There is an interesting article today over at DC Velocity (http://bit.ly/ihRvKd) pertaining to IT outsourcing. Though many of our customers have no in-house development team, they do have IT staff and are always on the lookout for solutions that can enhance that asset base without driving up costs. This article points out that the real benefits of new platforms that make outsourcing core development and programming work to talent in Eastern Europe or Asia is not so much in the cost savings but in the ability to plan for expansion and innovation with a variable cost resource.
We could not agree more. In-house IT talent is a critical resource when it is utilized as a strategic asset and leveraged accordingly. The internal process and business knowledge that most manufacturing IT staff possess is invaluable and can spur significant innovation and continuous improvement. However, thanks to the rapid expansion of broadband and cloud computing infrastructure globally, the coded implementation of the insights from this deep knowledge base can be managed and delivered by distributed, virtual resources. This means that many of the “standard” elements of development work (coding, testing, etc.) can be put out for bid. Accordingly, it makes little sense to continue layering on a lot of tactical demands on internal IT talent that can increasingly be sourced by significantly lower-cost providers.
