Businesses are facing tremendous opportunity and change as economies globalize. What started with manufacturing is now starting to happen to services. Over two decades ago, sourcing of products and manufacturing took on the globalization mantra. Developed nations saw the movement of manufacturing jobs to locations with lower labor costs. Also, benefits accrued to both sides, in terms of better price of goods in the developed world and economic opportunities for the developing nations.

This book presents a look into the globalization of services and the role it plays in the economy and its future. In the 21st century, outsourcing has been one of the key components of strategy for global corporate success. Offshore outsourcing of services is the next iteration of this strategic initiative. It is not unusual for companies to fundamentally change their delivery and cost proposition by leveraging an offshore model for services. Many firms save 30-70% through offshoring initiatives. Yet, surprisingly, less then 12% of the Fortune 1000 companies’ IT budget is offshore today. By 2005, this number is expected to increase to over 28%. This represents billions in total spend. As business and markets become global, service providers are responding in kind to serve this need.

Offshoring of services is currently on the topic of discussions at the leadership level at the Global 5000 and leading mid-size and start-upcompanies. Most companies are not sure about where or how to begin. Offshore outsourcing has distinctive challenges and nuances. We realize that executives face a major challenge in finding reliable sources of information for developing offshore strategies, researching offshore markets and how to make it work. It is different than the traditional onshore outsourcing model. Yet companies and consultants are still trying to use the same methodologies for both types of engagements. For this reason and because of the lack of maturity in the offshore market of our, companies are often ill informed about the markets, the offshore process and the capabilities of professional service firms in various countries.

Our desire is help business leaders better understand the role of offshore in corporate strategy and success. To help companies understand and leverage the strategic trends towards offshoring of IT and business processes. Additionally, we want to present to practitioners, a best practices approach to the offshore lifecycle. From start to finish, this book demonstrates the significant benefits that offshoring generates. By discussing both strategic and tactical information, we hope to bring executives and their managers together as they look to go offshore for IT and business process services.

We hope this helps you with your offshore journey!

Atul Vashistha is the CEO of neoIT, a leading management consultancy focused on offshore and global sourcing of services. He is a leading authority on globalization and outsourcing and was recently recognized by Consulting Magazine as one of the “Top 6 IT Power Brokers”. Wall street analysts, Global 2000 executives and top business journalists from CNN, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Fortune, Forbes and Business Week seek out his thought leadership. His personal passion is to help improve developing economies and business models around the globe.