If I hear one more person complain that outsourcing is the major reason for the seemingly intractable U.S. unemployment rate, I will scream. I live in Las Vegas, which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. Here is a quote from a letter to the editor of the local paper dated July 13:
Headline: “Nation’s jobs have gone overseas to the detriment of the U.S.”
Letter: “All I hear is, “Where are the jobs? The answer is they are overseas. … I don’t see other countries sending their jobs to the USA. How come?”
The jingoistic… Read the rest
The long-term evolution of industries has long been studied. A small market grows when competitors fill niches and primary demand increases. Innovation sparks products. Services refinement and differentiation then occurs. More providers enter the market and then, as the growth cycle matures, scale and leverage become forces for consolidation. Now joining those ranks: the IT and business process outsourcing industry.
Three recent transactions – HP buys EDS, Dell buys Perot Systems, and Xerox purchases ACS – point to a future where “one-stop shopping” indeed becomes a reality in the outsourcing market.
With IBM Global Services leading this pack of “full-service” providers, what… Read the rest
“Fear and uncertainty gripped the city” . . . “Rumors have been swirling” . . . . A great opening line like these just isn’t coming to mind today for this blog. Nevertheless, the importance of the outsourcing news items I’m blogging about shouldn’t be underestimated. Making my pulse list today are outsourcing developments we should all keep on our radar screens.
But then . . . along came IBM. Amidst countless media articles and industry surveys and reports predicting the adoption of outsourced cloud services are many that point to the inherent security risks and complexities that may slow adoption. But… Read the rest
Welcome to the first edition of my Outsourcing Pulse List. What is it? A periodic list of observations about what outsourcing industry companies and individuals do or say. The Pulse List will feature those that miss a beat, some that never miss a beat, those with new beats that radiate with wide ramifications, and sudden fluctuations. Curious, out-of-whack ideas, items of concern, and also insightful statements – that’s some of what you’ll find in the Pulse List. You may even find yourself or your company on the list.
Since this is the list’s debut, we’ll start with two lists –… Read the rest
Surfing the net a couple of days ago to stay on top of industry news as it happens, four articles caught my eye and took me off auto-pilot long enough to read every word.
The article in Gulf Times, a Qatar newspaper, began with this statement made by Azim Premji, the renowned Indian entrepreneur and chairman of Wipro:
“India is far from where it needs to be …. Country after country is stepping ahead.”
It seems to me that for a long time the media has treated the words “India” and “outsourcing” almost as though they were synonymous. That… Read the rest
Taking stock of what I read and heard about outsourcing news and deals recently, it’s evident that many people are predisposed to opinions and expectations about outsourcing. People are either inclined toward, prejudiced against, enthusiastic, unwilling, wedded to, or averse to outsourcing. Several comments caught my attention.
A little bit of tongue in cheek –
Of course, if outsourcing were anything close to a security silver bullet, we’d all be working for IBM.
Diving into the issues –
Fujitsu is bringing the role of Officer of Continuous Improvement to an Enterprise near you. Forget the clipboard
I know what you’re thinking: That the title of today’s blog post must be a trick since Outsourcing Buzz Blog is presumably a strong advocate for all things outsourcing. You’d be only partly correct. If I could change things, I’d get rid of the term “offshoring.” The term is a lightning rod for do-or-die turf and political struggles, and it no longer embodies what it really is – if it ever did.
Years ago, when companies first began sending their outsourced IT and business processes to India, outsourcing made such big splashes with the stories of cost-savings possible through labor… Read the rest
Recent Comments
“Thanks for Informative and interesting ”
“Hi, I'm here for the first time and I'd say "Thank you" for this article. At last someone launched a text ...”
“Everything in life has pros and cons. While technology is great and provided us many great things, it is ...”
“Microsoft is a great example of a company to study that has had some great relationships and some horrible relationships. ...”
“Great article, wish I could have attended the SHRM Conference. Thanks for sharing this outline, invaluable. ”
“State Street Corporation has just begun their IT transformation which included the outsourcing of the entire IT department to IBM ...”
“I much prefer informative articles like this to that high brow literature. ”
“I'm surprised it took this long to realize the upcoming change. We've been outsourcing functions at a fixed cost for ...”