No longer a controversial topic

Offshore outsourcing is no longer the controversial topic it was 10 years ago, when the practice of contracting with workers overseas regularly made headlines. But while offshoring has since become standard practice for many U.S. businesses, few are employing anything close to best practice when it comes to managing their offshore relationships, according to a recent study of 240 executives by the Offshoring Research Network at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.“
Companies still have lots to learn,” says Arie Lewin, professor of strategy and international business at Fuqua and the director of the study, which has been conducted annually since 2004. “Many companies have really perfected supply-chain management, but they’re not applying those same capacities to the sourcing of business-support functions.”
Source url : http://www3.cfo.com/article/2013/3/global-business_offshoring-outsourcing-overseas-hiring-jobs

French IT services company acquired by Tata

Tata Consultancy Services is to acquire French IT services company Alti in a bid to increase its presence in the European market.

India's largest outsourcer said in a filing Tuesday to the Bombay Stock Exchange that it has signed definitive agreements to acquire 100 percent of the equity in privately-held Alti for €75 million (US$97.5 million) in an all-cash transaction.

The deal will help it grow in France, regarded as the third largest IT market in Europe after the U.K. and Germany, TCS said in the filing.

Alti's key customers include French companies in banking, financial services, luxury, manufacturing and utilities sectors. It has 1,200 employees across France, Belgium and Switzerland, and had revenue of €126 million in 2012. The company is currently owned by its management and two private equity firms.

Source url : http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/458464/tata_acquire_french_it_services_company_alti/

Most of the Drupal (CMS) based services are outsourced

Drupal, the PHP based free CMS is among the most fun and most flexible open source content management systems today and Drupal is most sophisticated, versatile and effective for re-designing and re-creating interactive websites.

Just to add to the above, Drupal is also easy-to-maintain, easy-to-install and easy-to-configure. It comes with a bunch of add on features that make your website more interactive, more fun and more search engine friendly!

While all this stands true, it is a well known fact that most Drupal web development services are outsourced. The question is why? What are the benefits of outsourcing Drupal development projects, if any? I mean, we all know the benefits of Drupal… but the benefits of ‘Outsourcing’ Drupal Web Development; interesting!

Source url : http://www.spyghana.com/most-drupal-web-development-services-are-outsourced/

Wipro targetting Canada

When Indian outsourcing magnate Azim Premji flew into Calgary a short time ago, he liked what he saw: a vibrant oil and gas industry with a big appetite for information-technology services.

“Canada is turning out to be an important market for us; we plan to invest much more here than in the past,” said the chairman and controlling shareholder of Bangalore-based Wipro Ltd., with the air of a prospector who has rediscovered an overlooked mineral field. “I think broadly we neglected it.”

Source url : http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/indias-it-outsourcing-giant-wipro-takes-aim-at-canada/article9744470/

Eye-Tracking Study of Google

SEOmoz just released the results of a pretty cool eye-tracking study and a few of the results are surprising. Google’s different SERPs formats seem to have varying effects on users and those using video and local search listings will find these results promising.

A few of the results actually suggest that if you’re targeting a query with local connotations, you may be better off skipping those coveted top 3 organic spots and shooting for the local listings. To be clear, the study was small and examined just eight subjects shown five SERPs each. It would be very useful to see the results of a larger, broader study, given the promising outcome of this one for blended search results.

Source url : http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2115682/Google-Eye-Tracking-Study-Highlights-Impact-of-LocalPlaces-Results

All AdWords Phone Numbers made clickable by google on mobile

When AdWords advertisers place a phone number in their ad copy, the phone number will be clickable by default, Google has announced. Advertisers will be charged the same rate as their standard PPC when users call through the advertisement.

The Added Features

Google has been offering a click-to-call feature for AdWords since January 2010.

Previously, AdWords users who placed a phone number in their ad copy could only get a call if the searcher entered the number manually. Now, the phone numbers inside the creative are clickable by default.

Additionally, advertisers can view details on the performance of the clickable number by looking at the "click type" campaign segment of their campaign reporting.

Source url : http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2104995/Google-Makes-All-AdWords-Phone-Numbers-Clickable-for-Mobile

Offshore outsourcing cuts down facebook page costs

Should brands outsource their Facebook presence in part or full, to a company in another continent and hence become the brand’s eyes, ears and voice on social media?

Budgets for social media are growing at unprecedented rates and these numbers will come under scrutiny more often than not as companies optimize their social media spending. By outsourcing social media activities (in part or full), a brand can cut its social media spend by anywhere between 25 percent 60 percent and still achieve the same, if not better, results.

When we talk about social media outsourcing, I always tell brands that there are some things that are outsourcable and some that are not. About 60 percent 65 percent of all social media work done is outsourcable, and about 35 percent 40 percent is not.

Source url : http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-page-outsourcing-offshore-2011-07