Post #252,638
4/19/06 3:44:17 PM
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Ah, we've taken the first step, grasshopper.
You're close. The department that is IT is measured in cost to provide those deliverables that the business partners expect.
There is no other value that can be quantified. Dollars for services rendered.
So while you have raised valid concerns about what may happen in an outsource (loss of control, mismanagement, intellectual capital loss, misaligned goals)...the true end is this...
If an outsource can deliver that report to me more cost effectively than an insource...then you have no argument. And this article validates that in the engagements they studied, you have no argument.
You may consider this "short-sighted". Unfortunately for you, this is also how it is in the real world. Its not a pendulum. It will not swing back, so don't wait for it.
If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. Fudd's First Law of Opposition
[link|mailto:bepatient@aol.com|BePatient]
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Post #252,641
4/19/06 4:52:00 PM
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Cost <> price.
The fact that it will not fit easily into an Excel spreadsheet does NOT change that fact. Businesses that indulge in outsourcing based soley on a overly-simplistic bottom line of a spreadsheet will end up incurring costs that will hurt them competitvely.
And it WILL swing back, when delivery dates are missed, dollars are spent on additional resources to compensate, infrastructure is mismanaged and not fixed in a timely fasion, when the agendas of the outsourcers are foisted off on the clients, etc - management will get tired of it. After going through a few different outsource providers, and dabbling in offshoring, they'll get it. This madness may take a long time to play out, as people are rarely willing to admit mistakes. It will happen, though. (Again, except in companies that have fundamental problems or resource/budget constraints - those that NEED to 'outsource a kidney via dialysis')
Imric's Tips for Living
- Paranoia Is a Survival Trait
- Pessimists are never disappointed - but sometimes, if they are very lucky, they can be pleasantly surprised...
- Even though everyone is out to get you, it doesn't matter unless you let them win.
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Nothing is as simple as it seems in the beginning,
As hopeless as it seems in the middle,
Or as finished as it seems in the end.
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Post #252,649
4/19/06 6:03:32 PM
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I have a hard time agreeing with any of this
as long as there are companies that continue to do this and put themselves in a competitive cost position amongst their peer companies. The rest of your rant is assumption you treat as given (missed deadlines, reduced service, additional resources et al)
If industry benchmark says company X spends 2.25% on IT and via an outsource company Y reduces that number to 1.75%, then they have, in that area, given themselves an extra .5% margin which they can use to price their services/wares at more competitive offerings to their customers...or simply to earn more profit.
If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. Fudd's First Law of Opposition
[link|mailto:bepatient@aol.com|BePatient]
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Post #252,678
4/19/06 10:43:42 PM
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So dollars are all. The spreadsheet is king.
YOUR assertion.
Outsource everything business depends on then. Everything is a commodity, interchangable, right?
The price you pay is always on the spreadsheet, the number of employees used = productivity.
After all if outsourced employees 'save' you money by charging 1.75% instead of 2.25%, it must be just as effective, as flexible, and as aligned with your business goals as employees you hire yourself, given that salary levels are the same, and that an outsourcing company has additional overhead (additional management).
Right. Whatever.
Imric's Tips for Living
- Paranoia Is a Survival Trait
- Pessimists are never disappointed - but sometimes, if they are very lucky, they can be pleasantly surprised...
- Even though everyone is out to get you, it doesn't matter unless you let them win.
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Nothing is as simple as it seems in the beginning,
As hopeless as it seems in the middle,
Or as finished as it seems in the end.
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Post #252,700
4/20/06 12:44:05 AM
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Not everything.
But good portions of IT are. And in those cases, like it or not, the spreadsheet does become king (because thats what management and the shareholders look at)
If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. Fudd's First Law of Opposition
[link|mailto:bepatient@aol.com|BePatient]
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Post #252,724
4/20/06 7:09:38 AM
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roundandroundandroundandround
Imric's Tips for Living
- Paranoia Is a Survival Trait
- Pessimists are never disappointed - but sometimes, if they are very lucky, they can be pleasantly surprised...
- Even though everyone is out to get you, it doesn't matter unless you let them win.
|
Nothing is as simple as it seems in the beginning,
As hopeless as it seems in the middle,
Or as finished as it seems in the end.
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