offshoring

IT industry hopeful about Obama

Judi Hasson — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 13:46:59 -0500

The election of Democrat Barack Obama has brought a sense of cautious optimism to many in the technology community who have long felt that they did not get enough attention and were not well understood by the Bush administration. Ed Black, president and chief executive of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, said the Obama camp has tech-savvy advisers who understand the sector and its users.

"There has not been much leadership on technology issues in Washington over the past eight years," Black said. "We don't want special favors. We just want people to understand us."

Paul Gallant, a telecommunications analyst at Stanford Washington Research Group, said Obama may embrace one big priority for the industry: Extending the concept behind network neutrality principles, which prohibit broadband providers from favoring or discriminating against online traffic traveling over their networks, into the wireless arena.

But there also are some notes of caution. Christopher Hansen, president and chief executive of the American Electronics Association, said Obama has not directly addressed a key item on the industry's agenda: Raising the cap on H-1B visas to allow technology companies to bring in more highly-skilled workers from overseas. He also said the industry is worried Obama might seek to discourage the offshoring of operations and jobs.

For more on Obama and IT:
- check out this AP.Google.com article

Also see:
> Obama's Internet connection remade politics. Article
> Obama wants to expand federal teleworking. Article
> Tech lobbyists hope to have Obama's ear. Article

Saas provides an alternative to outsourcing

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 06:59:58 -0400

As more products come of age, companies looking to cut costs and drive innovation are turning to SaaS as a cost effective alternative-one that is less risky than outsourcing or offshoring. And no matter what application a CIO is searching for, it is increasingly likely that is being offered as a service. Everything from customer relationship management to online backup to expense reporting is now being offered as a service. CIOupdate.com this week offers a succinct look at the pros and cons of the technology. Pros include cost, risk mitigation, flexible contracts and predictability. Some of the cons are characteristics that current SaaS applications don't yet have: IT departments want apps that customize easily, scale effectively, and are evolved to a point of product maturity.

For all the SaaS details:
- read the article in CIOupdate.com

Offshore outsourcing: Off the mark

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 20:01:39 -0400

As hot as the outsourcing trend has been, there appears to be a bit of an expectations gap regarding the performance of this strategy. According to an A.T. Kearney study, 60 percent of companies that send operations offshore fail to meet their operational objectives. More than a third (34 percent) fail to meet their savings expectations. The study of multinational companies also revealed that those with a focus on overall performance rather than cost were the biggest winners, saving 3.5 times more money than companies that offshore simply to cut costs. In fact, companies that improved on at least three out of six operational performance areas experienced average savings of 44 percent from offshoring, while companies that improved on two or fewer measures saved only an average of 30 percent. The study found that companies achieved greater savings and better operational performance improvement when they offshored medium-complexity processes such as IT and advanced BPO functions. Low-complexity functions (such as call centers or transaction processing) that were sent offshore saved an average of 28 percent in costs; medium-complexity functions saved an average of 38 percent.

For more on outsourcing:
- read about the study in CIO Article

Senators complain about visa abuse

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 20:01:39 -0400

As the H-1B visa debate rages on Capitol Hill, two U.S. senators, Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), charge that offshoring firms are "abusing the system" through the use of another category of visas, something called the L visas. The two released a list of top users of L visas: they claim there is a connection between use of those visas and the H-1B by offshoring companies. L visas are used by multinational companies to transfer employees from overseas locations to offices in the U.S. They don't have some of the restrictions that H-1B visas do, such as a requirement that workers be paid wages that are on par with the prevailing salaries of American workers. In the federal government's 2006 fiscal year, which ended last September, applications for more than 53,000 L visas were approved. That was up from about 49,400 in fiscal 2005.

For more:
- see this ComputerWorld article

Smart offshoring can yield huge savings

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 20:01:39 -0400

Companies can potentially increase their back office offshore savings by over 50 percent by selectively integrating transformation and process improvement efforts into their globalization initiatives, according to research from The Hackett Group, an Answerthink company. The Fortune 500 could generate over $91 billion annually, or about $182 million on average per company, by strategically combining "Lift & Shift" efforts (which move back office processes overseas without first improving them) with "Transform & Shift" initiatives (where processes are optimized and then taken offshore). What's the key? Careful planning and analysis to determine which processes to offshore and whether or not to integrate transformation, and a staged approach to offshoring over a five to ten year period.

For more on using offshoring to your advantage:
- see this Tekrati article

ALSO NOTED: Poor time management; The tech skills crisis;

Sun, 13 May 2007 20:01:38 -0400

> Managing poor time managers on your staff. Blog

> Offshoring, ageism and image blamed for tech skills crisis. Article

> CIO and CSO: fox watching the henhouse? Article

> Study: More than 80 percent of companies plan to expand their data centers. Press release

> IBM announces a "Big Green" initiative. Article

> Addressing business initiatives with end-to-end data integration platforms. Webcast

And Finally… The IT manager's freak-out point. Article

Succeeding with offshoring

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 20:01:36 -0400

There are many benefits to offshoring, including cost savings, improved productivity, reduced turnover rates and access to a highly educated, motivated workforce. But even those benefits aren't enough to make a bad offshoring relationship worth pursuing. Creating a successful offshoring relationship requires three things: simplifying the program and making it accessible; constructing the program basics including a comprehensive Master Services Agreement, pricing tables, a relationship Service Level Agreement, actionable reporting and secure and reliable connectivity; and educating leaders and managers by creating an executive steering committee and engaging them in key decisions. Also, send key project and operations managers to the provider's shop for a week or two at a time to improve communications and keep operations running smoothly. Create standard, accessible tools and templates. An in-house web site that stores all relevant operation is a good idea. Make sure you have a great program manager, who should be disciplined with strong technical competence and the right soft skills. Lastly, have clear goals and metrics.

To learn more about successful offshoring:
- read the article at ITWorld Canada

Related Article:
How to make offshore development pay off. Report

Survey: CIOs like their jobs

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 20:01:39 -0400

According to a new survey from KPMG and Harvey Nash, 85 percent of CIOs find their jobs fulfilling. The survey surmised that CIOs like their jobs mainly because most of their organizations have increased the IT budget, and because compensation is high. CIOs were much less positive about their outsourcing experiences, however. Although 80 percent are outsourcing at the moment, only 10 percent indicated that their original outsourcing goals had been met. On the whole, CIOs were much more satisfied with offshoring relationships; 67 percent said their offshoring relationships had met or exceeded expectations, and 95 percent said their offshoring spending would stay the same or increase. CIOs were also satisfied that business and IT are becoming more integrated, but felt like it would be a long time before they become fully integrated. Other CIO priorities noted in the survey included managing project deadlines, security, managing staff turnover and effective systems integration.

For more about the survey:
- read the article at PhysOrg.com

Offshoring could impact military defense systems

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 19:01:38 -0500

It seemed like a smart move at the time--outsourcing and offshoring government software development to save money--but now Uncle Sam is reviewing the decision and the impact it could have down the road. It seems that the potential for embedded malicious code and system tinkering could have a dramatic effect on defense programs and systems. A task force has been studying the issue and is expected to release a recommendation for ensuring better security soon.

For more on the federal outsourcing risk:
- read the in-depth report at BusinessWeek

PLUS: The data loss taking place in the federal government. Article

Related Articles:
Don't ignore security in outsourcing processes. Report
Big changes in outsourcing expectations. Report
Competition ignites EDS business plans. Report

ALSO NOTED: IT at the boardroom table; Veterans want accountability over data breach; and much more...

Sun, 16 Jul 2006 20:01:33 -0400

> Why IT needs to be sitting at the boardroom table. Article

> Veterans want accountability over data breach. Article

> Data sharing in transportation industry is a massive effort. Article

> Tools to shore up Firefox security. Article

> Telecommuting isn't as popular as one might think. Article

> If offshoring data, why you need to factor in customers' views. Article

> Memory-chip makers under state scrutiny over pricing. Article

And Finally... Billboard highlights a "real" king of beers. Article