Tom wrote: >Very few consultants (big 'C' or little 'c') from the U.S. would benefit from outsourcing in my experience. A few of the high-volume posters on this list might, but they are exceptions not the rule. Most consultants work within their own country and often tend to stay within their region within the country. (Unless it is a particularly small country or unless their specialty is sufficiently unique.) Those with spectacular skills may also be exceptions, of course, but they always will be. A lot of people prefer to live at home if they have the choice. Response: Happy to hear you have been unaffected by outsourcing to native consultants. Two jobs ago I and nine of my co-workers were replaced by a consulting company on a time and material basis. That arrangement lasted less than three years but caused quite a bit of grief to the folks involved. Not all outsourced jobs are sent offshore.
>You just might want to get out of D.C. and see the world before you make too many more assessments like that about Brazil, Russia, India or China. There are certainly highly developed pockets in each of those countries - and there are, conversely, underdeveloped pockets here in the U.S.) Response: Having worked overseas for six years, I think I probably have a better global view than most Americans, particularly the 90% who don't have a passport. To correct another assumption, I'm not in DC. I also never said that the aforementioned countries aren't capable. In fact the most knowledgeable MVS person I've ever met was a Brazilian instructor at the IBM Ed Centre in LaHulpe, Belgium. >I still maintain that the original poster just wanted to expand his knowledge so he could get a chance at a promotion. I don't see anything particularly sinister or unexpected in that. Response: At the personal level your statement is probably true. It is within the larger context of jobs being siphoned out of the country that I may have a problem. In other words, if a poster identifies himself with a .com address of a legit company say a bank in Hong Kong then I will be happy to help if I can. It's when the .com is a generic ISP such as Gmail or Yahoo that I start to question who it is asking for help. They can RTFM. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
