I learned today that Watts Humphrey died yesterday. His obituary from the SEI can be found here.
I have great admiration for Humphrey’s work. During my stay in CMU in 92-93, he was a guest lecturer in our Software Process Improvement course. His lecture was about the Personal Software Process. I was deeply impressed by his insights and the fascinating anecdotes he had to tell… his professional life was immensely rich. He was also a very talented lecturer.
In a global economy where productivity is rising in many segments and production costs are shaping innovative strategies, looking for a strategic IT partner it has become crucial to any organization’s success. Many are addressing these growing concerns by reformulating their business plans, shipping their in-house software development needs to emerging markets’ outsourcing companies.
In these new scenarios, where off-shore outsourcing services are growing exponentially in the world, some myths surrounding this matter are raising as well. Progressively, public opinion and media coverage are more uneasy about it and many companies everywhere recognize that a lot is at stake for their business. In this blog post I will attempt to tackle some of these myths.
A recent survey presented by Capgemini highlights the top factors listed by 300 senior executives from Fortune 1000 companies in choosing an outsourcing destination, and it presents the Latin American region as the third most popular outsourcing destination in the globe.
Among these factors, the top 5 are: labor costs (79 percent), technology & infrastructure capabilities (62 percent), skilled labor (61 percent), language proficiency (49 percent), and economic stability (44 percent).
A closer analysis of each of the factors reveals how Argentina has an important advantage among its neighbors, at least in the short and mid-term.