Offshoring Patterns

Moved from DynamicStringsVsFunctional

And if you think that algorithmically complex problems are a marginal domain in the profession of SoftwareEngineering, let me remind you that it was you who complained that FoxPro like apps are shrinking and fly to India and other sunny horizons. In the meantime new domains like bio-tech, data mining, simulations, security and other stuff characterized as algorithmically complex are still blooming in US and in the western hemisphere. So you can ignore algorithms at your own expense all you want, but bragging about it is extremely counter-productive.

The notion that "business apps are simple" is debunked under DomainPissingMatch. As far as what is offshorable, something that is algorithmically complex is MORE offshorable because the inputs and outputs (requirements) are well-defined, and thus human interaction with "user" is not required. Einstein and Knuth could have done all their work locked in an Indian dungeon.

If any thing that Top considers debunked was debunked for real, maybe it's time for you to get a prize for debunking the whole ComputingScience on wiki. It's not about what you think "should" happen, it's about what actually does happen. And what actually happens for the time being and what can be predicted in the near future is that business apps are among the top targets for outsourcing. I'lllet you figure out why and reconcile the logic of your ramblings with actual facts.

Do you have any evidence to back this up? Biz apps might be the largest in offshored quantity, but that is because it is the largest domain in the US also. Note that Russia and Isreal appear to be the favorite offshoring targets for "scientific" software. As far as the "security" field, that tends to stay local because it is harder to monitor and sue people working offshore. However, creation of general-purpose security software itself may be readiliy offshorable, at least commercial tools. The military might complain about security software made overseas, but most commercial ventures either don't care less or have no way to tell anyhow.

Go read some trade magazines, Top.

No, you made the claim, YOU provide citations.

The reasons why high complexity projects are not likely candidates for outsourcing are a bunch:

Business apps are not "low complexity" as described in DomainPissingMatch.

• security issues
• IntellectualProperty issues
• HR issues (you have a bunch of uniquely skilled and possibly irreplaceable (or not risk free replaceable) individuals on such projects that are not relocating to Bangalore just because).
• risk/benefit issues (you may in theory address all of the above and succeed but the risks are not worth the benefits, such projects are not operating within narrow profit margins anyways)

Your friendly FroxPro? inventory application does not have exhibit any of the problems above. There are thousands of Indians at least as good as Top for putting data on the screen, there's no intellectual property worth defending in a custom business app, etc. etc. Luckily there are still a host of other factors that will still keep most of the business app domain in place, but they do have a competitive disadvantage nevertheless.

You don't understand the business world. Most of those have nothing to do with "complexity", but rather legal issues. It is not "smarts" saving them, but hiding behind lawyers. --top