| What
is offshore outsourcing? Outsourcing
refers to the subcontracting of intermediate components in the business process
of an organization to external parties to leverage synergies of technical expertise
and core competencies to ensure that together both parties provide superlative
value to the end customer. Offshoring and
outsourcing are related concepts, but they are not the same. Offshoring refers
to capitalizing on lower cost labor, yet providing high quality, in less developed
countries. Outsourcing is one approach to attaining those benefits. But it is
also possible for a company to set up its own offshore operation either wholly
owned (which has the risks of high cost and inadequate understanding of the foreign
country market), or as a joint venture with a local partner. A
more reliable concept, Offshore Outsourcing (of software), is simply software
development at a location in another country, at a facility connected with the
client's location using high-speed data communication links to allow engineers
and managers to communicate on a real-time basis. Clients on the other side of
the globe can monitor developments and project milestones on an up-to-the-minute
basis, ensuring both quality and progress. As
the role of Information Systems and Technology in any organization grows, there
is an increasing need for the organization to look at outsourcing as a strategic
tool to ensure competitiveness and higher quality of service. Moreover, the changing
nature of software projects (from the earlier fixed time / fixed price software
projects to application management contracts that focus on the delivery of defined
services) also makes it more difficult for organizations to justify the overhead
of maintaining a highly specialized IT team for in-house software development.
In these situations, an outsourced relationship allows the client to fix clear
Service Level expectations and also define clear ROI goals. Offshore
Outsourcing has proved to be a differentiating factor for companies, offering
cost, time and quality advantages. Today, it is common practice to outsource development
requirements for: 
Expertise in latest technology
Rapid
deployment
Lowered Costs
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