July 4th, 2005
Outsourcing: Sorting Out The Hype, Reality, Risks And Benefits
On June 28th, the Churchill Club held a panel discussion, “Outsourcing: Sorting Out The Hype, Reality, Risks And Benefits.” Mark Boslet, a writer for Dow Jones, was the moderator. The panelists included:
Randy Altschuler, Co-CEO, OfficeTiger
Robert Bailey, President and CEO, PMC-Sierra
Vivek Paul, Vice Chairman, Wipro Limited; President, Wipro Technologies
Donald Richards, Global Managing Partner-Application Outsourcing, Accenture
The audiocast of the panel is available as an MP3 that can be downloaded or, if you’re already subscribed to ZDNet’s IT Matters series of audio podcasts, it will show up on your system or MP3 player automatically (See ZDNet’s podcasts: How to tune in). The consensus among the panelists was that outsourcing is more than a cost savings measure–it’s about improving productivity, automation and improving process quality.
Paul noted that areas such as governance and the scaling of projects are lagging. The panelists also provided guidelines for determining when and what to outsource. Other topics included security and intellectual property protection; negotiating contracts (contracts are irrelevant after just a few months); business process outsourcing; language and location; and the impact of China in the outsourcing marketplace.
Prior to the Churchill Club event, I interviewed Wipro’s Vivek Paul. The audiocast of the interview is available as an MP3 file that can be downloaded or, if you’re already subscribed to ZDNet’s IT Matters series of audio podcasts, it will show up automatically.
Dan Farber, editor-in-chief of CNET News.com, has more than 20 years of experience as an editor and journalist covering technology. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
