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Volume
3 Issue 1
from
Metagyre, Inc.
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Feature
Article
The Seven Deadly Sins of Offshore Outsourcing
Gluttony,
sloth, and lust are sins for real-world interactions, but sinning
against
offshore outsourcing means breaking a special set of ideals. To help
you
avoid
an eternity in the fiery pits, her e's
a handy guide to the seven
deadly sins of
offshore outsourcing.
1) The
Seat Of The Pants (SOTP) approach
is often
taken by those who
have been successful and become over confident or those who are
overwhelmed and
not sure where to start. To
continue, click here (feature_article_60.html)
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The New Deal
 With all the
competition for your business in the offshore outsourcing marketplace
you have
a chance to negotiate from a position of strength. However,
rather than focus on price, plan on asking for the
following considerations in the contract:
Have
the vendor provide a true portal with workflow, collaboration,
application
integration and role-based security as the unifying work space between
your
organizations. You can then migrate the
rest of your organization's activities to the same portal.
Have
the vendor commit to installing Voice over IP (VoIP) hardware and
software for
communicating between the teams. Be sure there is enough capacity and
bandwidth
to allow you to tie in your own distributed offices.
Jointly
develop an exchange program where your staff can participate in the
vendor’s
management training programs.
Many
vendors now have significant software discounts available to them. Ask
your
vendor to pass on these discounts without a mark up, allowing even
small
companies to take advantage of big company savings.
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Tool Talk
Putting the dot in dotProject
Have
you ever wished for a project management software package that
supported
distributed teams, was simple to use, supported the project activities
you
needed and did not cost an arm and a leg?
Then consider “dotProject”, one of the open source software packages
designed for just such a wish list.
dotProject
is a PHP web-based project management framework that includes modules
for
companies, projects, tasks (with Gantt charts), forums, files,
calendar,
contacts, tickets/helpdesk, multi-language support, user/module
permissions and
themes. Features
Include
- User management
- Email-based trouble ticket system, (Integrated
voxel.net's ticketsmith)
- Client/company management
- Project listings
- Hierarchical task list
- File repository
- Contact list
- Calendar
- Discussion Forum
- Resource-based permissions
More information can be found at http://www.dotproject.net
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Questions...
Dear
Outsourcing Expert:
I
am looking at the cost differentials for offshore providers in China
and other
emerging countries. How much risk is
involved in using an outsource provider based in countries other than
India or
other established countries?
Pat
Dear
Pat;
Risk is one of those
things
that is different for each company.
Risk has two components. First
is the inherent risk within the organization itself and how the
organization accepts,
mitigates and responds to risks. The
second component is the risk associated with the activities of offshore
outsourcing. How much risk is involved
with China, for example, is dependent on both risk components.
Companies who accept and successfully manage
large amounts of risk will not see outsourcing to China as a high
risk. Alternatively, a company with a low risk
appetite and a poor track record of risk management may see offshore
outsourcing in general as an unacceptable risk.
Dear
Outsourcing Expert;
Where
can I find a good source of information on foreign companies? I am starting to perform my due diligence
and don't know where to start.
Melissa
Dear
Melissa;
A
good resource for
information on foreign companies and engaging in business with firms in
other
countries is your state government office. In
Washington State, the government
office is the department of
Community, Trade & Economic Development (CTED).
These departments typically have
resources available to help US
companies establish or expand international trade connections. These
agencies
allow you to speak to an industry expert, participate in trade
workshops, or
find information on markets and exports.
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Questions
about offshore outsourcing? Get Answers!
email
us
at outsourcingexpert@metagyre.com
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You
can have
everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people
get what
they want ~ Zig
Ziglar
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Metagyre, Inc.
Delivering
assessment, advisory and management
services to the buyers
of offshore outsourcing.
(360) 697-3386
1249 NW Arcadia Ct.
Suite 300
Poulsbo, WA. 98370
www.metagyre.com
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