Has outsourcing cracked up to be all that?

Question

Would you outsource? Why? Why not?

Answer 1

Hi,

There have been many studies which state the potential trade offs on outsourcing. It has been shown to be extremely advantages for some organizations on some projects. Most of the studies produced in the last 2 years or so have scaled back on the estimated savings; however, it is impossible to completely write off the process of outsourcing.

The best time to use outsourcing are projects which require significant coding/technical resources with very straightforwrd business logic. You also want to work with a reputable outsourcer who has a set developoment methodogy in place. Also, there is additional management overhead when outsourcing so the smallest projects are often better kept in house.

The worst projects for outsourcing are projects with high volatility with poor requirements. There are also some projects which need to be kept in house due to security concerns.

In closing, outsourcing can be very profitable, but it is important that the project manager/CTO understands the strategic and business reasons of the decision.

Cheers,

Answer 2

Yep - its cheaper.