A look at offshore outsourcing

Few IT topics stir so much emotion, angst, fear and misunderstanding than offshore outsourcing.

Rarely a day goes by without some group putting out a new study on the subject. One concludes offshoring is purely the devil’s work that will make the U.S. fall into the sea. The next will show that companies moving work offshore are saving billions and benefiting from it so much they wish they had done it sooner.

Our staff has put together a package that will help clarify some of the major offshoring issues.

In our lead story we look at the reasons there is such a dichotomy of views on the subject and look at the reasons companies are offshoring – or not. On the pro side there are important motivations, not the least of which is cost savings. But in a separate piece we look at the downsides, which include everything from language barriers to lost business.

While much of the offshoring discussion to date has swirled around India, we have a story about emerging countries like Belarus and Estonia who’d like to land that business. That could mean more savings but infrastructure problems may be insurmountable. Back in the U.S. we take a look at how offshoring has become a political hot potato. New regulations on the state level are making it difficult for state IT work to be outsourced. Can federal regulations be far behind?

Finally, our package concludes with two industry executives debating whether offshoring’s benefits outweigh its drawbacks. https://www.nwfusion.com/supp/2004/offshoring/