Carole Scherzer, Founder & Executive Vice President, Scherzer International, Woodland Hills, CA

Specialized or technical advice or skills not closely related to your company’s core objectives can often be handled effectively by outside contractors. Typically less expensive than hiring full-time staff, potential outsource services should be carefully considered with these topics in mind: expertise, experience, proposals, and attitude.

FastTrac®, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Kansas City, MO

Just as with hiring internal managers and staff, using external support requires careful planning and selection. Before you select a consultant or contractor, determine your budget, scope of work, timeline, measures for success, and other resources available to support the people who will do the work.

The Total Cost of Offshoring, CIO Articles

By Stephanie Overby

TCO, or the Total Cost of Offshoring is usually significantly higher the just the cost of hiring a foreign worker. Selecting a vendor, legal fees, travel expenses, transition costs and the costs of layoffs all add up to the TCO. It is important to plan for all of these expenses, and look at offshore outsourcing as a long term strategy with long term cost saving benefits.

Study: Offshore outsourcing helps U.S. economy

IDG News Service 3/30/04

The outsourcing of U.S. IT jobs to foreign workers is good for the U.S. economy and will result in the creation of twice as many jobs as are displaced, according to a study released Tuesday by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA). Offshore outsourcing, which the study calls "global sourcing," created 90,000 more jobs in 2003 than it sent outside of the U.S., according to a study conducted by economic analysis firm Global Insight Inc. Offshore sourcing lowers costs to U.S. companies, allowing them to spend money on new U.S. workers, plus it increases the efficiency of the U.S. economy and results in higher wages and increased exports, said the study.

Offshoring of IT Services - Present and Future

www.globalsourcingnow.com

An increasing number of enterprises are offshoring their IT services to reduce costs, and to increase their flexibility in proactively responding to changing market conditions. Offshoring of IT services has also been helped by the recent enhancement in telecom capacity around the world which has led to a substantial reduction in telecom costs; and by the increased digitization of services, text, figures, and other media.