Offshore Outsourcing: Business Models, ROI and Best Practices

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Summary: Valuable tool for the Call Center Manager
Review: As a manager of a call center, I used this book to gain a better understanding of business process outsourcing. This book presents a thorough description of what processes are being outsourced, to where, and who are the leading vendors. It also includes information on the strategy methodology for outsourcing, selecting a vendor and choosing a country.

One of my favorite chapters is the business model chapter. We currently outsource some of our call center work to Canada and are considering making changes. This chapter was helpful in understanding the choices and nuances of the different outsourcing business models.

Although I was most interested in the customer care chapter, I also found the other chapters on specific processes very informative (IT, HR, F&A, and transaction processing). The book has numerous case studies that are very helpful and interesting.

Highly recommend this book to companies who want to understand offshore outsourcing.

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Summary: In depth analysis of offshore outsourcing
Review: Everyone is talking about offshore outsourcing but most of the discussion is rather superficial. I picked up this book to better understand what is happening.
I found this book to be extremely helpful in understanding the landscape and critical sucess factors in moving current in-house operations offshore. This book looks beyond the hype of everyday headlines and focuses on identifying the framework to really understand offshore outsourcing.
The best part of this book is the numerouus case studies. For a business manager,this book is a great reference guide for how to approach the controversial topic of outsourcing. The in-depth analysis of different processes(IT,customer care,HR,F&A,and transaction processing)highlights the true ROI that can be achieved across different areas of a company.
The authors have taken their consulting and real-life implementation experience to deliver a superior offshore outsourcing reference guide! Highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Great Business Process Outsourcing Book
Review: I found this book to be much more packed with information than I had anticipated. I think the title is misleading in the sense that it is not just about offshore outsourcing but really more about business process outsourcing (such as finance and accounting, human resources and call centers).

There is a strategy chapter that lays out the decision-making process and project management steps involved in outsourcing. There is also a chapter on vendor sourcing and selection that is very in-depth. The book also devotes a whole chapter on country options such as China, Mexico, the Philippines, India, Canada, Russia, Ireland and South Africa.

The business model chapter explains options for outsourcing such as BOT (build, operate, transfer) or joint ventures. It explains the delivery options such as onsite, nearshore and offshore that companies can explore.



Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a better understanding of business process outsourcing or offshore outsourcing.


Rating:
Summary: Good Update and Revision to the First Edition
Review: The authors have done a nice job in updating and revising the first edition of the book. They have kept the book current by incorporating all the events, announcements and political machinations of 2004.

Highly recommend the book to anyone looking to get a deeper understanding of offshore outsourcing via third party firms or their own captive centers. This book contains as much knowledge and insight as the high-cost research reports Gartner or Forrester.

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Summary: Updated and Revised - Second Edition
Review: This an updated and revised version that has much more current information and content on offshore, onshore, nearshore strategies. The authors seem to realize that the offshore outsourcing area went through considerable changes in 2004. Kudos to the authors for taking the time and effort to update their book.

Recommend this book to anyone who is investigating, strategizing, executing/implementing or simply staying current in this area. The book has a lot of useful analysis that can only be found in expensive research reports from the big-name analyst firms.

This book is especially useful for entrepreneurs and startups who are looking at ways to create a low-cost execution model from day one.

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Summary: Great Overview on Offshore Outsourcing
Review: This book gave me a great overview of the offshore outsourcing landscape. I read this for my Executive MBA class and found it to be quite accurate in its predictions.

Highly recommend this book to those who are looking to get upto speed on the different business models -- BOT, ODC, GDM and types of offshore outsourcing -- ITO, BPO, HR etc.. The book is also useful if you are looking for a "How-To" guide to offshore outsourcing.

Rating:
Summary: Good overview
Review: We used this book to get a clear view of the offshore outsourcing landscape. Making rational decisions regarding offshore outsourcing has become very complex with multiple business models, processes, countries, and vendors. Everyday the landscape is getting more difficult to follow (let alone create a strategy for) as new capabilities, partnerships and developments are brought to market.

We used this book to establish a foundation of basic understanding for the management team. This book is an excellent introductory guide that is easy to understand. The examples and case studies illustrate the key points well.

Highly recommend this book to companies who are beginning to think about offshore outsourcing. After reading this book you will be in a better position to evaluate various options.