Status Quo

There were very few notes supporting in-house management but offshoring of line staff. Perhaps that's because it is the status quo and few feel energized to support that which "just is."

Or perhaps it's that, like cannibalism, the practitioners feel that it's a necessary evil if you're hungry enough (in this case, for a way to add some meat to the bottom line).

The best of the bunch is from the pseudonymous "King Hills." He argues that you need management to be local so it can provide leadership to the offshored staff:

The concept of offshoring becomes popular because of the pressure of "reducing cost." Who is under this pressure and who is making the decision to reduce the cost. The answer is .... "management."

Typical process to achieve this goal is starting from the bottom. Therefore, America corp. first move all bottom IT folks to India (many of them are just like tools in your toolbox; easily replaceable).

If this is not enough, they will cut the middle management and move the responsibility up in the chain (more painful to replace but doable). Eventually, they'll outsource the entire IT dept (perfect idea!).

Going in the other direction won't work because someone must still lead this group of highly paid IT folks.

Jeff Arrangement

It is about time that someone came up with this solution. I will give one example of how this is much better than what has been happening in the IT workforce.

For each $250,000 executive that you send overseas, you can keep or re-hire five good and experienced support people that are actually local and that you can understand when you need help to get back up and running. Better support means happier customers, and that equals money. — Aaron Fadeley, Reddy Electric.

Mr. Fadeley is examining both quantity and quality in the equation, and making it a zero-sum equation; if you offshore managers, you can save the big dollars, at least enough to employ staffers with proximity to where the work will be deployed, supporting the proximity and shared culture I have argued is also important.

YIMBY

I wish this was true, but people in upper management have bought the idea that development is a simple commodity and should be moved to wherever it is cheapest. The company I work for has created a new branch in India and has allocated that all development will be done there by the end of '06.

This is despite the fact that almost all offshoring attempts so far have failed. The perceived bargain of one-third the cost per developer is too tempting.

What is ironic is that the productivity will drop by more than the one-third of cost, so it will actually be more expensive. Thanks, Eric Brantingham

Mr. Brantingham makes the case for the Yes In My Back Yard approach, his contention being that if you factor in quality, life cycle cost is lower for local projects.

Sharp insights all, on all sides of the issue.

In the next column, I'll present the winners.

Jeff Angus is a management consultant and has been working with IT since 1974. He has held IT management positions in user interface design, marketing, operations and testing/analysis. Look for his book, "Management by Baseball: A Pocket Reader." Jeff's columns have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Baltimore Sun. He can be reached at jeff.angus@comcast.net.

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