Miners, shipbuilders, IT contractors?

[BrilloPad]

How easy did you find it to switch over ?

Very tough. My perm salary is very high - but my wife does not work (2 disabled kids) so I miss the income transference. Take home about 30% less. But the work is steady.

Bigger issue is the politics. Easy to rise above it as a contractor. I can't be too detailed as it would identify the IB - but it is apprasial based. I have had 4 so far - 1 brilliant, 2 were very good and 1 average (which for me is very bad). The average 1 was entirely politically driven. In my first 25 years in IB I got on with everyone apart from 2 morons who were hated by all. In the next week I doubled that total - and I have sworn revenge on those 2. The city is a small place - I will catch up with them. One of those 2 was a friend - his daughter has health issues similar to my sons and I gave him tons of advice. f**ker.

[MyUserName]

In my last appraisal when I was perm I got a negative review with stuff that was factually incorrect, badly compared and one issue which was put down to my poor problem solving but was actually my manager not understanding fractions. I decided to leave but found out a few months later that he had a massive crush on my wife ... possibly a co-incidence?

However, I now run my own company and am far happier so he did me a massive favour.

[bobspud]

Ironically I think we are about to see the exact opposite. I say this for three reasons.

I see more clients that are fed up and want out of outsourcing than was the case 5 or 6 years ago.
The costs savings were really easy to find at first. But now the external offshore costs have risen sharply and the home markets rates are falling to more sensible levels.
The more I get to see inside the outsourcers the more I can see vast and expensive **** ups begging to happen.

IMO it's a matter of WHEN not IF a story breaks in the register for XYZ co being wiped out because their DR plan wasn't worth the paper the outsourcers said it was written on.

I bet if you asked 100 ITD's & FD's the following questions if they answered honestly you'd kill out sourcing over night.

1) Did you save all the money you set out to save?
1b if not why do you think that is?
1c do you think you could have the money if you tried again from scratch?
2) How fast could you provision a new server before you went outsourced?
3) How long does it take today?
3) How many servers did you used to own?
4) How many servers do you have now?
5) Do costed changes and server additions end up costing more or less than you expect to pay?
5a) Does the contract costs of adding a server into your managed environment ever stop you from doing something you would have done when it was your own infrastructure...
6) When you speak to your help desk do you feel they help or try to ensure they meet their SLA?
7) Have you had to rollback a planned change in the last year?
7a) how many times?
7b) When making a large change in your environment, do you feel the people making the change understand the technical aspects of what they are doing in relation to your business?
8) Are you confident that you could enact your DR plan in an emergency if all the outsourcers customers at the same DC also needed the same service?

As many clients that take on the offshoring paradigm. I think there are more and more that just want out and need experienced Architects and visionaries to show them the way back to internally managed.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Ironically I think we are about to see the exact opposite. I say this for three reasons.

I see more clients that are fed up and want out of outsourcing than was the case 5 or 6 years ago.
The costs savings were really easy to find at first. But now the external offshore costs have risen sharply and the home markets rates are falling to more sensible levels.
The more I get to see inside the outsourcers the more I can see vast and expensive **** ups begging to happen.

IMO it's a matter of WHEN not IF a story breaks in the register for XYZ co being wiped out because their DR plan wasn't worth the paper the outsourcers said it was written on.

I bet if you asked 100 ITD's & FD's the following questions if they answered honestly you'd kill out sourcing over night.

1) Did you save all the money you set out to save?
1b if not why do you think that is?
1c do you think you could have the money if you tried again from scratch?
2) How fast could you provision a new server before you went outsourced?
3) How long does it take today?
3) How many servers did you used to own?
4) How many servers do you have now?
5) Do costed changes and server additions end up costing more or less than you expect to pay?
5a) Does the contract costs of adding a server into your managed environment ever stop you from doing something you would have done when it was your own infrastructure...
6) When you speak to your help desk do you feel they help or try to ensure they meet their SLA?
7) Have you had to rollback a planned change in the last year?
7a) how many times?
7b) When making a large change in your environment, do you feel the people making the change understand the technical aspects of what they are doing in relation to your business?
8) Are you confident that you could enact your DR plan in an emergency if all the outsourcers customers at the same DC also needed the same service?

As many clients that take on the offshoring paradigm. I think there are more and more that just want out and need experienced Architects and visionaries to show them the way back to internally managed.

Interesting. Even when we are talking about technical roles things are not black and white when it comes to outsourcing. Before I left my previous role I got a look at the CVs and skillsets of the people applying for my role and there really is a shortage of highly skilled and good quality technical people. Here I am talking about more than just coding - somebody who can communicate with people internally as will as stake holders and deliver beyond what they require effectively. So you might be able to offshore coding to some bob in Asia but that doesn't mean all technical roles require that kind of technical ability...

[Wils]

Is outsourcing something that is in full swing in finance only? I work as a Java dev in a media org. No sign of outsourcing at all. Not even mentioned among the devs. The only outsourcing I have seen is to other UK companies that specialise in something that the in-house team doesn't have.

The finance companies are usually quite conservative and resistant to change in their practices, so I am wondering if all this talk of outsourcing is because those companies are only just going through what other more dynamic companies have been through - and moved on from - ten years ago.

All these anxieties seem very last decade from where I am sitting. But maybe I have my head in the sand?

[northernladuk]

In my last appraisal when I was perm I got a negative review with stuff that was factually incorrect, badly compared and one issue which was put down to my poor problem solving but was actually my manager not understanding fractions. I decided to leave but found out a few months later that he had a massive crush on my wife ... possibly a co-incidence?

However, I now run my own company and am far happier so he did me a massive favour.

As long as it is only you he is doing a favour to......

[MyUserName]

As long as it is only you he is doing a favour to......

[Antman]

One thing's for sure, Billy Bragg aint gonna be singing about us!

[bobspud]

Interesting. Even when we are talking about technical roles things are not black and white when it comes to outsourcing. Before I left my previous role I got a look at the CVs and skillsets of the people applying for my role and there really is a shortage of highly skilled and good quality technical people. Here I am talking about more than just coding - somebody who can communicate with people internally as will as stake holders and deliver beyond what they require effectively. So you might be able to offshore coding to some bob in Asia but that doesn't mean all technical roles require that kind of technical ability...

WHS +1

There is a future is in the business interface roles.

Enterprise Architect
Design Authority
Solution Architect
Technical Architect
Business Analyst
Consultancy

These roles are 80% business focused and mostly soft skills based.

[Wils]

WHS +1

There is a future is in the business interface roles.

Enterprise Architect
Design Authority
Solution Architect
Technical Architect
Business Analyst
Consultancy

These roles are 80% business focused and mostly soft skills based.

Not if this keeps traction Leaner Programmer Anarchy | Agile 2011