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What Everyone
Should Know About Outsourcing To India! Or Indian Freelancers!
Outsource me, I'm Programmable
"Here, as I sip on my cuppa decaf, sitting in the comfort
of my home, 'programming and outsourcing' can only be the
last thing on my mind. After all, I've my business and job
in place and am doing well for now!" Can this be you
talking? If so, then also ask yourself "Am I just fine
the way I am or am I missing out on a Christmas Bonanza by
not being tuned into the latest on the outsourcing front?"
If you are forward thinking, you would regard
information as an essential strategic tool for furthering
your business or career. Read on, because I've a hell lot
of information to help you with, whether you are a manager,
entrepreneur or a programmer yourself.
No matter how much you would hate being 'Bangalored'
yourself, but this sure seems to be the latest fad amongst
all the big and small businesses in the world, and I'm not
even sure whether to call it a trend as it rather seems to
be "the" way to do business in this millenium. Just
google your way to an insight into how much an Indian programmer
is in demand by those willing to outsource and I'm not surprised
if it feels like "Am I in danger of falling behind in
business or career if I don't outsource or get some outsourced
job?"
SOME FACTS AND FINDINGS:
Over the last few years, business process outsourcing
has changed the way the world does business, and this trend
is only likely to accelerate, as indicated by the following
research:
1) Business Process Outsourcing is now the
fastest growing segment within IT services. By 2007, offshore
BPO will account for 14% of the total BPO market, compared
with only 1% in 2003. (Gartner)
2) Global market for outsourcing is estimated to grow at an
annual rate of 7 percent to 1.2 trillion dollars by 2007.
(IDC)
3) 73 % of U.S. executives interviewed said their companies
presently outsource one or more business processes to external
service providers (Price Waterhouse Coopers)
4) 84% of large company CEOs are satisfied with their outsourcing
experience (Yankelovich)
5) Market perception has shifted from outsourcing as a way
for companies to meet short term financial objectives to a
technique for strong companies to improve competitive positions
(Gartner Group)
WHY OUTSOURCE?
Outsourcing or Off shoring your programming
needs to India is now well accepted as a sound business decision.
Top executives the world over are increasingly using outsourcing
as a strategic tool for gaining competitive edge, increasing
profitability and hence ultimately building shareholder value.
For instance, Sun Microsystems Inc. is setting up a software
research and development center in India and the management
says "it is the ease of hiring a large number of skilled
and competent programmers in India " that tempted them
to choose India as their outsourcing destination.
So pull up your socks for all the goodies that
are up there for grabs. Here is just a small preview:
1. You pay a salary anywhere upwards of $4,000
monthly per programmer. And this is excluding the bonuses
and other benefits like travel, relocation, insurance, sick
leave expenses etc. While for the same amount of job outsourced
to an Indian programmer, you pay only a small fraction for
the labor (because of the conversion rate of the USD being
approx. $1 = 45 INR) and nil for other costs. So, you save
on your labor costs.
2. You don't have to invest in the infrastructure,
hiring and training, recurrent operating costs and other overheads
since outsourcing is on contractual basis and the programmers
come with their own offices, hardware and software requirements.
Besides, you cut on the soaring real estate costs and rents
of owning plush office space in a strategic location. So,
you delete your enormous capital costs of doing it all in-house.
3. The capital released or saved in this manner
can be channeled by your business into its core competencies.
4. You don't have to worry about the quality
either, since you are tapping into the experience and expertise
of seasoned programmers. As a benefit of having specialized
skills at your service, you are now able to provide better
service levels to the end user as compared to what an internal
department can provide.
5. You can retain your focus on your core processes
and customer needs which directly impact your bottom line,
instead of worrying about the peripheral processes which are
now being handled by someone who's really good at it..
6. Outsourcing works out as a greater efficiency
generator in terms of improved speed and better service quality
without having to invest in people and technology.
7. If you are a small business or entrepreneur
with lesser capital flow, you stand to be largely benefited
by outsourcing as you can now manage bigger facilities at
fractional costs and your customers get services at par in
quality with the services provided by big businesses.
8. When there is a time crunch and deadlines
are fast approaching with their monstrous mouths wide open,
you don't have to shout at your already stressed out employees,
just take a dive at the chill pool of outsourcing and relax.
Your work and your deadlines will be taken care of. Besides,
you can start new projects much quickly and with no hassles.
9. For small work volumes and intermittent
jobs, it is sensible if you outsource instead of hiring full-time
employees.
10. With the 'Virtualization' of office, you
don't have to deal with the stress and headache of constantly
monitoring at your office. Now you have more flexibility,
freedom and mobility and can manage projects online.
11. The more depersonalized virtual work atmosphere
is conducive to making wiser business decisions. No organizational
politics to deal with, a fairly clean system!
In short, you save your time, money, energy,
focus and resources and you are spoilt for choices too! That
is why I think, now you can really make hay while the sun
shines, or shall I say, save bucks while the Indian works.
WHY INDIA?
APPREHENSIONS ENDED
Initially, clients would outsource only low
skill coding projects to India but with India's reputation
as the offshore destination for quality and innovation now
being well established, global customers are now queuing up
for custom made software solutions and outsourcing all programming
and software development needs ranging from systems analysis,
designing, coding, writing, implementation, and testing. This
comes as a pleasant recognition of its vast talent pool, a
populace comfortable with English language and focus on quality
output.
According to NASSCOM, India's premier trade
body of IT, software and services industry, India's share
of the global offshore outsourcing market for software and
back-office services is 44%. Current ITES export from India
is about US $230 million and it is expected to grow to US
$17 billion by 2008. During the last 2-3 years, the number
of offshore programming jobs outsourced to India has almost
tripled. Countries like the US and UK are increasingly outsourcing
programming and coding to India.
1) Talented software programmers, the highest
number of CMM Level 5 certified companies, several Indian
IT companies listed on the NYSE and NASDAQ, a large number
of Fortune 500 companies outsourcing their software needs
to India, are all well known facts. India being the first
choice of the big players in the Industry, only adds to its
credibility.
2) To add to the effect, Indian democracy lends
stability to its free market oriented economy and governmental
policy is focused upon encouraging more foreign investment
in software development and IT services.
3) Clearly, India has become the leader in
offshore contracting services because of its low labor costs,
widespread use of the English language, various tax advantages,
supportive government policies, competent and cost effective
solutions, appreciation for software development disciplines,
diverse programming skills, best brainpower and rock bottom
development costs (Indian costs are roughly one-third of international
costs).
4) Indian legal system has evolved to be highly
supportive of international contracts and Indian economy is
in tune with the new realities of the globalized world, so
that should take care of your 'what if' doubts.
India is a huge sea of educated and English speaking manpower,
which includes a vast pool of skilled programmers and IT professionals,
thanks to India's educational tradition of strong mathematics
and science and a strong system of tertiary education. India's
democratic stability, supportive government policies and dependable
judicial system lends a safety net to its already time tested
credentials .You have no legal hurdles to overcome if you
outsource to India. Infact, thanks to its stupendous economic
and domestic market growth, India is now witnessing reverse
brain drain for being the new economic hot-spot. All this
gives India the competitive edge vis-à-vis the other
upcoming outsourcing markets of the world.
Businesses are beginning to look to the emerging
Internet IT Services firms for help. Whether you are a programmer
or a business you can make your bid in the outsourcing market
through the various channels, a popular one being using the
specialized web portals. These provide for an interactive
consulting process through which the project manager defines
and specifies the challenges and details of the project with
his online vendor. Mechanisms have evolved over the time to
ensure fair and ethical business practices.
In an world with increasing technology in all aspects of life
and workplace, and rapidly changing technology and standards,
the only viable and feasible way to retain a competitive edge
is, to enlist the services of specialists in the field rather
than creating and maintaining your own IT department. This
makes sure you are in step with the latest technology and
you've in a way outsourced your risk management on this front
to specialists who can take care of it better. You can now
outsource for a vast range of your IT needs. A few of them
are:
Software development services
Programming Languages, ASP, .NET, C#, VB Script, Java Script,
ASP, PHP, Java, HTML, C,C++, Visual C++, Java beans, JSP,
EJB, VB
Data warehousing and mining
E-commerce applications
Proof checks
EDI and Integration
DOS, Windows 95/98/2000, Windows NT
Support of spreadsheets, word-processing and various 3rd party
applications
PC hardware and networking
Web Development Services like Portals, e-commerce consulting,
e-business, IT consulting, Domain registration, Graphics/Web
design, Website promotion, Web-enabled applications, Website
maintenance, Web hosting, e-marketplaces, web applications,
XML and EDI operations, implementation assistance, security
administration
Java / J2EE technology, Application Servers (WebLogic, JBoss,
Websphere, etc.)
Open architecture technologies: XML
Embedded / mobile solutions (J2ME, WinCE, eVB, eVC++, PocketPC,
WAP / WML, etc.)
Databases from different vendors (Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL,
etc.)
WHAT'S IN THERE FOR THE INDIAN?
When an Indian freelancer takes on the challenge
of claiming his share in the outsourcing pie, you know that
he has arrived.
If you are a programmer, you will be only happy to freelance
for an outsourced job since, for you, payments would come
in multiples of (approximately) Rs. 45 or more and this can
only grow further.
By freelancing, you can be your own boss and get rid of the
supervisor breathing down your neck.
You can take up just the projects that really interest you
and give them your best instead of doing all sorts of boring
odds and ends in a regular office job.
Translating into your life, outsourcing can be a great equalizer
since a virtual office trivializes the effect of stature.
Your customers will only meet your skills and not your appearance
or personality (you can save a bath for the rainy day!) and
therefore the personal biases of the project manager can't
come into the play while delegating jobs. Moreover, evaluation
would be totally fair.
For skilled women and the elderly folks who are forced to
stay back home for some reason, you can freelance and program
your way to financial glory and self-fulfillment.
The liberty gained by opting to be a freelancer releases a
programmer from the regimented office life and give him all
the freedom to be more in control of his life.
THE FINAL WORD
Here we have a scenario where both the programmers
and the businesses stand in a win-win situation. There will
always be people who would resist change and decry the advantages
of globalization in general and outsourcing in particular,
for various reasons. But, each one of us can choose whether
we like our oblivion enough or we wake up to the new reality,
adapt to it and embrace it as a productive part of our lives
and businesses. So, let's get on board this global opportunity
or else, as we know, only the fittest shall survive and thrive.
Ps: This aricle is the property of
e-guru.in and cannot be republished anywhere else.
"Authored by Nadine Gibraltar for e-guru.in"
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