ResourcePad Blog

I recently read an interesting bit of news, here and it really just shows how far the Internet has come for the next generation. Basically, the link outlines the life of a 17 year old girl who started a multi-million dollar business (generated primarily through Google’s Adsense) by designing MySpace themes which became such a lucrative idea (the website gets 7 million hits/month and is ranked higher than websites like cbsnews.com, americanidol.com and even oprah.com) that former MySpace boss Brad Greenspan, offered to buy the site for a close to $2 billion…twice. Both times, he was turned down.

The website exists on the principle that it’s been created for teenagers by a teenager, and to this effect has been used as a marketing gimmick for promoting new music bands and vocal talent, via a video widget on the site.

This just shows how far we’ve come in a decade, from the failed dot-coms to the teenage entrepreneurs, from internet chat rooms to major social networking portals, from offshoring on a local and small scale to a worldwide phenomenon.

I’ve been reading up on a few forums, and have come across this question several times: why should I outsource? ResourcePad already has a set of articles written by no doubt, many professionals who have had experience in the field, negative or positive, but to sum it up: it saves you time and money. Of course, this isn’t always the case, but there’s a 70% chance that you’ll benefit. Before you decide to outsource, realizing just what you’re going to do is important, since there’s nothing more frustrating for vendors than a client who isn’t sure of his/her requirements.

AT Kearney sees the future of IT in outsourcing, and with politicians touting globalization the world over, it won’t be unsurprising. Especially taken into account the growing importance of social networking sites and virtual worlds — it makes managing projects with people in different countries that much simpler — something like an effective project management tool and alarm system all rolled up in one. With the introduction of Linked In, and other job networking sites, the chances of finding a reliable outsource provider is no longer the daunting task it was before. With websites like Elance, Guru, oDesk, etc., things are only going to get easier with time.

So if you’re asking why you should outsource, let me ask you why you shouldn’t?

There’s been a lot of talk about Green Sourcing recently, and now it turns out, it’s all been a whitewash of sorts. Silicon.com has been reporting that green sourcing is considered a primary prerequisite for hiring outsourcing and off shore companies citing a report by Brown-Wilson. Most especially, data centers with their hordes of PCs sending poisonous vapors out there, have been a primary cause for concern.

However, more than one person from within the ‘go green’ camp has begun to join its naysayers. And though they have a point – after all, despite the solar powered electricity grid some companies are now sporting – the point remains: the more clients, the more resources, the more resources the more power consumed. So far it seems, no one has really been able to find an adequate workaround around the problem.

ZDNet’s reporting that companies seem to having withdrawal symptoms from using too much green and have begun to see the flaws with various firms trying to cash in. Looking back on it, a lot of it does seem to a marketing mess – especially since it’s become a consideration with larger companies when outsourcing to smaller ones – how much are you spending on the green stuff? The answer to it seems so significant, that one wrong step, could take you to the wrong side of town.

Some people seem to think that it might be over toppling the need for good service – after all, if Company A’s got the green sources so very important to the environment – they mayn’t be focusing as much attention on what counts, and going with the group might lead to corporate failure. Yours, that is.

But then, there’s the much talked about ‘global warming’ issue that seems to be spilling over into every conversation, IT related or not.

It seems however, despite Silicon.com’s very informative report, that software service providers are not high on the list of people who should go green. And if you think about it, that’s where the real problem lies, so to speak. I’m not an environmentalist or anything, but I do believe that shutting off PCs on a daily basis will be a reduction in…some capacity.

So what do you think of green sourcing? Do you think it will ever find as expansive a home as it seems to have found in the rest of the corporate world, where it’s almost a business?