Letters to the Editor
Lynx
Published Letters: 1589 Editor's Choice: 126
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Missing the point
[Read the article: Next challenge for outsourcing: Ingenuity]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]He misses the real thing that makes him marketable, and one of the key reasons Outsourcing doesn't work: He's here. Trying to communicate with people 1/2 way around the world who are speakers of another language and who have a different culture simply doesn't work well for creative projects and that's what software development is. Throw in the conversations all happening when it is noon for one person and midnight for the other over phone lines and even the horrors of speakerphones and it all gets even worse. There's no way to pick up visual cues when there's no visual. Teleconferencing doesn't really work well yet and even when it does, it is expensive. Not what you want to do when the whole point is saving money.
You can get around the time differences if you use EMail, but then a conversation involving 5 exchanges can take a week. Nothing can really substitute for two people sitting down at the same computer or in the same meeting room and hashing out design ideas or debugging problems.
There's another huge problem with outsourcing and combined with the first one I mentioned, it is why more and more companies are bringing everything back in-house. Lets say you have a company and you've outsourced creation of a software product that you intend to use. You've gotten a good price and the product miraculously comes in on time without bugs. (OK, that NEVER happens, but just for the sake of argument). Now you realize you've made a mistake in your specifications. Or your users have started complaining that part of the program isn't quite right. Likely, several problems like this have cropped up. If you have a programmer in-house, even a consultant, you go back to them, say "Fix this" and they do. However, since you've outsourced, now you get to go back to that company and renegotiate for the fixes. If you were foresighted, you worked this into the contract. Either way you're now about to pay more money for that same software. Plus, between the new negotiations and the other company's schedules, you're now late with the final (ha!) product. And this happens for EVERY change you want to make. Over time you end up spending more than you would have in-house and the development takes longer too.
Now add in bugs you don't discover until you've signed your acceptance of the product and the fact that communication delays and programming problems have made your product come in very late and you haven't saved anything at all. All you've really done is sign away control over your product and any flexibility you may have had. I've seen companies pay a fortune because the software design they originally signed off on doesn't actually meet their needs. Changes are often much more expensive than the original contract because really, what choice do you have at that point? If your software needs changing and you don't have room in your budget, you're just screwed. I've worked for companies where my job is to create software that interacts with outsourced software just to make it do what it was supposed to in the first place.
Other benefits of in-house development include programmers interacting with users and gaining an understanding of how the software will be used. Programmers being able to assist and train the employees. Immediate adjustments when they're needed. Well, the list goes on from there. Outsourcing, even many times to nearby companies, simply doesn't work in the long run. Bringing in consultants when you need them or having your own IT department far outweighs any supposed financial savings that might hypothetically result from outsourcing.
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Why are people doing it?
[Read the article: Next challenge for outsourcing: Ingenuity]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Because they think they can save a few bucks. They get fast talked by the outsourcing companies with promises of huge savings and sign up on the promises. As time goes by they start losing money and look for ways to get out of the contract. I've seen this happen at many companies I've worked for. On both sides of the deal. I've worked for outsourcers here in the states and their main task seems to be working out ways to drag as much extra money out of the client as possible. I've worked for companies who currently have projects outsourced or did previously and they usually either are trying to get out of the contract 'cause it doesn't provide what they need or are complaining about how badly everything is going.
Another way I know it doesn't work is that much of the work I end up doing is fixing what the outsourcers screwed up. Outsourcing isn't the rage it used to be and companies are starting to re-insource. Just because people are doing it doesn't mean it is a good idea or that it will work in the long run. Outsourcing is just another management fad like open floor plans and clean desks. It'll run its course and fade away.
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Ralph Kramden, Revolutionary!
[Read the article: The party of ideas]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yes, I'm sure the bus strike will bring down Iran.
How do these people get elected?
Hey Norton! Hand me another one of those Molotov Cocktails.
Sorry Ralph, I just drank the last one.
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Only that link?
[Read the article: A stretch, even for Drudge]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'd go look at the photo, but I make it a point not to give him any more traffic. I've never gone to his site and never will. Just like I've never set foot in a WalMart
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One Letter
[Read the article: What's in a name?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]So let them make the one letter switch. If they think of him as Osama they won't be able to find him and will end up missing all the debates.
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Favre
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Favre will be back next year. The main thing he's said recently is that he listened to advice by Phil Simms. "When you retire, that's it. That's the rest of your life. Play as long as you can." The team did better this year, they're improving and I think Favre will want to be part of it next year.