Training seen as way to counter offshoring

John Ribeiro   Today’s Top Stories   or  Other Outsourcing Stories  

Eric Schmidt and Douglas Merrill talk about Google Apps Google Applications Quick Tour Get a Grip on Storage Growth and Reduce Costs Web 2.0 The New Face of the Web Best Practices in Choosing and Consuming Managed Security Services A Guide to Messaging Archiving Learn-Fast Guide: It's All About You Computerworld Report- Large Enterprises Pay More for IPAM An Apple for Your Enterprise? Sign up to receive Outsourcing Resource Alerts

August 13, 2004 (IDG News Service) -- Protectionist barriers such as visa restrictions may only accelerate the trend by U.S. companies to outsource software development work offshore, IT market analyst Edward Yourdon says in a book on outsourcing set for release in October.
Yourdon, a co-founder and fellow of the Cutter Consortium, an IT advisory firm in Arlington, Mass., had forecast over a decade ago in his earlier book, Decline and Fall of the American Programmer, that software development jobs would move offshore to countries like India that could deliver similar or better quality software at lower costs.
That forecast was largely accurate, though the dot-com boom helped cushion the impact on American workers. Although the American programmer is far from extinct, tens of thousands of U.S. software jobs are being moved to countries like India and Russia.
In Yourdon's new book, Outsource: Competing in the Global Productivity Race, the new threat is not only to U.S. software development jobs but also to all kinds of knowledge work, from call centers and help desk operations to legal services and clinical research operations in the pharmaceutical industry.
Knowledge work of all kinds is more likely to be a global commodity, and companies striving to compete in a global economy will continue to seek the lowest-cost, highest-quality providers of products and services, wherever they may be located, according to Yourdon.
However, the business decision to outsource is predicated not only on the comparatively lower cost of workers in offshore locations, but also on their relative productivity and quality. The productivity argument can be used effectively to justify keeping some knowledge-based work in the U.S., according to Yourdon. Some software companies, for example, prefer to hire in the U.S. because the productivity of the U.S. staff is far higher than in India for the work they are doing.
Although India has emerged as the archetypical example of an offshore outsourcing location because of its cheap, well-educated and English-speaking workforce, China may not be far behind, according to Yourdon. The country can offer cheaper staff than India, and workers who are as well educated.
It might take another generation to produce a core of Chinese knowledge workers who can speak English "comfortably and effectively," according to Yourdon. But the consensus among executives in the Indian IT industry is that it might be less than a decade before China reaches the same level of knowledge-based exports that India has taken 15 to 20 years to achieve, he said.
China's emerging knowledge-based outsourcing industry will not only affect American jobs at the low end, but could also affect product developers. An announcement last year that China, Japan and South Korea would collaborate on

Continued...
1 | 2 | NEXT  

Reprinted with permission from

IDG.net
Story copyright 2008 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

Print this Story

Send Us Feedback

E-mail this Story

Digg this Story

Slashdot this Story

"This start-up company is going through the ISO 9000 certification process, and as this pilot fish leafs through a three-inch..." Read more... "This pilot fish works at a telco that provides DSL hardware access to ISPs. Total number of users: in the..." Read more... Read more Management posts or See all Blogs

Microsoft dissed Intel's 915 chipset before making 'Vista Capable' changes Microsoft dumps OneCare, slates free security software for '09 Ballmer: Yahoo acquisition won't happen, despite Yang's departure More top stories...

Obama administration to inherit tough cybersecurity challenges BlackBerry Storm sales should be strong, Verizon says Google deal produces 91% of Mozilla's revenue

2008 Salary Survey: IT pay takes tiny leaps If you're like our 7,000 survey respondents, your paycheck this year has been flattened and your bonus obliterated. We offer 12 ways to plump up your paycheck. Windows 7 in-depth review and video: This time Microsoft gets it right Microsoft's next OS might more accurately be called Windows 6.5: It's essentially a better version of Vista. Twitter for business: 5 ways to tap the power of the tweet Twitter can be a valuable business tool -- if you know what you're doing. Here's how to juice it for all it's worth. Microsoft's 'Vista Capable' changes outraged HP, insider e-mails show By helping Intel with loosened 'Vista Capable' requirements, Microsoft 'severely damaged' its credibility, said an HP exec in a newly unsealed Feb. 2006 e-mail. Windows 7 Get the latest news, reviews and more about Microsoft's newest desktop operating system More Continuing Coverage Windows 7 Voting Technology Google's Chrome browser Economy in turmoil: Latest news and tips iPhone 3G Bill Gates moves on Windows Vista A to Z Mac A to Z 2008 Salary Survey Find wage data for 50 IT job titles. More Special Reports 2008 Premier 100 IT Leaders 2007 Premier 100 IT Leaders 2008 Best Places to Work in IT 2007 Best Places to Work in IT 2008 Salary Survey 2007 Salary Survey 2006 Salary Survey 2008 IT Forecast 2007 IT Forecast 40 Years of Computerworld Top 12 Green-IT Users The FAQs About Going Green IT Schools to Watch iPhone: One Year Later Global Mobile Your Next Data Center Management: Reinventing IT Stop Data Leaks Web 2.0 Security Surviving Disasters Managing Storage Virtualization The Lean Storage Machine Storage on Trial Can Web 2.0 Save BI? Bypass These BI Potholes All Zones Business Continuity Zone The File Data Management Zone Security Management Zone The SAS Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone The Enterprise Search Zone Software as a Service Zone The Security Zone See your link here

Learn-Fast Guide: It's All About You (Source: Computerworld) Is your career in sync with the current megatrends: business alignment, globalization, the consumerization of IT, web 2.0 and beyond? In this guide, you'll get advice about how to make yourself more valuable, how to make the global talent pool work for you and how to make sure you "get found" when you put yourself out there. Download this executive briefing  How Much Will an Office 2007 and Vista Migration Hurt? Download this white paper, free, compliments of PCHelps Support! (Source: PCHelps Support) The anticipation of rolling out Office 2007 and Vista to thousands of end users has many IT professionals sounding like youngsters at the doctor's office who are about to get a shot. The question they just can't get out of their minds is, "How much will it hurt?" Download this white paper  From Laggard to Leader: Transforming the Data Center From Laggard to Leader: Transforming the Data Center Register for this complimentary webcast today! Go to the webcast  White Papers Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Deploying Virtualized NetWare on Linux Whitepaper Collaboration Tools and Organizational Success Driving Business Success Through Workgroup Choice and Flexibility View more whitepapers

• Microsoft dissed Intel's 915 chipset before making 'Vista Capable' changes
• Obama administration to inherit tough cybersecurity challenges
• Microsoft dumps OneCare, slates free security software for '09
• More top stories 

Creating Tiered Storage Architecture This paper shows how Brocade StorageX enables tiers of storage across Windows and NetApp storage to align storage practices with organizational objectives. Download this white paper now!