Selling Offshoring
Most of us working for software service companies are in a constant lookout for ‘opportunities’ to service customer needs, that essentially translate to more business for us. This starts right at the bottom of the totem-pole where individual Software Engineers and Programmers endeavor to ensure that they are ‘utilized’ [read : not getting to bench]….and goes to the top where executives and managers have explicit targets to ‘sell’ and grow.
Part of the ‘selling’ of sourcing strategies also involves acknowledging the inherent risks of offshoring. More than half of the published articles on offshore outsourcing, begin with the ‘R’ word in the title, almost as if talking about risks will rattle executives looking to leverage the benefits. And this goes to the heart of a [philosophical] query: knowing what they know about the risks, why are business and technology executives still gung-ho on outsourcing? ….because they know that there are strategies and operating tactics to mitigate the risks, a.k.a “Known Unknowns.” Also because risks and rewards go in tandem.
This said, there are some risks inherent in offshoring work-products, programs and projects to teams across geographic and cultural boundaries. In my book, I had tried to call out offshoring risks from three dimensions: internal organizational risks, technical risks and risks from geopolitical landscape.
The recently published report “Globalization and Offshoring of Software” from ACM’s Job Migration Task Force has detailed a section (Chapter 6) on analysis of risks, though the focus is on risks inherent in Business Process Outsourcing rather than just Information Technology sourcing.
A part of the selling is also ensuring right positioning of the capabilities of offshore outsourcing in the minds of clients [and prospective clients]. An example: the article in Fast Company magazine -- Resolved: Offshoring is good for America -- features an interview with Ashok Soota one of the top leaders of Indian IT and co-founder of a services company. The conclusion makes for an interesting read when the interviewer says: As you point out opening markets up for competition in India created more opportunity for large multinational corporations and they became the winners and domestic producers became the losers. We cannot have globalization and trade where the only winners are the large multinational corporations and the market. Workers, labor rights, communities and the environment should be on an equal playing field as the market in the discussion around globalization
...Ah: speaking of a Flatter World?
Comments
Hi,
Pretty well said. I am also working in a company (Greynium Information Technologies Pvt. Ltd.) as a sales manager. Our primary business focus is in web development and web based applications. 85% of our revenue is from the US market. I have seen in my experience that if you play with quality then you are gone. The clients are very focussed on quality and deadlines have to be met. So as long as we maintain our own quality standards and delivery is on schedule, we should be fine.
Cheers!
Sourav Sinha
Posted by: Sourav Sinha | August 30, 2006 05:25 AM