BY FRANK J. CASALE

When companies began to farm out certain tasks to India, they were deemed to be among the most innovative outsourcers.

Afterall, they were trusting that foreigners with a different culture based literally half way around the world could deliver the same quality results so the outsourcers can save huge sums of money.

These days, many companies must question themselves why they don’t outsource overseas.

So, it’s only fitting that in this issue of Outsourcing Essentials, we combine our celebration of Innovations in Outsourcing with an in-depth look at the future of outsourcing overseas, now known simply as offshoring.

Many companies have become comfortable with sending their call centers, customer service and programming operations over to India, while others are treating India as yesterday’s outpost, and are busy identifying the next logical offshore outpost.

In “Destination Debate,” we take you on a guided tour of four major offshore regions–Central and Eastern European countries like Russia, Romania and the Czech Republic; Western European countries like Ireland; Latin American countries such as Argentina and Brazil as well as Middle Eastern and African countries.

But one strategy does not fit all, as readers of “Take the Plunge” learn. Here, we stress that “in the conservative world of finance and HR services, it appears that offshore cost advantages have not won through.”

Meanwhile, in “Hot Sources,” we detail how financial service organizations (FSOs) are taking new approaches. “Procurement, not often an area of focus for FSOs, has recently been proven to drive savings in excess of 20% in some non-interest expense items,” writes Charles Hunting. “Bringing together sourcing strategy, procurement and supplier relationship into an outsourcing solution can drive significant sustainable improvement to the bottom line.”

In “A Bundle of Fun,” we point out how more and more companies are discovering that it pays to throw IT into the BPO deal. Among the benefits: It makes governance easier and it allows BPO providers to better control the IT used in the process.

And, of course, don’t miss our popular “Legal Briefs” column, in which top attorneys specializing in the outsourcing space address a new critical industry-wide issue.

Please e-mail me with your comments, suggestions or questions to fcasale@outsourcing.com.

Sincerely,

Frank J. Casale

Frank J. Casale
Founder and CEO
The Outsourcing Institute