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Business IT Outsourcing
Nightmares
Outsourcing
Information Technology Work to The Philippines, Pitfalls, Experiences, What to Avoid, How
to Make Sure You're Getting Value for Your Investment Dollars..
12/21/04
Business outsourcing is all the rage today. Who wouldn't want to cut their
business costs by 20-50%. I was recently talking to a good friend of mine who's
company just did the two-step with the outsourcing bug.
My buddy's company was looking to cut costs by outsourcing some of their graphic
design needs. They went through a period of research and settled on a small company
in Davao, Philippines. I don't want to reveal the name of this Philippines firm, but
let's say that it stars with an "H".
They seemed to be friendly enough and even agreed to do a "test run" at
no cost. This period lasted about a month, and they did "ok". Most
of all, they showed enthusiasm and the willingness to learn the material. They had
no previous experience w/ this style of work, they did do alot of basic graphic design
work, but nothing that entailed copyrighting and research.
My buddy's firm signed a multi-year contract which involved a list of stipulations
and requirements. They ended up having to break this contract after about 6 months
due to, in his words, "managerial incompetence, consistently not delivering on
promises, lack of accountability, lack of business ethics and honesty, not answering
emails, and the list goes on..." The funny thing is that he still thinks they
are good people, but that they are just clueless.
I can't sight him for breaking the "deal", in his words, they never
complied, so it was never honored by them in the first place.
I'd like to convey a few stories he shared with me.
1. The One Sided Contract: For months, never installed the equipment
they contracted to do the work. Instead they would just promise.."it's coming
soon.."
2. Staff: Promised a top notch staff with specified qualifications, educational
level and experience. Instead they hired inexperienced newbies who had to learn on
the job. They cited "lack of time" as their reason.
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