Outsourcing: Persistent Systems Interview (Part 15)

By guest author Tony Scott

The ODM Model – Will It Happen for Software?

Tony: Building products faster at a lower cost because you have in-depth expertise in a market segment and are componentizing part of the product development process – it’s going back to your example of Flextronics for software. Will we see ODMs like Flextronics in software? >>>

Outsourcing: Persistent Systems Interview (Part 14)

By guest author Tony Scott

The Challenge of Internal Cultural Change

Tony: From what we’ve heard and what I’ve seen with my executive search clients, to find that kind of person who can culturally work in a consultative, solutions-driven environment, you need to find people with both expertise and a positive, proactive mindset. One of the big issues that I often experience in conducting searches for senior executives for companies shifting from a low-cost labor arbitrage model to a high-value model is that it is very hard to transition the human side of the equation. It is a big cultural challenge for most organizations. >>>

Outsourcing: Persistent Systems Interview (Part 13)

By guest author Tony Scott

The Challenges of Delivering Globally

Tony: Are selling your services mostly in the United States and Europe, or do you also have clients in Latin America, Asia, and Africa?

Anand: Yes, mostly [in the United States and Europe]. Nothing in Latin America, nothing in Africa. In Asia we are doing many projects in India, but not much elsewhere. >>>

Outsourcing: Persistent Systems Interview (Part 12)

By guest author Tony Scott

Human Capital – The Critical Limiting Factor?

Tony: Your three key points about the future of outsourcing all make good sense. Those three points that I picked up that are as follows: One is that moving out of the labor arbitrage value proposition and into a pure competency-based value proposition where you are managing the entire context of a product is a big macro trend. The second thing is the trend toward a “cloud” infrastructure. Personally, I think that trend is going to be focused more on the vendor side as opposed to the CIO side. And the third trend is that the next level of outsourcing for you is an IP royalty type of economic structure with your clients. >>>

Outsourcing: Persistent Systems Interview (Part 11)

By guest author Tony Scott

Outsourcing and the Mind of the CEO

Tony: Anand, how have you changed the way you have gone about marketing and selling your services over the past few years? Have you changed your approach since the downturn? >>>

Outsourcing: Persistent Systems Interview (Part 10)

By guest author Tony Scott

Industry Trends Driving Outsourcing – The End of Software?

Tony: Do you see other trends in the software industry that will drive more companies to outsource product development?

Anand: Well, a key trend is this whole cloud computing business. As people start to look at things that can be a service, the price point at which the service is going to get delivered is going to be very different from the price point at which people have been used to buying it as licensed software. >>>

Outsourcing: Persistent Systems Interview (Part 9)

By guest author Tony Scott

Labor Arbitrage Cost Differentials

Tony: Anand, what is the cost structure differential right now that you are seeing between the United States and India?

Anand: We are still about one-third the cost of doing the same project in the United States. >>>

Outsourcing: Persistent Systems Interview (Part 8)

By guest author Tony Scott

Product Development – Indian Style vs. Silicon Valley

Tony: Anand, how do you compare the process of product development in your company with the way software companies traditionally work?

Anand: The entire value of what we have done in the Indian software industry has been our ability to use junior people who do not have the “right” levels of expertise and experience, but forcing them into some structure. We define the processes and what work needs to get done. We distribute the work in such a way that the senior people focus on more difficult problems, and the rest of the work can be distributed among junior people. >>>