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To use the cliche; if you stay on top of it, it works. At my current company, we have an actual office in India, not just contractors from some company.
Also, if you outsource to the former Eastern block countries, you will likely get very good code.
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What other options do you have?
Even if you contract with a local company they could simply sub-contract it out anywhere*. You might just as well go straight to the lowest bidder and cut out the middlemen.
* I've heard of that happening.
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This looks quite a blunt question. Stats would sum up and give you a blurred data. But if you look closer, on case basis , for sure there are clear winners and clear losers. It depends on two things mainly.
1. Complexity of the work
2. To whom you are outsourcing
#2 is highly critical. As the complexity of the work & duration of the project increases, #2 gets super critical. & The other thing is, you shouldnt transfer the whole in one go. First the non-critical items should go and then gradually the critical ones follow suit.
Starting to think people post kid pics in their profiles because that was the last time they were cute - Jeremy.
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While I only have experience with the disasters I can identify one of the main causes - ownership, as Joe said you need someone to keep on top of the service, you can't just throw money at them and then bitch when you get ripped off, you need to invest some resources and they had better be bloody good at what they do, not the office junior!
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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What Joe and Mycroft said.
Outsourcing doesn't have anything to do with it actually.
If you have a competent owner, a proper specification and good communications, it will work no matter whether it's inhouse or outsourced.
If you do inhouse development you will normally have a lot better communications, compensating for the lack in the two other areas.
Also note how a proper specification clashes with agile development.
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Depends on a lot of things:
1) quality of engineering (this can be shockingly bad depending where it is)
2) cultural issues and how negativity is handled
#2 is famously a big issue. Certain cultures dont like to own up to issues and say 'no, it cant be done' or 'we have a major blocking issue'. In the west we can, so while we expect such honesty, we don't always get it, which can make projects fail.
#1 varies a lot. Generally I see good code from eastern Europeans, but these days they just go to work in western Europe, so its not really outsourcing. As for India, well, I have see some monstrous stuff. Really appalling.
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Munchies_Matt wrote: 2) cultural issues and how negativity is handled
I have come across this where the word for "yes" and "no" is "yes" - the only difference being in the manner that "yes" is communicated 
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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I've worked with offshoring before, the daily cost savings were cancelled out by the increased time take due to things such as language/cultural differences, the requirement for more meetings/travel and so on.
It wasn't a negative experience, it just didn't bring the cost saving gains that the management who implemented it expected.
Plus, everyone was doing it so the costs kept going up as staff kept jumping ship to the next company that did it that paid slightly more and so the wages went up etc.
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As far as my limited experience concerns, I saw that the shorter is the circuit linking request-> design -> code -> test -> release -> adjust request ->... the faster and less costly is delivering a functional product.
Introducing obstacles such as two different chains of command, business agreement and payments ("you changed a so the cost is +50" - "but you misunderstood b so we won't pay those other 30" - "no wait we did not misunderstood let's block until we come to an agreement"...), language barriers, time zone delays and possible lack of domain knowledge on the outsourcing provider enlarges and slows down the circuit, converging to a proper solution slower.
GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver
"When you have eliminated the JavaScript, whatever remains must be an empty page." -- Mike Hankey
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Short answer: No - you cannot manage someone you can't reach to slap. 
Long answer: Yes - it takes fixed costs off the balance sheet making the company appear more profitable than it actually is, thus increasing the share price and since that is the only thing a CEO is measured on, thus increasing the CEO pay check. Since this decision is taken by the CEO you can see his incentive so to do.
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Doesn't mention Palpatine's council seat.
..and doesn't look[^] like a 'she', does it? 
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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I recently found malware name eshield that affected both IE11 and Firefox. I searched on the net to find something that would remove it. I was directed to the Spyhunter4 site where I could download the tool. After downloading, the software executed. About two hours later, it reported more than 300 problem. A large fix the issues button appeared. When pressed, I was advised that I needed to buy the tool in order for the software to remove the issues!
I am not impressed by this tactic employed by Enigma Software. I warn all readers that you can remove eshield without resorting to purchasing Spyhunter4.
Stay away from Enigma Software. They leave a bad taste in the mouth.
Gus Gustafson
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gggustafson wrote: you can remove eshield without resorting to purchasing Spyhunter4
Is it a secret?
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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gggustafson wrote: downloading, the software
Your first mistake.
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Did you read this at the bottom of their home page:
"* SpyHunter scanner, published on this site, is intended to be used only as a detection tool. More info on SpyHunter System Requirements. To use the removal functionality, you will need to purchase the full version of SpyHunter. If you wish to uninstall SpyHunter, click here."
«I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center» Kurt Vonnegut.
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Missed that. Too focused on removing shield.
Gus Gustafson
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Spybot Search & Destroy[^]
It's a serious product despite it's name. And it's for free if you're a private person. (Donationware actually, you decide what you want to pay)
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I'd say that's a pretty serious name.
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Well, to me that name sounds like one of those ripoff programs that Mr Gustafson has encountered.
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In AI, I understand that A stands for artificial, but can't imagine what I stands for...For sure not for intelligence...
Skipper: We'll fix it.
Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this?
Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter wrote: but can't imagine what I stands for
Idiot? 
Marc
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Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter wrote: but can't imagine what I stands for...
'I' stands for, well, I.
But not I-me (that is Carlo), instead it stands for I-you, namely Peter...
--The Carlo's AI Engine
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Whenever life gets you down, Mrs.Brown
And things seem hard or tough
And people are stupid, obnoxious or daft
And you feel that you've had quite enough
Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour
That's orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it's reckoned
A sun that is the source of all our power
The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see
Are moving at a million miles a day
In an outer spiral arm, at forty thousand miles an hour
Of the galaxy we call the 'milky way'
Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars
It's a hundred thousand light years side to side
It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand light years thick
But out by us, it's just three thousand light years wide
We're thirty thousand light years from galactic central point
We go 'round every two hundred million years
And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe
The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding
In all of the directions it can whizz
As fast as it can go, the speed of light, you know
Twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is
So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure
How amazingly unlikely is your birth
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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