IT Services > OutsourcingEssentials

While reading outsourcing horror stories may be somewhat entertaining, especially if it hasn't happened to you, it's even better to learn from the mistakes of others.

India's outsourcing industry is in private a little jittery after Senator Barack Obama's victory in the U.S. presidential election. But there is the expectation in industry circles that in the end economic pragmatism will prevail.

US presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama attacked offshore outsourcing in his acceptance of the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday night, drawing a bead on a practice that has displaced nearly one in 10 IT workers, according to a new study.

Call centers and business process outsourcing providers are among industry sectors in India that are likely to cut more than 25 percent of their staffing in the next 10 days, according to a report by a trade body.

As companies look to economize in a weak economy worsened by rising energy costs, it may be more tempting than ever to consider outsourcing your IT -- whether to a cloud-based provider, to a shop in your town, or to a provider in some far-off land. Certainly, outsourcing has worked well for many companies, but it can also lead to business-damaging nightmares, says Larry Harding, founder and president of High Street Partners, a global consultancy that advises company on how to expand overseas. After all, if outsourcers fail, you're left holding the bag without the resources to fix the problem.

Companies are approaching outsourcing contracts with renegotiation in mind by creating leverage through strategies such as price benchmarking claw-back and blue-sky clauses, according to a survey by IDC.

Businesses are being pinched by expensive or inefficient outsourcing deals because they do not enforce their right to benchmark.

Customers of Hewlett-Packard and Electronic Data Systems offered a range of reactions Tuesday to HP's US$13.9 billion bid for the massive outsourcing company.

Events unfolding in New Delhi could have far-reaching repercussions, as the Indian parliament deliberates changes to its tax code that could deeply affect businesses in the States.

The world has a new culprit to blame for the rising tide of software vulnerabilities -- code outsourcing.

Analyst firms have clashed over which country will dominate the Asia Pacific IT services market by 2011.