administrations will persist favoring offshore outsourcing. On the employment side, there are two standpoints: first, deeming that outsourcing creates massive joblessness; and, second, contrariwise. Indeed, as pointed out in a report by the US Chamber of Commerce, the main reason of increased unemployment in the US, Britain and other developed countries is the augmentation in yield due to continuing advancements in technology. Quoting the instance of GM (General Motors) in USA three decades ago the report says that it used to engage larger than 4,50,000 workers to produce five million automobiles / year, and now it utilizes under 1,18,000 hands to manufacture the same number of vehicles. This reduction is attributable to the advancement of designing, mechanization, assembling and testing gizmology together with robotics.
The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and application development outsourcing.

Offshore Outsourcing : An All Win Premise

The advent of internet, globalization, free marketing, and liberalization has turned the world into a small global village consequently destroying all trade barriers. The awareness that outsourcing can boost productivity sans forfeit of class has impelled MNC’s, in all segments, to endorse this loom. A good number of major IT companies do most of their business overseas and obviously want to have some of their employees in those markets. Lower wages in some countries are also a huge incentive to move operations, especially since high-speed communication removes many of the barriers to dealing with U.S.-based colleagues and customers. Therefore, numerous MNCs in USA, Europe, Australia, and Japan have initiated IPOs (International Procurement Organizations) in developing third world countries particlulary India, China, Mexico and Brazil.
Offshore Outsourcing ensues largely in the IT sector, followed by medical transcription and other health care-related jobs, automotive spares/components, engineering segment, and business processing, accounting, advertising, , Human Resource Management and Development, , financial investment and consultancy, legal services, and network security.
The theory of outsourcing is also technology- motivated anchored in the principle that one must outsource low-tech data entry jobs requiring more of manual labour and focus on central activities, exploration and advance of innovative gizmologies. While the proceeds generated from Offshoring be utilized for further expansion and technology innovation and specialization thus engendering fresh and superior employment openings.
An account primed by McKinsey Global Institute for the US Chamber of Commerce has avowed that: "A US company earns on an average a net profit of $1.12 to $1.14 by outsourcing work for which it pays $1.0 abroad." It additionally acknowledged that by offshoring low paid jobs abroad, US capital, fiscal or intellectual, can be exploiedt to spawn more lucrative and superior revenue generating jobs. The report also affirmed that by outsourcing assignments to India and other developing countries, many US / European companies are also establishing new markets in such countries. Call centers so grounded in India or other developing countries are being fundamentally outfitted with US or European gizmos like Compaq / HP Computers, Microsoft software, Lucent phones and Carrier air conditioners.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in software outsourcing and software development outsourcing.

TCS, TTSL in $250 m outsourcing deal

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tata Teleservices (TTSL) have announced a $250 million outsourcing deal. As per the terms, TTSL and Tata Teleservice, Maharashtra will outsource their entire IT infrastructure management to TCS. The sum will be paid to TCS over a period of five years.
"The engagement with TTSL is another sign of the growing importance of the Indian market. TCS's knowledge of the telecom domain and its ability to provide best-in-class solutions will help TTSL sustain and grow its competitive advantage and deliver greater value to its stakeholders. TCS is committed to delivering world-class solutions for TTSL," TCS CEO and MD S Ramadorai said.
The scope of the engagement includes management of all IT-related activities including implementation, application development and maintenance as well as change management across the enterprise. TCS will also be responsible for the management of data centres, information security management, training end users on new applications and disaster recovery .

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and application development outsourcing.

Why you should outsource to India

The greatest benefits of offshore outsourcing to India are the significant savings and rapid results.
In India multi-lingual project managers and programmers, saves you from language and culture difficulties, not to mention global time differences unlike China.
By outsourcing projects you can save up to 30 to 40 % in the project cost. You can also have access to proven and standard quality of web and software solution.
By outsourcing the project to offshore outsourcing center, you don't need to spend your resources and can concentrate on the core development of the business.
By outsourcing projects you reduce investment for resources and their maintenance cost. There will be significant reduction in operating cost and project overheads.

A-1 Technology ,an Offshore Outsourcing provides offshore software and application development outsourcing services for companies across the globe from it's software outsourcing center in India; where we are specifically focused in the fields of Web Design and Development, PHP Programming,.Net , E commerce Solutions, Web Application Development, Database Integration, Flash Development, Search Engine Optimization and Software Development Services.

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Bangalore Outsourcing Revenue Increases


India's technology hub Bangalore experienced a 20 percent growth to 90 billion rupees ($2.05 billion) in its software and back-office outsourcing exports in the April-September half-year period, an official said Wednesday.
Also, 57 foreign companies opened offices in the city and had invested a total of 9.2 billion rupees ($209 million) through Sept. 27, when the figures were calculated, B. V. Naidu, director of the federal government body Software Technology Parks of India told reporters.
Naidu expected full year revenues to be at least $8.7 billion, or 30 percent higher than the last year's figure of $6.7 billion.
Industry leaders had feared that Bangalore's outsourcing revenue growth may slow down due to the city's sagging infrastructure and resistance from U.S. labor groups. But the latest growth figures suggest there has been no decrease in Western outsourcing.
Western companies save costs by farming out software development, engineering design and back-office functions to India and other countries where wages are low and skilled workers are plentiful.
Many of the world's largest technology companies including Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp., Oracle Inc., and Google Inc., have their offices in Bangalore. But many complain that the city's potholed roads, congested traffic, frequent power shortage, inadequate public transport and a cramped airport threaten their growth.
Labor groups in the U.S. and Europe have protested the practice of outsourcing, claiming it leads to job losses. But such protests have eased in recent months.
India's revenue from Western outsourcing was $17.2 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2005. It expects a growth of at least 30 percent in the current year.
Miscellanies

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and software development outsourcing.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

India is the best bet for offshore IT outsourcing, advises Gartner

From: computerweekly.com

India offers significant advantages in terms of IT skills and infrastructure over other countries that provide offshore outsourcing, according to industry analyst Gartner.
India is "head and shoulders above the competition", said Gartner, which predicts worldwide spending on offshore IT will reach £27.6bn by 2007.

In terms of size and number of IT professionals, only China comes close to India in offshoring potential, said Gartner, pointing out that strong government support was playing a key role in boosting China's offshore IT capabilities.
But Ian Marriott, research vice-president at Gartner, sounded a note of caution about the strong interest in "nearshore" options from Western user organisations.
"Some Eastern European countries, particularly ones that are now in the European Union, are attracting attention," he said.
"However, the choice of local providers is limited. This may change as these countries become more mature members of the international business community.
"In the meantime, multi-national and leading Indian providers are establishing a presence there, mainly as nearshore locations for Western Europe."
India's success had also prompted a scramble by English-speaking countries to join the offshore IT market, said Marriott. "Although some of these countries seem promising on paper, Gartner advises companies to be extremely cautious during evaluation, paying special attention to the historical track record of these nations: specifically, low socio-political turbulence, physical and cyber security, and enforcement of intellectual property (IP) and patent law," he said.
Businesses selecting offshore service suppliers should look at factors such as the level of government support, English language skills, infrastructure and political and economic stability, as well as cost, in countries where they are considering outsourcing, Gartner recommended.
Although labour costs may be low, there were additional risks associated with offshoring, he warned. "Although infrastructure, process, project management and security risks are normal in any external service provider relationship, human capital consistency, socio-political bias or legal jurisdiction are not typically included in the due diligence process for vendor selection," said Marriott.

Offshore checklist
In selecting an offshore IT provider, users should investigate the following factors:
Government support
English language skills
Infrastructure
Educational system
Cost
Political and economic stability
Globalisation maturity (including legal system)
Labour pool
Security and privacy
Cultural compatibility
Miscellanies

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and software development outsourcing.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Reuters on Indian call centre helps Texans deal with Rita

This is from Reuters.

It is interestingly unique story that outsourcing critics like to ignore.
A call centre in Gujarat has been fielding scores of distress calls from Texas residents about Hurricane Rita, the unit's director said on Sunday.
The call centre run by Effective Teleservices is informing affected Texas residents about safer locations, evacuation and relief operations.
The call centre located in Gujarat's capital, Gandhinagar, started fielding around 20 calls an hour after the U.S.-based firm's two call centres in Texas were temporarily shut down due to fear that they could suffer damage from Hurricane Rita.
"I received a frantic call from Robert Hurst, a senior judge in Texas on Friday night," Jim Iyoob, the centre's director in Gujarat and a resident of Texas.
"He requested me to set up a helpline at the Business Process Outsourcing centre to help evacuees in Texas find a temporary shelter from the hurricane."
The officials immediately started the helpline with nearly a dozen agents providing information sourced from the Internet.
"All calls from our Texas office are being diverted to India," says Iyoob who is helping anxious callers and updating them on the situation by monitoring various Web sites and maps.
Hurricane Rita left the U.S. Gulf Coast, reeling from two powerful storms in less than a month, with renewed flooding in New Orleans, widespread power outages and hundreds of miles of roads closed by debris.
Helped by cheap telecoms and English speakers working for a fifth of Western wages, India's back-office services industry employed 348,000 employees at the end of March and posted revenue of $5.2 billion in the year to March 2005.


The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore software development and software outsourcing.



Saturday, September 24, 2005

Thailand Taps the Minds of Indian Knowledge Workers

An interesting article from Asia Pulse discusses Thailand’s recent interest in recruiting experienced Indian knowledge workers to help jump-start the country’s outsourcing industry. This would also further deepen the Indo-Thai relationship under the FTA.

From the article:

"We want knowledge workers from India. We want them to train our people in IT and other knowledge-based skills...we wanted multinational companies to use Thailand as a hub for their R&D activities," Prachuab Chaiyasarn, Thailand Trade Representative and Head of Thai Negotiating Team on Indo-Thai Free Trade Area (FTA), told a seminar here…He said Thailand was keen on "importing brain workers" from India to educate its people, especially on IT skills.”


The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and offshore software development.

UP gets North India's largest technology park


As India leads the trail in becoming the best global outsourcing hub, Information Technology knows no bounds in this part of the world. The latest being the setting up of software technology parks (STP) across the country.
The state of Uttar Pradesh is fast growing as an IT hub, with the mushrooming of BPO and ITeS centres. The recent addition is the upcoming Logix Techno Park in sector 127 of Noida city. This is the largest STP in whole of North India, covering the total area of six lakh sq ft. The projected cost to design this park is 75 crores with 50 crores already invested.
The place will be used by 5000 IT professionals and will be inaugurated by President APJ Abdul Kalam in first week of October.Blue-chip companies like HCL {NEC}, Mentor Graphics, Patni, Citi.fifteen have already moved in, occupying 75 per cent of the site even before its completion.
The Park aims to provide world class infrastructure to small, medium and big size companies and at the same time promoting UP as an IT hub, says Managing Director Logix Techno Park, Shakti Nath.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in application development outsourcing and software outsourcing.

Friday, September 23, 2005

Outsourcing : A good flip

Reaction by some US customers has also been negative.
According to an article published at bambooweb "Many customers of Dell complained of an inability to effectively communicate with their support staff, which Dell outsourced to India, because of their heavy Indian accents. Due to negative customer reaction and negative publicity, Dell moved some of its tech phone support jobs back to the US, most notably for corporate customers, though they stated they still plan to augment their Indian staff. "
But what I want to convey us that "Outsourcing needs to be considered as an appreciator of assets inspite the apprehensions that keep arising due to some examples that are quoted against the concept of outsourcing. This is because outsourcing is not only a progressive approach towards consolidation of any business offshore but also helps is bringing together the best of both worlds at a proficient platform at highly reasonable rates. Outsourcing is a concept that is no longer new .It has been tread safely by many successful businessmen to seek more success for their big and small businesses alike. As they say that there are two sides of each coin. Similarly outsourcing cannot be casted as an adverse phenomenon in the global market just because of some instances of a bad flip. We started the discussion from a negative mark now lets proceed to viewing the other side of the coin which is more positive.
Other companies report favorable results, however. One company said that the low cost of his Indian development team allows him to hire higher-paid American lead developers."


The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and offshore software development.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

India, Canada top outsourcing destinations: Study

From Manorma Online

Silicon Valley: US businesses looking to place their technology operations offshore should give strongest consideration to India, Canada, or China, said a report released by outsourcing consulting firm neoIT. India, which took the No. 1 spot in neoIT's ranking of 14 possible IT outsourcing destinations, offers "cost competitiveness, a highly skilled labour pool ... and a high level of service maturity," it said in its annual report 'Mapping Offshore Markets Update 2005.' The country's skilled labour pool and mature level of services helped it provide $12 billion in outsourced IT services last year. It also leads the world in IT services exports, with sales topping $12 billion last year. To help companies evaluate potential offshoring location, neoIT has ranked countries based on the neoIT 'Offshore Attractiveness Index,' which rates each country's characteristics to generate a quantitative net cost benefit of outsourcing to that destination. The five factors are: financial benefit, service maturity, people, infrastructure and catalyst.


The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in application development outsourcing and software outsourcing.

India still first choice for offshore outsourcing


India remains the top global offshore outsourcing destination but China is catching up fast on the back of strong governmental support, according to the latest research from Gartner.
Only India currently has the right combination of cheap resources and robust technology infrastructure for an offshoring destination. Gartner predicts it will continue to pick up the lion's share of global offshore spending on IT services, which is predicted to total $50bn by 2007.
Despite India's dominance, Gartner is advising organisations looking at offshore outsourcing to consider multiple locations around the world.
India will face increasing competition from Brazil, China, Mexico and the 'nearshore' eastern European countries such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Russia but Gartner says only China comes close in the potential to match India in terms of size and the number of IT professionals.
Ian Marriott, research VP at Gartner, also warned that while the cost of labour will remain a major factor in the choice of offshore location, organisations need to do a detailed cost-versus-risk equation.
In the report he said: "Organisations must understand the various types of risks when using global software teams or offshore outsourcing, and assess each through a more rigorous due diligence of the short-listed offshore firms."
Some of the emerging offshore countries highlighted by Gartner, which do not yet have the sufficient resources and infrastructure to deliver services on a profitable level include Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Mauritius, New Zealand, Slovakia and the Ukraine.
A separate report by analyst Forrester shows the UK leads the European outsourcing market on the back of strong activity among public sector and financial services and organisations. BT Global Services headed the vendor chart for deal value after landing a €2.2bn deal with the Ministry of Defence.
Forrester's figures also showed a decline in the level of infrastructure outsourcing, while telecoms and network outsourcing grew 18 per cent on last year and accounted for almost a third of all the deals.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and offshore software development.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Review: Managing the Outsourcing Relationship

This book abounds with clear and concise concepts and is extremely well structured. This book is a comprehensive and practical guide leading companies through this confounding maze. One of the distinctive bonuses of this book is the application of sound business principles and common sense to this admittedly sophisticated concept.
This book is a good source of information for every organization's senior management team or for anyone interested in contemporary business issues and solutions. Whatever it is that you are looking for to learn about outsourcing, this book will definitely brush up a few of your managerial skills.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in application development outsourcing and software development outsourcing.

Outsourcing benefits IT budgets

From AmericanCity and County

As information technology salaries continue to skyrocket, the bidding war to hire and retain top computing talent remains in full swing. IT staff outsourcing serves as a practical, cost-effective hiring alternative for budget-conscious CIOs who are struggling to complete Y2K-related projects and keep up with new developments in information technology.
According to a 1998 salary survey conducted by the System Administration, Networking and Security Institute, a Bethesda, Md.-based educational organization, the average raise for IT professionals was 11.9 percent last year. More than 7,100 public- and private-sector IT professionals participated. The median salary was $60,991, and more than 75 percent of respondents indicated a salary between $40,000 and $90,000.
While contract staff are used primarily to provide support for permanent IT staff at large organizations, they also serve as an effective remedy to the salary concerns at small to midsize organizations. In addition to relieving human resources departments of the burden of recruiting, screening and evaluating IT talent, using contract employees eliminates the paperwork and costs associated with health and disability coverage and other benefits extended to full-time staff.
"Our primary goal in outsourcing IT staff has typically been [getting people to] handle certain tasks that require an unusually quick response or [gaining] extra resources for short periods of time," says Haldis Toppel, information systems manager for Los Angeles. "As a publicly funded institution, we're not in a position where we can hire and dismiss staff easily for short-term projects."
According to Toppel, the meteoric rise in salaries in recent years also has presented a problem regarding permanent hires. She says that the city's salary scale does not always meet the requirements of IT professionals surfing the market for the best offers. "Our problems were exacerbated by a recent two-year hiring freeze," she says. "We weren't able to continue building our staff from the bottom up, and we're currently looking at a big void in staff development. It's really unfortunate because experienced and accomplished people are necessary to most of our projects.
"Because of the hiring freeze, we've basically split up our experienced staff and 'backfilled' positions with contract programmers rather than filling them with permanent staff," she adds. "[Most] contract programmers on our staff right now are working on Y2K compliance."
Outsourcing fills immediate needs but also eliminates much of the difficulty of employee-employer compatibility, which can often be difficult to assess until an employee has worked several months. Many organizations also offer lease-to-hire programs that make it possible to permanently retain contracted employees who prove to be a good fit.
One of the drawbacks of outsourcing work to employees who take the "highest bidder" approach is that it can affect an organization's bottom line. Instead of hiring people who are focused on long-term growth, building their skills and gathering experience, agencies end up with people who are more focused on money. Employers in turn will expect more from their contracted employees in terms of commitments, hours and productivity.
Despite the drawbacks of outsourcing, Toppel does not hesitate to label IT staff outsourcing as cost-effective. With the constraints placed on her department over the last few years, she says it could not have achieved the business goals of the city with the same level of results without contract staffing.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in software outsourcing and offshore software programming

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Outsourcing From Korea to Korea

Newsweek just published an article on the outsourcing of work from South Korea to its Stalinist neighbor to the north. The reasons: cheap labor and real estate, geographic proximity, and the possibility of closer ties between Pyonyang and Seoul. Kaesung in the North is being touted as a potential Shenzhen, China’s storied “special economic zone.” While the relationship is far from off the ground, if it does develop, there are two potential and contradictory outcomes: (1) it could shore up Kim Jong Il’s impoverished slave state and prolong its reign; (2) economic liberalization could lead to some measure of political liberalization as North Korean workers are increasingly exposed to the ways of the South and, by extension, the ways of the rest of the world. If the business is lucrative, the South could potentially require further reforms as a sine qua non for further investment, thus exposing North Korea to political and economic daylight. A combination of carrot and stick, in other words. However, there are major obstacles: “The main problem is Washington's economic sanctions against Pyongyang, which prohibit the sale or shipment of key strategic goods, such as computers, to the North. For the same reason, high-tech firms don't invest in the zone. Telephone calls from Kaesung to nearby Seoul are expensive because they're patched through Japan. What the zone needs more than anything to succeed is a genuine political thaw between North Korea and the United States. Without that, its dreams of hot growth will cool fast.”

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in software outsourcing and offshore software programming

Monday, September 19, 2005

10 ways to get offshoring right

CRM News offers “10 ways to get offshoring right”:
1. Never Outsource Your Core Value
2. Get Boardroom Ownership
3. Forge Internal Competencies
4. Fix Your Process Before Offshoring It
5. Demand Domain Expertise
6. Require Evidence of Best Practices
7. Write Talent Into the Contract
8. Investigate Pricing Models
9. Acclimate to Cultural Differences
10. Get Your Feet Wet

Click here for the full article.


The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and software development outsourcing.

Financial Services Offshoring to Double by 2008

A PricewaterhouseCoopers survey, titled “Offshoring in the Financial Services Industry: Risks and Rewards,” finds that India is the most popular offshoring destination because of the following: macroeconomic stability, regulations, labor costs and skills, among other things. It is also poised to grow in the financial services sector, which is expected to double by 2008. Reads the survey: "Thanks to its combination of an educated, English-speaking population, low costs and highly-skilled workforce, India's BPO market has grown at an annual rate of between 40-50% over the past few years. So far offshoring has been centred round a few key cities in India such as Bangalore, Delhi-NCR, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai. As costs in these places rise, others are likely to come into the frame, maintaining the country's overall competitiveness…" Thus gains are expected to percolate down to second and third-tier cities as the larger ones reach a saturation point.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in software outsourcing and offshore software programming

Friday, September 16, 2005

SURVEY: RETENTION HOT, BI NOT

From: searchcio

Polling some 90 IT executives from its roster of members, the Society for Information Management (SIM) announced some surprising preliminary results to a crowd of 600 at its annual SIMposium event this week. The most surprising was the absence of business intelligence (BI) -- which ranked second in 2004 -- from the list of the Top 6 Application and Technology Developments of 2005.

Another surprising result was the percentage of IT budgets allocated for offshore outsourcing in 2005 versus 2004. In 2004, 73% of the more than 300 respondents said they wouldn't be allocating any money for offshore outsourcing. That number fell to 63.9% in 2005. In addition, 3.14% of IT budgets were allocated for offshore outsourcing in 2005, but 4.22% was projected for 2006.
"People are starting to engage a little more in offshore outsourcing. They're starting to try it with some small projects, which I think is the right thing to do," Luftman said. "I think we should be experimenting to see where it might or might not fit. It's clearly an indication that offshore outsourcing is on the rise."

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in software outsourcing and offshore software programming

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Beginning to Offshore: clichés, outlook and a realistic suggestions

By Bharat Khatau From Dmreview

Many persons opine that you can't simply name a venture and "throw it over the wall" to an outsourcer. Still there is a widespread misconstruction that you set off by making a product pattern for outsourced development.
There cannot be any document, however all-inclusive you think it to be, that one might simply pass to an outsourcer and be sure to get the desired results. The authentic, efficient product spec, the document used as the source of design, will be the result of a course of progressive scrutiny and analyses, often discernible by a succession of documents:
• Request for proposal (RFP)
• Proposal or statement of work (SOW)
• Business requirements specification and a functional specification
Outsourcers will desire to undergo this process, and so should you. You may be skilled in writing product specs for your own development grouping. But, flourishing outsourced development engages more than defining a product spec. Success necessitates fastidious description of the way your company and the outsourcer will interrelate - and the right character leading those interactions.
Firstly, your and outsourcer’s purpose must be to make your opening project a success. This goal is a precondition for reaching your other targets for outsourcing, like cutting costs or getting to market sooner. One approach to succeed is choosing the appropriate pilot project - one acquiescent to success - so you can create a relationship and learn how to work most efficiently together. First-rate projects for triumphant pilots rivet least risks to the business strategy or core product. They are fairly easy to define and break down, and have little reliance. For example product development, testing, APIs, interfaces or bug fixing.
Regardless of simplicity or complexity of the project, to thrive you must communicate - not only about the daily particulars and strategic tricks, but at the managerial level, regarding strategy. Justifiably, numerous corporations are disinclined to disclose business strategy. But remember: the more an outsourcer comprehends the milieu, the better prepared it will be to resolve problems, suggest counsel that can get you more for your investment and help you to accomplish your long-term purpose.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and software development outsourcing

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Benefits of offshore outsourcing in different fields

According to Enterblog "Offshore Outsourcing provides the ability to hold skilled overseas staff at a small part of the labor cost which is exhilarating to several entrepreneurs. "
The advantages of offshoring in the arena of accounting are recently being discovered. Tax professionals in other countries are prepared and eager to execute the identical accounting errands that are being completed in your own country, for half -- sometimes even half -- the labor cost!
There are some general ideas that advertisers all over the world tread in approximately like mode like motherliness, graduation and steady commerce enterprise. Finding copywriters and graphic artists- who can work with these themes the way YOU or YOUR ASSOCIATES would work with them, with professional speed and style -- and lower rates! - would be no problem. And on another plane, culture is already chiefly homogenized. International media and the Internet have made Global Cultural Exchange greatly easier than it was, say, 10 years back.
Major animation corporations allocate their ventures to professionals throughout world. For a considerable slash in resources and labor cost, companies are able to create such fabulous works as the ThunderCats, He-Man, and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, faster and for a fraction of the expenditure, than if they had chosen to manufacture the features onshore!
The magic of outsourcing comes in. globally, there is an immense force of Human Resource prepared and proficient to facilitate on the developments that matter to your corporation.
Transcription of certain records may be currently classified as "non-core” and secure to be repositioned offshore... although through current technological strides, and the increasing consciousness of individual professionals, about the urgency of the demand, medical institutions are thinking of offshoring other sorts of health care-related jobs.
IT projects have been offshored by big corporations for years. Offshoring encoding projects normally means extra labor for less salary. Rapid pace and lofty quality turnout makes for immensely more return than projects developed onshore!
Like anything that grows, a financial investment needs fertile ground. Nowadays, as the recent business and economic trends have shown, fertile land implies someplace offshore.
The link makes the reader aware of the arenas where Offshore Outsourcing can help the companies. Exploiting the enormous clout of outsourcing is an invigorating experience however this involves huge menaces and hence necessitates great forethought and arrangement. I completely endorse the views expressed on the above mentioned site.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and software development outsourcing

Monday, September 12, 2005

A New Metric Compares Suppliers; Currently the Indians Are Winning


A new research study by Katzenbach Partners says the "old standbys" are no longer "the safe bet" for buyers looking to outsource their information technology. "India is here to stay," says the August 2005 study.
The study, using new capital markets research, found that the major Indian suppliers "are positioned to serve clients better and be tougher competition than US-based outsourcers anticipate." It predicts the American legacy players "may disappoint" their buyers in the third or fourth years of their IT contracts, while the Indian players--Infosys, Wipro, Satyam Computer Services, and Tata Consultancy Services--"will have greater market incentives to consistently serve customers and make good on promises" during this critical period in the contract.
The bottom line: Indian outsourcers "could ultimately lead on a global basis, potentially unseating such giants as EDS, CSC, Capgemini, Unisys, Perot Systems, Accenture, and BearingPoint," according to Katzenbach Partners.
Read more here....

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in software outsourcing and offshore software development.

Advantages offered by Outsourcers

Outsourcers offer significant advantages of scale, reduced labor rates, highly experienced management teams, and fewer points of contact.
The 2004 agreement between TXU and Capgemini Energy, LLC, is a perfect example. It illustrates why a large utility like TXU chose to outsource not only its entire Customer Integrated Systems (CIS) and billing, but also its IT infrastructure and back office support. The utility stated at the beginning of the relationship that through outsourcing, it wished to realize a "step-change" in both cost reductions and improved customer service.
More sophisticated services are firing greater interest within the utility industry, according to Perdue. He says Utilipoint recently completed a survey of 300 investor-owned utilities (IOUs) in North America. When asked if they were considering outsourcing BPO, 13 percent of the utilities surveyed (about 40) said they were actively doing so. "We'll probably see more activity in the near future in the US and probably even a higher instance on a global scale," he says.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and software development outsourcing



Saturday, September 10, 2005

Tech Services Firms Steer Clients Toward 'Right-Sourcing'


The Internet has made it possible to develop and deliver software from almost anywhere, helping fuel the offshore outsourcing boom. Instead of developing certain programs in-house, companies in the U.S. are outsourcing more of the work. They are turning not just to U.S. tech services firms, but also to lower-cost firms in many parts of the world, such as India.
The industry is "location agnostic”
But it's not easy for many companies to let go of the controls and turn to outsourcers, especially those offshore. As a result, tech services companies -- the providers of software development and other tasks on an outsourced basis -- are more and more trying to help their clients come up with a solution called right sourcing.
Right sourcing combines several different approaches.
A tech services outfit can have its programmers work directly at the customer site.
The firm can give its clients access to near-shore facilities that are lower cost than the U.S. but close enough to comfort clients.
Or the services firm can develop programs from the other side of the planet, in very low-cost areas.
For companies, right sourcing slashes costs but reduces the anxiety of having key tasks done by outside firms.
In any case, offshore outsourcing is taking hold.

In the last year, the value of software exported from India alone rose 30% from the previous year to $12 billion.
The top rule for outsourcing success is to follow the customer, says Ram Mynampati, president of Satyam Computer Services (NYSE:SAY - News).Each project must be planned around a customer's distinct needs, or what Satyam calls "right sourcing."

That global reach and nearby presence reduces customer fears, says Mynampati. He says clients want to work with nations in which they are familiar with the culture and customs. Some U.S. customers, he says, feel uneasy about sending their software work all the way to India, but they have no problem sending it north of the border to Canada. Likewise, many Japanese clients prefer to outsource to nearby China rather than to more distant nations, says Mynampati.
Right sourcing is both an art and a science, says Marc Hebert, executive vice president of Sierra Atlantic, an outsourcing firm based in Fremont, Calif. Sierra Atlantic has developed a method it calls NShore. The idea is to help its clients come up with the best outsourcing plan. The NShore name is a play on the word "ensure."

The NShore playbook sets out guidelines on how to best install and update business software from the likes of Oracle (NasdaqNM: ORCL - News), SAP (NYSE:SAP - News) and Siebel Systems (NasdaqNM: SEBL - News). "The global delivery model is a tool that's here to stay, and nothing will stop it, not even nuclear war."

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and offshore software development.

Friday, September 09, 2005

Leader: Is offshoring good or bad for UK workers?


Is offshore outsourcing good or bad for the UK? The answer depends on who you ask, and your own perspective will probably depend on whether you work at the coal face in IT and call centres or in the boardroom.
Ever since the emergence over the last five to 10 years of the trend toward outsourcing IT and call centre work overseas to countries such as India, to take advantage of vast pools of cheap skilled labour, a fierce debate has raged about the impact on UK jobs.
IT workers and trade unions claim offshoring will result in thousands of workers losing their jobs and a general de-skilling that could leave us with a "nation of hairdressers" as one union man put it.
Chief executives, CIOs and shareholders argue it is a vital tool to remain competitive, that it will save jobs in the long run and benefit the wider UK economy as the country's workers move on to higher value jobs.
Both positions were echoed in a 2004 report sponsored by the Indian IT industry's trade body Nasscom, which predicted that more than a quarter of a million UK workers will see their jobs disappear overseas, costing the UK economy £5.7bn in unemployment benefits and retraining costs.
The same report also said the cost to the UK by not offshoring would be much higher - £34bn - due to a drop in output and slowing of GDP growth.
This week has seen the first hard evidence around the impact of offshoring on UK jobs and the news, perhaps surprisingly for some, isn't bad.
Firstly the official UK employment statistics from the Office for National Statistics show that IT and call centre positions have grown at three times the rate of the national average since 2001 and that redundancy levels have been consistently falling.
Secondly there is the news that Indian business process outsourcing company HCL is to open two new call centres in Northern Ireland, creating 600 new jobs in Armagh and Belfast.
Of course this doesn't paint the full picture and, inevitably, there will be some short-term pain and job losses when certain companies decide to move work offshore.
But at least there is now hard evidence that offshore outsourcing can bring benefits not only to boardrooms and shareholders but also to the workers and the wider economy. So let's remember that and keep some perspective the next time we hear about a bank moving a call centre to India.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in software outsourcing and software development outsourcing.

Offshore outsourcing has not hit UK jobs, says ONS

From: Silicon

Offshore outsourcing of IT and call centre roles to low-cost countries such as India has not hit UK jobs, according to the latest official employment statistics.
The ONS' latest Labour Market Trends figures show that employment growth in call centre related occupations in the UK has been nearly three times the overall growth in employment, while redundancy levels have also consistently fallen since 2001.
The employment data calculated by region is also in line with that growth trend and the ONS said this suggests offshoring has had minimal effect on the employment prospects of IT-enabled occupations across the UK.
The report said: "In other words, the UK is gaining from the increasing trend in trade of IT-enabled services - imports may have grown but exports have grown just as fast."
The report comes on the same day that Indian IT company HCL said it is to create 600 jobs at new call centres in Northern Ireland with the help of £4.68m in government grants.
The announcement was made by UK Prime Minister Tony Blair as his tour of India reached New Delhi.
HCL has based its 'nearshore' business process outsourcing (BPO) operations in Northern Ireland since 2001, when it acquired BT's Apollo call centre. Earlier this year HCL also acquired Answercall Direct in Portadown.
HCL said around 400 jobs will be created in Armagh, with the remainder split between there and Belfast depending on requirements.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and offshore software development.


Thursday, September 08, 2005

Enormous benefits of outsourcing

Enormous benefits of outsourcing are present that are enough to shut down the mouths of the critics. These include lower costs, ability to concentrate on core functions, greater flexibility and ability to define the requisite services, better security and continuity, higher quality services, improved internal management functions, less dependency upon internal resources , control of budget, faster setup of the function, lower ongoing investment is required in internal infrastructure, greater ability to control the delivery issues, increased flexibility to meet changing business conditions , purchase of industry best practices, improved risk management, increased commitment and energy in non core areas, improved credibility, generation of cash by transferring resources, gain of market access and business opportunities through the supplier’s network and the ability to turn fixed costs into variable costs. These benefits of outsourcing of course are variable and are dependent upon the nature and situation of the organization but in no doubt are beneficiary for the organization.
According to a news at NST UNISYS , the Malaysian arm of the US-based information technology (IT) services and solutions firm, expects a double-digit growth in revenue this year, driven largely by its outsourcing and systems integration and consulting businesses.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in software outsourcing and software development outsourcing.

Wipro to Tap USD 200 bln Global Infrastructure Outsourcing Market


Wipro Technologies, to tap the USD 200 billion global infrastructure outsourcing market, is investing heavily in the business besides setting up a centralised global command centre in Bangalore. “The company is making investments to tap this segment and the centralised command centre which will be opened in a few weeks, is part of that investment plan,” said G K Prasanna, vice-president, infrastructure services business. As part of the company’s strategy to capture the burgeoning market, Wipro Technologies is also hiring people and developing new service lines, added Prassana.The company has 8,000 employees on its rolls, who are working on infrastructure outsourcing. Of which, 2500 work on international clients. The outsourcing market for infrastructure management is dominated by large players such as EDS, IBM and Accenture and Indian vendors account for a small fraction of it.“Although the company has witnessed a CAGR of 85 per cent over the last five years and has revenues worth USD 95 million from this segment, we have a minuscule portion of the market,” added Prasanna. Nasscom, however, is hopeful that Indian companies would be able to get a bigger share of the market."Sixty per cent of the market for infrastructure outsourcing can be sent offshore, opening avenues for the Indian industry," said Kiran Karnik, president, Nasscom. According to the analyst firm Forrester, the market for infrastructure outsourcing in US alone stands at USD 110 billion. "The Indian market is likely to grow by about 100 per cent and the growth should be consistent as the Indian vendors currently account for a mere USD 450 million of the total market size," said Sudin Apte, country manager (India), Forrester.
The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and offshore software development.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Taron Energy extends outsourcing deal


Queensland utility Tarong Energy Corporation has extended its IT outsourcing relationship with Mincom, inking a three-year contract which has an option to extend the deal beyond 2008.
Mincom's global managed IT services business, Mincom Managed Services (MMS), will provide infrastructure and support services for Tarong Energy covering 365 staff at five sites in Queensland and South Australia.
MMS will supply data communications, network, desktop, helpdesk, server, security, disaster recovery and applications support and maintenance services.
MMS already hosts Tarong Energy's enterprise resource planning system, Mincom Ellipse.
The relationship between the two companies dates back to 2000 when Tarong appointed Mincom as its IT infrastructure outsourcing partner, through a five-year contract. MMS has inked deals worth more than $35 million in the last six months.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in software outsourcing and offshore software development.

Offshore Outsourcing Benefits to US Economy


Ultimately Offshore Outsourcing of service work will generate jobs in America’s export business, lower domestic firms’ expenses, and raise the worth and number of services for consumers at lesser prices. If government hinders with the ability of U.S. businesses to outsource, Americans will all lose. Instead of altering the figure of jobs, free trade changes the mix of jobs in the country to mirror those areas in which we have the utmost competitive edge. Worldwide trade in services expands the progression of job specialization and enhances living standards. If outsourcing continues to be subdued in the U.S., American firms will need to rely on a well paid staff even for low-profile jobs, hence creating dearer U.S. commodities which would not be as competitive in the globe market. Outlawing outsourcing could therefore eradicate additional jobs in the U.S.
Taking advantage of the cheap labour in developing countries, many MNCs have set up subsidiaries in India and elsewhere. In the past decade, US companies alone have invested $7 billion in their subsidiaries in India, reaping a net saving of more than $26 billion. Telstra, an Australian telecom company, for instance, saved more than $75 million a year by outsourcing many jobs to Indian enterprises.
This is a clear indication that, despite divided opinions in the US, Britain and other countries, corporate managements will continue to favour outsourcing. On the employment front, there are two schools of thought: One, that outsourcing is leading to massive unemployment; and, two, that it has not contributed to unemployment, as is sought to be made out. In fact, as pointed out in a recent report by the US Chamber of Commerce, the main cause of increased unemployment in the US, Britain and other developed countries is the enhancement in productivity due to continuing advancements in technology.
The report quotes the example of General Motors (GM) in the US. While three decades ago, the company used to employ over 4,50,000 workers to produce five million vehicles annually, it now employs less than 1,18,000 hands to turn out the same number of vehicles. This reduction is mainly due to the evolution of designing, manufacturing, assembling and testing technologies including robotics.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and software development outsourcing.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Outsourcing rides out the storm

From :vnunet

Despite recent offshoring project failures, it appears that finance directors seeking more efficiencies could still provide another major boost for the outsourcing industry.
Concerns were raised over the security breach at an Indian call centre, which saw customer data offered for sale. But new figures reveal that outsourcing strategies are continuing to grow in popularity.
A survey of 120 executives across the globe by Accenture has found that 78% of respondents identified improving operational efficiency as the top challenge facing the finance department. But only 15% currently transact the majority of their accounts payable and receivables functions on an automated basis.
Nearly one-half of the executives polled (40%) cited a lack of awareness within their organisation about how IT could improve transactional processing.
‘The findings show that finance executives are challenged to improve efficiency and reduce time and cost to process transactions, yet they are not widely embracing technology to achieve change,’ said Anoop Sagoo, an Accenture partner.
The boom in offshore outsourcing is set to continue, with over three-quarters of large companies increasing their activities, according to research by outsourcing consultants company TPI.
The study, based on a survey of 100 senior UK executives, revealed that 81% planned to increase offshore outsourcing over the next two to three years, while only 4% expected to see operations dip.
Duncan Aitchison, managing director of outsourcing consultancy TPI, said: ‘Our survey results clearly indicate that there is very little disillusionment with offshore outsourcing. However, there is a general shift towards more sophisticated sourcing strategies as the global sourcing market comes of age.’
The research also showed that many companies, while intending to grow offshore operations, are readjusting activities they base offshore. Businesses are increasingly taking a global view, separating out processes and deciding whether they would be best based offshore, nearshore or onshore.
But a survey by the National Outsourcing Association has warned that growing compliance and data protection rules could exacerbate problems. It revealed that poorly negotiated contracts and rushed implementation have been the main reasons for project failures. But these problems could be heightened, as growing compliance and data protection legislation becomes a core part of the offshoring environment.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and software development outsourcing.

Monday, September 05, 2005

ABN AMRO Unveils Landmark IT Outsourcing Plan

From: au news

In one of the largest-ever overhauls of an IT department, financial services company ABN AMRO is cutting 1,500 internal tech jobs, and transferring a further 2,000 to external vendors with which it has signed a total of $2.2bn in outsourcing contracts.
Amsterdam-based ABN AMRO hopes to cut IT costs by 258m euros ($320m) annually from 2007 by outsourcing its server and desktop infrastructure to IBM Global Services in a 1.5bn-euro ($1.9bn) deal, and handing over its applications maintenance to Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys Technologies in two contracts worth a minimum of 300m euros ($372m) combined.
These three vendors will also compete against Accenture and Patni for a share of an estimated $1.5bn spend on applications development work over the next five years.
TCS said its share of the applications maintenance deal was worth 200m euros ($250m). S Ramadorai, chief executive at TCS, told Global Computing Services: This is a landmark deal for Indian services companies and TCS. People will be watching this deal closely, and I think we will see a lot of traction on the back of it.
Infosys share of the applications maintenance project is worth at least 100m euros ($125m), with the chance to rise up to $250m over the course of the five years. Shares in TCS and Infosys rose 1.4% and 2.1% on the Mumbai Stock Exchange after the contracts were reported.
A second noteworthy feature of this string of contracts is that it is another example of multi-sourcing, whereby a client chooses to work with a number of best-of-breed suppliers rather than hand over its entire infrastructure to a single supplier.
ABN AMROs outsourcing program might not end here. Gustavsson said that while the company will retain control of managing its outsourcing relationships and IT security functions, it is looking at different ways its telecoms and data networks, which could include outsourcing.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and application development outsourcing.

Saturday, September 03, 2005

NASSCOM: an interesting offering for outsourcing

India's NASSCOM has begun piloting a competence program for the business process outsourcing market.

NASSCOM, the public body that represents outsourcing organizations located in India, has announced the pilot launch of its NASSCOM Assessment of Competence (NAC) program for the potential employees in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. The NAC scheme aims to create a talent-pool within the BPO industry, indicating NASSCOM's commitment to raising standards within this area.
Included in the aims of the NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies) initiative are the provision of a national standard for recruitment of entry-level talent for BPO, and also the enablement of offshoring organizations to develop the ability to cut costs through a more rapid recruitment phase.News of this initiative comes hot on the heels of a report that the UK's AA has decided not to offshore some of its operations, despite potential savings in excess of GBP20 million. The AA stated that it would keep its call center operations in the UK in an attempt to differentiate itself from its competitors, and also because it appears to believe that the quality of service is better in the UK than overseas.Nevertheless, the BPO marketplace in India is expected to continue its tremendous growth over the next few years, and the new certification standard has been developed by NASSCOM in order to improve the quality of service the industry can offer its western customers. According to the NASSCOM website, candidates will be assessed in the areas of listening and keyboard skills, verbal ability, spoken English, comprehension and writing ability, office software usage, numerical and analytical skills, and concentration and accuracy. NASSCOM is also encouraging state governments to commit to the NAC to improve their recruitment schemes, attract investors for the BPO sector and forge a link between education and employability.Bearing in mind that the vast majority of BPO employees in India are graduates, NASSCOM's program demonstrates further commitment to raising standards for BPO. The development is well considered and should be welcomed, and is likely be widely adopted by the Indian offshoring industry, by potential employees and employers alike.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in software development outsourcing and offshore software outsourcing IT.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Indian to headline outsourcing summit

According to Hindustan times "The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) has announced that Pramod Bhasin, President and CEO of Gecis Global, is among the speakers headlining its 2006 Outsourcing World Summit.
The 18th event in the worldwide conference series that began in 1998, the 2006 Outsourcing World Summit will take place February 20-22, 2006, at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando, Florida."
This proves that "India has got the best manpower for quality software development and India is still leading the Outsourcing world with her highly skilled IT Professionals"

So why to wait?? Visit A-1 Technology, an offshore software development company, that provides offshore outsourcing services to its clients world wide.

Forces and benefits that drives Outsourcing

Outsourcing Survival lists the benefits offered by Outsourcing that are responsible for Outsourcing boom:

· Allows a business to focus on core activities
· Streamlines a business' operations
· Gives you access to professional capabilities
· Shares the risk
· Piece of mind that the process is in good hands (reliability)
· Do not have to worry about continually introducing new technologies
· Improves service quality
· Frees up human resources
· Frees up cash flow
· Increases the control of your business
· Makes the business more flexible to change (i.e. demand)

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and application development outsourcing.