Reply to: Outsourcing in UK?

[oracleslave]

No certainty in anything. The only thing I know is I need to keep doing this , if I wanna have a proper business in the end. I am torn between dedicating myself to that and contracting , since the latter does give some immediate financial gains , whereas outsourcing is just an idea.

Am not saying it won't work but I think there may be some difficulties. First off you will end up becoming just a broker. So you will find the business and then ship it offshore. In order to find sufficient business I suspect it will require all of your time. Ultimately your margins are also likely to be squeezed. Then you have the admin, sla agreements etc etc to consider. However things worth achieving are not done without considerable effort so best of luck.

[2uk]

It does sound like a lot of effort from an administrative perspective. Are you certain the potential returns will make it worth your while?

No certainty in anything. The only thing I know is I need to keep doing this , if I wanna have a proper business in the end. I am torn between dedicating myself to that and contracting , since the latter does give some immediate financial gains , whereas outsourcing is just an idea.

[oracleslave]

I've gotten to the point of signing contracts with coding/training partners. Now I need to find how do I market these outsourcing services. ( I am kinda doing all this in my free time so don't have time for a proper business plan - pretty much doing it on demand) .

Also I need to employ someone to respond to enquiries, etc. I don't have time for that in my 8 hour work week. And really I am fed up with 14 hours work day - 8 hours work and 4 hours study afterwards.

I figure I can pay some Indy ( my mum is another option ) to answer queries from potential clients . There are services like FetFriday that do that - 8 pounds per hour per Indy.

It does sound like a lot of effort from an administrative perspective. Are you certain the potential returns will make it worth your while?

[2uk]

I've gotten to the point of signing contracts with coding/training partners. Now I need to find how do I market these outsourcing services. ( I am kinda doing all this in my free time so don't have time for a proper business plan - pretty much doing it on demand) .

Also I need to employ someone to respond to enquiries, etc. I don't have time for that in my 8 hour work week. And really I am fed up with 14 hours work day - 8 hours work and 4 hours study afterwards.

I figure I can pay some Indy ( my mum is another option ) to answer queries from potential clients . There are services like FetFriday that do that - 8 pounds per hour per Indy.

[oracleslave]

Forum that is about IT outsourcing trends ? Or resource where I can get myself educated on the subject.

Am not aware of an outsourcing forum per say but I suspect there are lots of business web sites out there that have columnists that will write about it.

[oracleslave]

Forum that is about IT outsourcong trends ? Or resource where I can get myself educated on the subject.

outsourcing

This is proving challenging

[2uk]

outsourcing

What are you looking for more specifically?

Forum that is about IT outsourcing trends ? Or resource where I can get myself educated on the subject.

[oracleslave]

Does anyone know any "getting started with IT outsorcing" forums or similar resource on the Internet ?

I wanna dig into this area.

outsourcing

What are you looking for more specifically?

[2uk]

Does anyone know any "getting started with IT outsorcing" forums or similar resource on the Internet ?

I wanna dig into this area.

[Fishface]

To the point where Indian companies are now outsourcing to China and other Far East countries.

And to Latin America especially Uruguay and Argentina because there is a large population of educated bilingual Spanish-English people for the North American market.

However, LATAM inflation will soon put a stop to that.

[oracleslave]

To the point where Indian companies are now outsourcing to China and other Far East countries.

Agreed. I found out last week the client has an offshore team in Mumbai and Moldova. Moldova certainly was a new one on me. Not sure if the fact I read Tony Hawkes will help though.

[DaveB]

Wage inflation in India is arond 15% so yes the benefits are eroding slightly. However there is still a significant enough gap to make it an attractive proposition given the right circumstances.

To the point where Indian companies are now outsourcing to China and other Far East countries.

[oracleslave]

Yes, but the cost benefits seem to be eroding fast, especially in India.

Wage inflation in India is arond 15% so yes the benefits are eroding slightly. However there is still a significant enough gap to make it an attractive proposition given the right circumstances.

[rootsnall]

My last contract role got outsourced to the Philippines by Accenture once it was becoming more of a support job. If it's possible to outsource something they will. I think the consultancies are a bit more cautious about developing new stuff offshore unless they can get a dumb enough client to foot the bill for the ensuing mess.

[Devlin]

Yes, but the cost benefits seem to be eroding fast, especially in India.