"Here, as I sip on my cuppa decaf, sitting in the comfort of my home, 'programming and outsourcing' can only be the last thing on my mind. After all, I've my business and job in place and am doing well for now!" Can this be you talking? If so, then also ask yourself "Am I just fine the way I am or am I missing out on a Christmas Bonanza by not being tuned into the latest on the outsourcing front?"

If you are forward thinking, you would regard information as an essential strategic tool for furthering your business or career. Read on, because I've a lot of information to help you with, whether you are a manager, entrepreneur or a programmer yourself.

No matter how much you would hate being 'Bangalored' yourself, but this sure seems to be the latest fad amongst all the big and small businesses in the world, and I'm not even sure whether to call it a trend as it rather seems to be "the" way to do business in this millennium. Just Google your way to an insight into how much an Indian programmer is in demand by those willing to outsource and I'm not surprised if it feels like "Am I in danger of falling behind in business or career if I don't outsource or get some outsourced job?"

WHY OUTSOURCE?

Pull up your socks for 'all the goodies up for grabs' out there. Here is just a small preview:

1. You pay a salary anywhere upwards of $4,000 monthly per programmer. And this is excluding the bonuses and other benefits like travel, relocation, insurance, sick leave expenses etc. On the other hand, for the same amount of job, you pay only a small fraction for the labor (because of the conversion rate of the USD being approx. $1 = 45 INR) and nil for other costs to an Indian programmer. So, you save on your labor costs.

2. You don't have to invest in the infrastructure, hiring and training, recurrent operating costs and other overheads since the programmers come with their own offices, hardware and software requirements. Besides, you cut on the soaring real estate costs and rents of owning a plush office space in a strategic location. So, you completely delete your enormous capital costs of doing it all in-house.

3. The capital released or saved in this manner can be channeled by your business into its core competencies.

4. You don't have to worry about the quality either, since you are tapping into the experience and expertise of seasoned programmers. Infact, you are now able to provide better service levels to your end user as compared to what an internal department can provide.

5. You can retain your focus on your core processes and customer needs which directly impact your bottom line, instead of worrying about the peripherals.

6. Outsourcing works out as a greater efficiency generator in terms of improved speed and better service quality without having to invest in people and technology.

7. If you are a small business or entrepreneur with lesser capital flow, you stand to be largely benefited by outsourcing as you can now manage bigger facilities at fractional costs and your customers get services at par in quality with the services provided by big businesses.

8. When there is a time crunch and deadlines are fast approaching with their monstrous mouths wide open, you don't have to shout at your already stressed out employees, just take a dive at the chill pool of outsourcing and relax. Your work and your deadlines will be taken care of. Besides, you can start new projects much quickly and with no hassles.

9. For small work volumes and intermittent jobs, it is sensible if you outsource instead of hiring full-time employees.

10. With the 'Virtualization' of office, you don't have to deal with the stress and head ache of constantly monitoring at your office. Now you have more flexibility, freedom and mobility and can manage projects online.

11. The more depersonalized virtual work atmosphere is conducive to making wiser business decisions. No organizational politics to deal with, a fairly clean system!

In short, you save your time, money,energy, focus and resources and you are spoilt for choices too! That is why I think, now you can really make hay while the sun shines, or shall I say, save your bucks while the Indian works.

WHY INDIA?

APPREHENSIONS ENDED

India is a huge sea of educated and English speaking manpower (infact, English is the language of choice for the educated Indian). This includes a vast pool of talented programmers and IT professionals, all credits to India's educational tradition of strong mathematics and science and a strong system of tertiary education. India's democratic stability, free market economy and dependable judicial system lend a safety net to its already time tested credentials. Infact, you have no legal hurdles to overcome if you outsource to India. Indian legal system has evolved to be highly supportive of international contracts and Indian economy is in tune with the new realities of the globalised world. Rather, thanks to its stupenduous economic and domestic market growth, India is now witnessing a reverse brain-drain for being the new economic hot-spot. All this gives India the competitive edge vis-a-vis the other upcoming outsourcing markets of the world.

Initially, clients would outsource only low skill coding projects to India. But, now with India's reputaion getting well established as the offshore destination for quality and innovaton, global customers are queuing up for custom made software solutions and outsourcing all their programming and software development needs (ranging from systems analysis to designing, coding, writing, implementation, and testing). India as the first choice of the big players in the Industry, only adds to its credibility.

Clearly, India should be your destination of choice too because of its low labor costs, a populace comfortable with English language, competent and cost effective solutions, appreciation for software development disciplines, focus on quality output, diverse programming skills, best brainpower and rock bottom development costs.

WHAT'S IN THERE FOR THE INDIAN?

When an Indian freelancer takes on the challenge of claiming his share in the outsourcing pie, you know that he has arrived.

1) If you are a programmer, you will be only happy to freelance for an outsourced job since, for you, payments would come in multiples of (approximately) Rs. 45 or more, and this can only grow further.

2) By freelancing, you can be your own boss and get rid of the supervisor breathing down your neck.

3) You can take up just the projects that really interest you and give them your best instead of doing all sorts of boring odds and ends in a regular office job. Infact, your experience and expertise can generate more value for you in terms of compensation as well as recognition.

4) Translating into your life, outsourcing can be a great equalizer since a virtual office trivialises the effect of personality. Your customers will only meet your skills and not you or your appearance (you can save a bath for the rainy day!) and therefore the personal biases of the project manager can't come into the play while delegating jobs. Moreover, evaluation would be totally fair.

5) For skilled women and the elderly folks who are forced to stay back home for some reason, you can freelance and program your way to financial glory and self fulfillment.

6) The liberty gained by opting to be a freelancer releases a programmer from the regimented office life and gives him all the freedom to be more in control of his life and career.

THE FINAL WORD

Here, we have a scenario in which, both the programmers and the businesses stand in a win-win situation. There will always be people who would resist change and decry the advantages of globalisation in general and outsourcing in particular, for various reasons. But, each one of us can choose whether we like our oblivion enough or we wake up to the new reality, adapt to it and embrace it as a productive part of our lives and businesses. So, let's get on board this global opportunity and ride high on its wave, or else, as we know, only the fittest shall survive and thrive.

You can view the unabridged version of the article here http://www.e-guru.in/articles.htm

The author welcomes Indian freelancers and outsourcing clients to visit http://www.e-guru.in To find the best of Indian programmers