Outsource 411

Asia fuelling drug discovery outsourcing

Courtney Smith — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 21:49:48 +0000

We have repeatedly pointed out that research is being increasingly done overseas. This article makes a strong case that this is just the beginning. First, Asian companies are doing their own research for their own market and this is fueling more innovation. Second, contract research organizations are opening office there to capitalize on the low cost. www.in-pharmatechnologist.com

The future of outsourcing

Courtney Smith — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 21:42:25 +0000

Not a bad think piece on the future of outsourcing mainly about contract sales organizations. Computer Business Review

Infosys Chairman steps down

Courtney Smith — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 22:17:00 +0000

Infosys' co-founder and Chairman, Narayana Murthy, stepped down last Friday. He was truly a visionary and had a major impact on our industry. We tip our hat in recognition to his accomplishments.
Read More.

Global outsourcing for the little guy

Courtney Smith — Wed, 31 May 2006 19:56:34 +0000

Excellent first person article on how the owner of TechnologyTailor.com used Elance.com to build a website for a fraction of the cost of using a normal programmer. Excellent read. We have used Elance on a number of projects and found it to be an excellent service. Chicago Tribune

"Outsourcing cuts costs 50%"

Courtney Smith — Wed, 31 May 2006 19:52:21 +0000

It is common knowledge that outsourcing cuts costs. This article goes into more detail on how much is saved by whom.

Big Outsourcing Conference in Russia

Courtney Smith — Wed, 31 May 2006 19:50:44 +0000

R&D and technologies

Philipines running out of labor

Courtney Smith — Wed, 10 May 2006 18:30:47 +0000

The speed of growth of the Philippine's outsourcing industry has led to increasing labor power. Asia Times Online :: Southeast Asia news and business from Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam

Smaller Companies Join The Outsourcing Trend

Courtney Smith — Mon, 08 May 2006 21:08:32 +0000

Clearly, the outsourcing revolution has been won. Now, smaller companies are moving offshore to do their work. WSJ.com

Incentives for Pakistani information technology companies

Courtney Smith — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 22:15:41 +0000

Following on the last article, here is a list of just some of the incentives that the Pakistani government has given to help build the IT industry in Pakistan. Key incentives include tax exemptions until 2016 and 100% foreign ownership. Powerful stuff. PSEB

Pakistan promotes offshoring

Courtney Smith — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 19:33:38 +0000

The government of Pakistan has put together a package of initiatives that will significantly boost the offshoring business. These initiatives have already created over $2 billion in direct investment into Pakistan. For instance, the government has dramatically increased the telcom infrastructure that is so necessary for offshore work. The Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the Minister of Information Technology Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari have spearheaded this effort.

Our own take is that the Pakistanis are perfectly positioned to take away a lot of business from the Indians. As the Indians have moved upstream, the Pakistanis can move into that area left by the Indians. The cost structure of the Pakistani IT industry is must lower than that of India thus creating a strong value proposition for outsourcing clients.Daily Times - Site Edition

Banks send investment banking offshore

Courtney Smith — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 19:02:10 +0000

Shrinking profit margins and a shortage of skilled workers and increasing concern over Wall Street prima donnas is leading Wall Street firms to offshore companies. This even includes such high value added things as research analysis. CNN

Outsourcing industry faces consolidation

Courtney Smith — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 18:48:04 +0000

This important think piece contains some very important ideas and is highly recommended.

Forrester Research has released a new report that states that the global outsourcing industry could face consolidation due to low-cost global competition and broken business models.

It suggests that the current top line Indian companies will have to rely on acquisitions to compete with the global Western giants.

The report also delves into the role of the private equity funds in driving consolidation. The Hindu Business Line

Opportunity In Digital Content Outsourcing

Courtney Smith — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 18:37:15 +0000

Of course, there is no reason not to outsource certain kinds of content generation overseas. I have personally done this with sites that I am involved in (www.myhealthonline.com). The costs are obviously cheaper and the quality can be high. However, the topics need to be contrained to more technical items where cultural references are non-existent. In our case, we were looking for articles relating to health topics so there was no cultural knowledge needed, only technical knowledge and good writing skills. ContentSutra

Hybrid strategy

Courtney Smith — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 22:20:22 +0000

One of the key transformations currently taking place is the concept of the hybrid outsourcer. What if you are an American company threatened by a lower cost Indian competitor? Simply set up an Indian sub to provide the same services as the Indian competitor at the same price!

There have been a plethora of news articles recently outlining this strategy. One key announcement came from IBM which stated that it was going to be increasing its number of employees to 50,000 in India. Capgemini said it will be increasing its Indian employees from 4,000 to 10,000 by 2007. Line56.com: Outsourcing Strategy Shift

Westerners going to work in Indian call centers

Courtney Smith — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 05:09:36 +0000

Westerners are increasingly going to India to work in call centers. The National Association of Software & Services Companies estimates that there are over 30,000 expats working in Indian IT and offshoring companies, twice the number of 2 years ago. Does a job taken by an American in India count as a job taken FROM an American in the US? New America Media