Outsourcing jobs

[taks]

My problem is not with the Indian staff so much as the role such a company must feel customer services plays in their firm. i.e. we don't give a rat's patookie about our customers because we are willing to put their access point half a world away from our executives and so on.

i agree... more on this below.

 

I also don't like outsourcing of customer service because of the lax protection of personal data and the relatively poor law-enforcement.

perhaps. this may be why some companies are reconsidering. in the end, even customer service will be compared by customers. i.e. you have two products with equal technical capabilities, which do you choose? "hmmm, first product comes with excellent customer service and i don't have to waste four hours on the phone trying to overcome a language barrier. second product has outsourced customer service. i'll buy the first."

 

certainly this is nothing more than anecdote, but i'd be willing to bet this is a consideration companies are taking. such anecdotal examples can potentially hurt the bottom line, which negates the benefit of the outsourcing in the first place.

 

taks

[Walsingham]

The thing is that my firm did research on this topic and discovered that when people had a good experience they told three people. But when they had a bad experience they told ten people.

 

Draw your own conclusions.

 

No, seriously. I'm tired.

[taks]

i'm sure. the good experience is expected, as that's what you paid for. no reason to tell eveyone "yeah, i actually got what i paid for." OTOH, a bad experience is unexpected, which prompts spreading the word.

 

taks

[Plano Skywalker]

I work in the IT field and, in fact, have seen the "India thing" first hand. The bottom line is that some things can be outsourced well and others cannot.

 

Software Development is one of the things that can be outsourced well because the language barrier (yes, I know, they technically speak English but the heavy accent amounts to a huge language barrier) does not come into play as easily. Also, development does not require real time access to broadband...as long as you can upload your code sometime this week, you're alright...that kind of thing.

 

However, things like Operations, Storage, Systems Admin and Help Desk are not as successful when they are outsourced to India because of poor infrastructure (expensive and undependable broadband) and language.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is that it is not like India is just teaming with people waiting to steal Western jobs....there are only certain places in India (such as Banglor) that have the infrastructure to fill these jobs and, as time goes on, they will demand higher and higher wages and it will eventually find its level.

 

It is one thing to call India to activate your credit card. But a company that sends your call to India for tech support on your computer is a company that does not want your business. I think most major American companies now know that.

[Diamond]

I study at Australian uni.

And it is sad to see how a certain Indian IT company comes here to recruit students for their freaking internship program.