Offshore Outsourcing: The Indian Alternative

by Marty McCaffrey

In a 1999 article in a computer industry periodical that focused on the backlog of work and the shortage of qualified software professionals, a CIO of a Fortune 1000 company was asked if outsourcing offshore had been considered as a possible alternative. His reply was something like: "Well, we tried outsourcing to an Indian company back in 1992, and it just didn't work out. There were communications problems and poor documentation." Our response to this gentleman is: you are missing the boat -- this industry has changed dramatically since 1992. But unfortunately, it is precisely this type of unfavorable generalization in discussions between IT leaders that has prevented many companies from seriously considering offshore outsourcing as a means to help their companies remain competitive by providing needed IT solutions.