>SNIP
>>
>>So it's up to IT workers to be creative and find ways to stop this. Not an easy task but doable.
>
>Just how would you do it, Denis???
>You'd be surprised at how much grief a company will put up with if they believe that IN THE END they can get quality output from someone who costs 10% of what it costs here. Hell, they'll even go to the ends of the earth for 5%-10%!

Jim. I agree that outsourcing is a very hard thing for those on the firing line. I also agree that those who receive the work are often mistreated and underpaid and is where the cost savings are often derived from - although I imagine this applies more to the manufacture of material goods rather than services like development work. However, I do want to make one point often overlooked and which is highlghted in your opening sentence above. It is possible, and in some cases I imagine quite probable, that the work produced in some of those outsourcing countries actually is top-notch and high quality.

There often seems to be an assumption that outsourced work must somehow always be of low quality. I cannot believe this. These countries must have some very smart people and are surely capable of producing high quality software systems and providing high degree of support. For instance, there is a company often on this forum in Bulgaria that are doing work internationally for half the price of American contractors. Is their work less good for it? I dont think so. I suspect that many dev shops in India, China, and elsewhere are more than capable of producing world class solutions. Innovation and ingenuity is not a western monopoly.

It's not necessarily a case of cheaper == poor quality.