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Brendan Tompkins [MVP] » Offshore Outsourcing : Am I selling myself down the river?
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Offshore Outsourcing : Am I selling myself down the river?

“What I do can't be outsourced” ... I keep telling myself, but I'm finding myself less and less convinced everyday.  Currently, I'm working very closely with an entire organization, designing building and managing applications from the ground up.  I'm fairly certain it wouldn't be cost effective for anyone to send my current job overseas.  But, as a contractor, I have to view this gig as temporary.  If I think back on the projects I've worked on in the last five years, at least two of them would be good candidates for offshore outsourcing, and one very likely would have been outsourced, had it been developed in 2004.  These projects account for two out of my last five professional years...  When I think of what the next five years will be like, I start getting a little nervous.

What can you do, right?  Ummm...  wait a minute...  The contracting company I work for has recently purchased an offshore outsourcing company... I've never been too worried about this.  If we're losing jobs to outsourcing, at least my company can get a piece of the pie.  Then I got a mass email from our CEO stating that our company is forming a Political Action Committee (PAC) and we'll be kept informed about its goals and progress.   Anyone want to venture a guess what this committee will be lobbying for? 

I've guessed.  Never mind the fact that my company will now possibly be supporting a political party that a good number of the people working for the company don't support.  That sucks, but that's life, I guess.  But what if PAC is going to lobby for government support of outsourcing?  If so, am I playing a part in my own obsolesence?  Am I working hard to fund my own impending mid-life career crisis?

Posted 03-03-2004 11:12 AM by Brendan Tompkins
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Comments

Grant wrote re: Offshore Outsourcing : Am I selling myself down the river?
on 03-03-2004 7:57 AM
There are many horror stories of outsourcing; bungled projects and lost customers.

The fact remains that some companies probably do get outsourcing right (or eventually will) and it will drive developer jobs from the States. It's concerning.

Make no mistake about it: Global capital, in the form of multinational corporations, dominate world politics and few institutions exist to check their power. Not to drop too much political economy (my college major), but these are trends set in place long ago and it's finally catching up with the software field.

I hope doom and gloom doesn't befall the American developer -- but if we don't do anything, things seem to be headed towards doom and gloom. My approach is to get as technically proficient and polished enough to distinguish myself from a "typical" develper.

I don't know which company you work for, but if they're publicly owned they're only out for shareholder value -- racing labor costs to the bottom serves their short-term interests well. Check out the Keane Inc. acquisition of Metro (that one hits many Tidewater folks close to home).
Brendan Tompkins wrote re: Offshore Outsourcing : Am I selling myself down the river?
on 03-03-2004 8:15 AM
Grant. Good points. I too am trying to distinguish myself, but we all can't save our jobs this way, can we? Is it going to boil down to each American developer for him/herself? What happens to teamwork?
Darrell wrote re: Offshore Outsourcing : Am I selling myself down the river?
on 03-03-2004 9:54 AM
Teamwork is essential. Groups of developers that can perform well as a team, harnessing the synergy that lies within teamwork, will outperform by a large enough margin that even offshoring won't be able to overcome. Those teams will keep their job. Other "groups of individuals" that call themselves teams likely could be offshored successfully.

Most offshoring companies, though, have to rely on very strict process. That's the only way they can be that out of touch with the client and still deliver anything. The trend toward better customer service may give an advantage to those development teams that are willing to be flexible in the face of constant change.

So if you think you can just sit around and develop, you're wrong. The survivors will have to learn real people skills, consulting skills, negotiation, persuasion, etc. In other words, they will have to become business people, at least to some extent. And these roles can be performed by different people on the team, so make sure to hitch your wagon to a winner!
Darrell wrote re: Offshore Outsourcing : Am I selling myself down the river?
on 03-03-2004 9:55 AM
That was a plural "you" in my last paragraph, as in "all developers", not you-Brendan.
Brendan Tompkins wrote re: Offshore Outsourcing : Am I selling myself down the river?
on 03-03-2004 10:09 AM
Thanks D... I do agree with the importance of hitching your wagon to a good team. Right now, I'm finding that the wagon I'm hitched to currently may look more like this in the future:

http://www.minpaku.ac.jp/english/exhibitions/permanent/s_asia/01.html
Darrell wrote re: Offshore Outsourcing : Am I selling myself down the river?
on 03-04-2004 1:08 AM
Hehehe. That's funny.
Paul Laudeman wrote re: Offshore Outsourcing : Am I selling myself down the river?
on 03-04-2004 5:12 AM
You'd be stylin' for then for sure!

Rakesh wrote re: Offshore Outsourcing : Am I selling myself down the river?
on 03-04-2004 2:03 PM
Great topic. My adivce..

1. You have to evolve. Nowadays its just not enough to be a programmer. Tackle extra skills such as business analysis, project management etc. This will make you more valuable.

2. Find a niche. Lets say you are the absolute guru in software that deals with manufacturing for example.

3. Be mobile. There are many jobs to be had - but they are spread out. Even if you dont consider outsourcing, companies just dont want to retain talent for overly long periods. Count of 2-3 years max tenure for IT.

4. Build your contacts - for every company you work for make sure they always know where to contact you.

5. Go into business - sell software over the net? Be your own contractor?

Outsourcing is now a fact of life. Its India today, China tomorrow. I've been affected(twice) by the outsourcing bug. But by granting myself the options above, Im more busy now with projects than ever. Best of luck to you.


Rakesh wrote re: Offshore Outsourcing : Am I selling myself down the river?
on 03-04-2004 2:50 PM
"I hope doom and gloom doesn't befall the American developer "

These are essentially what we are up against

1. Cheap education - spoke to one off shore coder and it cost her $1000 to get a BS ,Masters in MIS *and* Masters in Finance.

2. Access to cheap (though illegal) software development tools.

3. Strong governmental support - do the boys in Congress even know what IT means? Do they even really care.

4. Cheap, highly skilled labor. $5k vs $90k. Its a myth to think that we're the only ones who can do "great" software.

Reason 1 is the real crux of it. They are graduating talent at an incredible rate while our MIS schools barely have any output. Only thing we have currently is innovation. That still gives us some dominance and the ability to create jobs. But once they start developing something like .NET or Java over there - thats it.

PS. Notice that Gates has been touring US colleges recently...






Brendan Tompkins wrote re: Offshore Outsourcing : Am I selling myself down the river?
on 03-05-2004 1:25 AM
Great stuff, Rakesh.. Do you have a blog?
Rakesh wrote re: Offshore Outsourcing : Am I selling myself down the river?
on 03-06-2004 7:23 AM
Not at the momment. I seem to be missing out on the phenomenon =)
Darrell Norton's Blog wrote Where my dogs at?
on 03-07-2004 1:35 PM
Where my dogs at?
Hanns-Oskar Porr wrote re: Offshore Outsourcing : Am I selling myself down the river?
on 03-22-2004 7:04 AM
I actually have been working as a software architect and team lead with offshore teams in China for over three years. Note: not India, but China -- which is supposed to be the next big thing. I can attest that there is no problem with brainpower there, my teams there have been as smart as any American programmer that I have worked with.

The big difference is experience, especially at the design level. Implementation skills are there plenty.

The American worker has to realize that outsourcing is not a fad, and will not go away. Instead of fighting this, you have to get to the point where you can work with this, instead of against it.

Things that you can do include:
* move in a role tha thas direct client interaction: become a mediator!!!!
* change your pricing model to be value based
* Improve your communication skills!!!!! Talking to somebody in India (or China!) is very different than talking to somebody at the watercooler!

For a good discussion see
http://www.seinquest.com/content/Wiki.jsp?page=OffshoreOutsourcing
Brendan Tompkins wrote re: Offshore Outsourcing : Am I selling myself down the river?
on 03-22-2004 7:10 AM
Hanns, thanks but no thanks. Swtiching jobs, taking a paycut, or learning Mandarin is not what I signed up for in this career. Personally, I'd rather go back to working in a bicycle shop. See this article:

http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/03/05/10FEoffshorestay_1.html
lilly wrote re: Offshore Outsourcing : Am I selling myself down the river?
on 01-14-2005 11:46 PM
i have log hair

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