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While at
least one bureaucrat is trying to make it hard for foreign
tech workers to move to the US (see: Protecting Tech
Workers), a large number of US companies are still looking
beyond their borders to solve their IT staffing needs despite
the weak economy and the glut of workers seeking employment.
Altogether,
one-third of 145 senior decision-makers at North American
firms said they use offshore providers, according
to Forrester Research, Inc.
What’s more, 88 percent
of that group rated offshore providers’ value for the
money somewhat or much better than US counterparts like Accenture,
EDS, IBM, or KPMG/BearingPoint. "In addition to value, respondents
rated their offshore provider somewhat or much better than
US firms 71 percent and 67 percent
of the time, respectively, in quality of deliverable and
timeliness," said John C. McCarthy, group director at
Forrester. "While reduced labor costs associated with
offshore services remains a draw, veterans are already realizing
the longer-term cost benefits that come through increased
application productivity and process improvements that is
delivered by the offshore providers. Through their adherence
to strict IT development processes, offshore firms like TCS,
Infosys, and Wipro have set themselves apart from the traditional
IT service providers."
Of course, going overseas for
labor is not the easiest thing to do. While those companies
that are already involved with
offshore providers plan to spend more money in the future,
a lack of project management skills continues to hinder
offshore initiatives.
In addition, 18 percent of respondents
using offshore providers reported a major challenge in
measuring performance, while
20 percent have serious issues specifying the work needed
to be done.
Also, 22 percent reported a challenge posed
by cultural differences between offshore and US staff members.
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