Straight to the SourceA winning balance of in-house, outsourced and services-based resourcesBank Breakdowns a Big Worry for Indian Outsourcers- September 17, 2008 Just last week I wrote about the effects of a slowing U.S. economy on India&8217;s outsourcing business, noting that the credit crunch and resulting fallout at American financial services companies was a big factor since such companies spend big bucks with the Indians. That was before the implosion of Lehman Brothers and Bank of America&8217;s buyout ...http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/sts/?p=464 Finance Fallout to Stifle Tech Investments, Say VCs- September 16, 2008 As recently as last spring, some pundits insisted that more technology startups would begin making initial public offerings (IPOs) of stock, widely perceived as a sign of financial stability. That isn&8217;t how it&8217;s played out, however. Instead there haven&8217;t been any venture-backed IPOs in 2008, the biggest dearth in three decades. Calling it a &8220;crisis,&8221; members ...http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/sts/?p=463 State Governments More Open to Working with Offshore Companies- September 15, 2008 While nearly every industry has increased its use of third-party service providers over the past few years, some have been more reluctant than others to utilize offshore companies. Government agencies until recently avoided working with offshore vendors due to concerns over negative political fallout and the possible exposure of sensitive data. In a 2005 study, the ...http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/sts/?p=462 Targeted Investments, Not Cuts, May Be Key to Budget Woes- September 11, 2008 Misery loves company. You may be tired of reading about companies cutting their IT budgets. Well, believe me, I am tired of writing about it. But I just read an excellent article in The McKinsey Quarterly (free, but registration required) that echoes the theme of a Computerworld piece I wrote about in March: Companies that slash ...http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/sts/?p=461 U.S. Slowdown Has Indian Outsourcers Looking Elsewhere for Business- September 10, 2008 There appears to be good news and bad news for Indian services companies in Forrester Research&8217;s new spending report, which I just wrote about yesterday. Demand for outsourced services seems to be growing, found Forrester, with 45 percent of respondents planning to increase their use of applications outsourcing, 43 percent expecting to boost their use of ...http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/sts/?p=460 Forrester: Companies Cutting Spending, but Not on Services- September 9, 2008 Wow, am I ever starting to feel like the bearer of bad IT spending news. Hot on the heels of my post from last week about a CIO.com survey showing a growing number of tech executives planning to make spending cuts is a new spending report from Forrester Research that shows cuts are already under ...http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/sts/?p=459 So Far, Tech Sector Faring Better than Others in Tough Economy- September 8, 2008 Yes, the economy stinks. The U.S. unemployment rate hit 6.1 percent last month, its highest level in five years, reports The New York Times. It&8217;s not exactly comforting when one presidential candidate&8217;s top economic adviser says, &8220;We should be prepared for the worst.&8221; And sadly, the tech industry isn&8217;t impervious. On Friday, I wrote about yet ...http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/sts/?p=458 More Proof of Shrinking IT Budgets- September 5, 2008 As we near the final quarter of 2008 and folks consider spending plans for next year, it looks as if many tech budgets are shrinking. Several recent surveys by Janco Associates, Goldman Sachs &38; Co. and InformationWeek bear this out. Yet another survey, from CIO.com, appears to confirm the trend. According to the publication&8217;s survey of ...http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/sts/?p=457 What Does Obamas Remark on Offshoring Mean Maybe Nothing- September 4, 2008 Political conventions are mostly about rhetoric and saying what people want to hear, as all of us watching coverage of the U.S. Democratic and Republican national conventions have been reminded over the past two weeks. This is especially true of hot-button issues like offshoring. So perhaps it&8217;s not surprising that India&8217;s outsourcing industry does not appear ...http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/sts/?p=456 Lesson from Outsourcing Trenches: Avoid Tunnel Vision- September 3, 2008 Outsourcing strategies that emphasize process improvement and other business benefits are generally more successful than those focused solely on cost savings. If there is a recurring theme to this blog, that just may be it. I wrote about it here, passing along advice from organizations with real-world outsourcing successes. And here, sharing wisdom from smart analysts at ...http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/sts/?p=455 |