Your new IT Services Guide.

Now for a number of years it’s been highly fashionable to allow someone who is truly altruistic and has absolutely no financial interest in the outcome to advise you on off shoring your IT services. As with most things that are going to save some money, people can see the saving contribute to their bonus at the end of the year. No one in the European IT industry is immune to this and no company that out sources to India is immune to the often over looked risks that this move entails.

There are some interesting links here which will high light some of the likely problems, now I’m not for an instant suggesting that  the average Indian is any more dishonest than the average anyone else. But I’d bet that your data would be safer in the cloud unencrypted than it would be in India in the same state.

It is strange to think that with the news over the past couple of days – 600 Million people without power, that there are people who would still consider this type of move. It doesn’t really matter that the hardware is hosted closer to the UK, when your support and development staff are unable to work due to power outages. I’m sure that in India this will be quickly solved, all they will have to do is throw up a couple of nuclear power stations a month for the next three or four years to solve the problem.

Still I’m sure that when the whole of the run model is off shore and to be honest it may not be India that it goes to, the really cheap support solution that someone has come up with will be a real boon to the company. I’d also be prepared to bet that when changes come along the costs for the changes will be outrageous, but as with the old days that will come from a different budget so won’t matter. So with that in mind, I’d suggest that if you want to get anything done once your systems are off shore. That you ensure that communication with your new found friends goes as smoothly as possible, so I’d suggest that you find out which one of the 29 major languages of India that your support people speak – I chose the picture because 340 Million people happen to speak Hindi. I used the book in 1972 when I joined British India as a “Chota Malim Sahib”, now I might have to buy an updated copy of it.

It is likely that the off shore exercise will fall to IBM India, but this is not certain by any means. I said in an earlier post in the blog that I had been told I would not have my contract extended, I along with most of the staff were well aware that the end was nigh. It’s just sad to watch what has happened over the years, as an example at a recent question and answer session a question that was posed to the head of IT was “Why do you think that the management that has led us into this mess, is capable of leading us out of it?” This actually prompted a round of applause, seemingly not entirely welcome by the head of IT as he just didn’t answer the question.

Still when all is said and done, the off shoring exercise will happen – no amount of running an interference pattern will stop it and around 400 people in the UK will lose their jobs. For a time anyway there will be some unforeseen problems and the odd general hick-up, but in the end it will move in it’s own direction – even if someone thinks that they have their hands on the steering wheel. It will be the end of an era, the beginning of a new chapter for the company and the staff who remain.