IndiaThink

Do you need an India Specific Project Plan?

Any project manager will tell you making a plan is the path to success.  The problem is many firms looking to outsource work to India do not create India Specific Project Plans.  Here are a few questions to consider:

How would you describe your relationship with your Indian outsourcer?
a.) Horrible.  They do not answer the phone when I call.  I am canceling.
b.) Ok.  We may send work there again but the Return on Investment was near negative.
c.) A partnership.  We have a understanding on both sides of the table what the needs are and how to get to that goal.

How many additional resources, beyond the plan usage, were assigned to get the project to completion?
a.) None.  We had a very detailed plan on what the project required and it was completely accurate. 
b.) We worked with the Indian outsourcer who helped us determine how to best allocate our resources to complete the project.  They were very knowledgeable in directing us.
c.) Many more than planned.  We had to pull resources from other projects to bring the outsourced work to final delivery.

How late was the last project outsourced to India delivered?
a.) The project was delivered 6 months late.  We have canceled our contract.
b.) The project was a few months late.  We are not sure why that happened.
c.) The project came in on time and every aspect of the deliverable was completed.

Did the outsourced project allow you to access talent that you would have otherwise not been able to hire?
a.) The work was done by people we could have hired locally, but we were trying to cut costs
c.) The outsource relationship offers us access to talent we could not have used based on cost or accessibility.
c.) We outsourced the work but we could easily do it ourselves.

If you answered C, A, C, A congratulations.  You are achieving the dream of outsourcing projects to India.  We are all envious of your success. 

For the rest of you, an India Specific Project Plan is required. 

The Real News Behind Outsourcing to India

The New York Times on June 8th said "Firms Close Back Office in India to Cut Costs."

What the content of this article is about is quite the opposite.  Firms are closing their doors in India, and handing the keys over to large Indian firms who want their business.  And their employees who are often well versed in the business. Citigrou and Aviva are some of the firms that engaged in large transaction swaps if you will, offering large contracts to the firm that purchased their centers.

While some are leaving India, most are just starting to shop as they figure out new ways to grow their business.  Amitabh Chaudhry, the chief executive of Infosys BPO, expects his business unit to grow up to 20-40% this year.  While this is far from the growth curve of 2007, the growth pattern continues.