Softtek is global company that provides its clients, which comprise top-tier corporations, with process-driven IT solutions. The company has office locations in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. The world has Softtek to thank for the creation of nearshoring, which involves companies outsourcing tasks to other companies that are located in nearby countries or accepting outsourced work from companies in nearby locations i.e., a U.S.-based company outsourcing its customer service responsibilities to a call center in Mexico or Brazil or vice versa.
Sramana Mitra: Hi Blanca. Let’s start with some context of your company. When did you get started? What kind of circumstances got you going, and what are you doing today? Read the full article »
We often talk about how much technology has done to make our lives easier and our workflows faster. When we do, we aren’t usually thinking about the ways that Austin, Texas–based VirTex uses technology to make their customers’ lives easier. From RFID tags to medical training equipment to solar power monitoring, VirTex manufactures all kinds of things, even equipment that help farmers operate at lower costs. Although the company is based in the United States and has a U.S.-based clientele, it ships products all over world.
Sramana Mitra: Hi, Brad. Let’s start with some context about you and your company. Where are you located? How long have you been around? What is your business, what is the scale, and so forth? Read the full article »
According to research firm Information Services Group, for the quarter ended December 2011 markets saw strong growth in global outsourcing contracts. The total contract value (TCV) of contracts executed during the period grew 7% over the year to $26.4 billion. Growth was led by deals in the business process outsourcing (BPO) space and in the European, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) markets. The TCV of contracts in 2011 grew 3% to $95 billion, the biggest increase since 2005. EMEA markets helped drive growth as full-year TCV for the region grew 27% to $55 billion. By segment, BPO contracts grew 32% over the year to $29 billion for the year 2011. However, contracting activity within the IT outsourcing (ITO) segment fell 6% over the year to $66 billion.
In Search of a Better to Outsource
Peter Drucker challenged companies to “Do what you do best and outsource the rest!” Unfortunately, too many companies jumped into outsourcing using the same approaches and methods that they used for procuring commodities and materials to run their operations. The result is that far too many outsourcing deals are less than optimal – leaving most in search of a better way to outsource. The University of Tennessee studied some of the world’s most successful outsourcing deals as part of a research project funded by the US Air Force. Our work uncovered the fact that successful outsourcing deals had one thing in common: they played by an unwritten set of rules that is fundamentally different from conventional approaches for procurement. Read the full article »
Bangalore-based ITC Infotech is one of the leading outsourcing companies in India. A fully owned subsidiary of ITC Limited, ITC Infotech has wholly owned subsidiaries of its own in the United States and the United Kingdom. This 11-year-old IT services business serves 140 countries and has delivery hubs in Bangalore and Calcutta.
Sramana Mitra: Hi, Balaji. Let’s start with some context about ITC Infotech. Of course, ITC has a wide-ranging portfolio. Tell us more specifically about ITC Infotech. Read the full article »
Outsourcing websites abound on the Internet, and each one has its own unique spin on the process. And vWorker, once known as Rent-A-Coder, does, too. A global outsourcing company, vWorker or “virtual worker” has nearly 175,000 employers hiring and managing close to 360,000 virtual workers every day.
Sramana Mitra: Hi Ian. Let’s start with some background on how you started this company. What do you do in vWorker? Give us some context, and then we’ll dig into how you’ve done what you’ve done.
Most of the people who register to work as freelancers on Elance don’t end up earning $1 million or more in annual revenue. Ignacio Galarraga did it with his graphic design company NetMen. As my conversation with him will reveal, Galarraga started out on Elance in much the same way as Sanjay Dange started out on Freelancer.com. Both cite the production of excellent products along with a singular dedication to customer satisfaction as the keys to their unusual success.
Sramana Mitra: Hi, Ignacio. First and foremost, congratulations on reaching the elusive $1 million in your entrepreneurial journey. Read the full article »
According to a recent report by Gartner on global IT spending, worldwide IT spending is projected to grow 3.7% in 2012 to $3.8 trillion. Earlier estimates had pegged the year’s growth at 4.6%. Revenues from IT services are expected to grow at a comparatively slower pace of 3.1% to $874 billion. Gartner expects the Eurozone crisis to impact technology spend. Despite these worrisome predictions, IT services outsourcers are continuing to surpass market expectations.
