When offshore is really off…shore

By Michael Cooney, NetworkWorld.com, 04/20/05

Now this is real off shoring. A company called SeaCode is proposing to offer employment to 600 programmers on a ship. At sea. Off the coast of California to be specific.
The company’s business plan in a nutshell is to park a used cruise ship off the cost near Los Angeles and run a round-the-clock programming shop. The operation link to the onshore world via T3 speed microwave connections and cell phones with U.S. telecommunications vendors supplying phone and Internet access. The notion is to avoid federal H1-B visa restrictions and offer lower-cost software development options for US companies. Workers would have a room, food and other amenities and if they want to leave they can call a water taxi, the company says.
The company’s plan, as one might expect has generated a variety of negative and positive opinions. Some call it a sweat-ship while others say it’s an interesting nearshoring-like idea.

Back to Outsourcing Notes

Comments

Post a comment

Name:


E-mail address:


URL:


Comments:


Remember info?