Various commentators (McKinsey, IDC, Forrester) have been predicting big numbers for offshore outsourcing. Though analysts differ in the actual amounts and cost savings, the fact is that offshoring is here to stay. The benefits are obvious, and endorsements have come in the form of recent multi billion dollar deals announced by GM and ABN AMRO.
However, concerns have been raised that offshoring has not been able to live up to its full promise. This is not because offshoring itself is not viable but because of what companies decide to offshore and how they manage it.
In enterprise content management ("ECM") projects, the processes and issues arising are similar to those in any other IT project. Nevertheless there are challenges specific to offshoring ECM projects. The advice I offer below is based on my experience working from India on ECM projects for U.S. and European clients. (By "ECM" I mean any variety of content/document/records/asset management projects.)
