The notion of outsourcing software development initiatives to offshoring centers like India, China and Russia has sparked tremendous interest, as well as great controversy and angst across the IT world. In fact, general business philosophies and attitudes towards the overseas outsourcing of heretofore American jobs and core competencies has sparked intense interest and heated debates at all levels of society. Like most great debates, opinions are easy to come by, yet true costs and ROI have been difficult to ascertain.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding this debate, a few things are definitely clear. Business executives want to save money. Be it technology execs or otherwise, all are under tremendous pressure to deliver cost savings and ROI, increase profitability and shareholder value, and achieve aggressive MBOs. While few top executives would deny the increasingly vital role that IT plays in their success, many tend to view IT resources as a commodity, and are understandably drawn by the allure of the widely advertised, rock-bottom offshore development rates. With hourly offshore rates at one-third to one-half of domestic outsourcing rates, offshoring looks highly attractive at first blush. Increasingly, however, IT leaders are learning to dig below the surface to understand the trust cost and risks associated with offshore software development.
