Through the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century, outsourcing to low-wage parts of the world was the way businesses, especially manufacturing and work-a-day technology, raised their bottom lines. By moving operations to lower-cost countries like India, China, and even Russia and Pakistan, many corporations found that they could significantly cut costs and so increase their profits.
In some markets, that would work well, but in others, it was not as profitable as they had projected. In technology, even for businesses whose main business was not technology, outsourcing important aspects of their infrastructure like database management and even whole IT departments, meant serious problems. Language barriers, the loss of control of data, and many times the rising costs of doing business overseas began to take their toll.
Many businesses who'd outsourced their database or IT overseas in the 1990s found themselves rebuilding IT departments at home in the 2000s.
Last year, IDC Manufacturing Insights noted that many manufacturers of technology equipment and non-durable goods have been moving operations from far-seas, low-wage areas to near-sourced and even on-shore operations instead. This backpedaling comes because these manufacturers are learning that somewhat higher costs on-shore are offset by better service and less cost overruns due to problems and miscommunications.
Another study issued by IBM, technical outsourcing has been moving back to North American shores for the past decade as more and more database and IT infrastructure work is returning to the Americas. Near-sourcing in IT has become the favored model rather than the exception, especially with database administration (DBA) and IT management.
Two things have been important in pushing this near-sourcing phenomenon in DBA: time differences and proximity. Managers are finding that face-to-face meetings and relationships with those who handle their data changes the way that data is perceived and handled. It also changes how they, as a business, see their own data and its administration.
With businesses and people working in the same time zones and within personal meeting distance of one another, business can be conducted in a more personal, 'handshake' way. This means more accountability, better relationships, and often a better legal foundation.
Near-sourcing also means cultural and language barriers are not an issue, which in turn means fewer misinterpretations or miscommunication episodes. Terms like 'tomorrow' actually mean something different to those in India, for instance, than it does to those in Canada. Anyone who's worked with overseas contractors can attest to this.
So if your business is looking for database administration or consulting, trends are showing that you'll likely find more near to home than you will looking overseas for a cheap fix.
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