Our first instinct our first choice is to perform work within our own organization. It’s what we’re used to, it’s where our product and project expertise lies, and it’s usually the path of least resistance.

Next in line is the concept of brining in outside consultants to work on the project as needed. For example, you may need a particular software expertise on your project and everyone in your organization with that expertise is booked on another engagement. Since you need the work performed now – not in two months – you bring in an outside expert for, say, five weeks to get the task completed and you move on.

The third choice is to outsource, and that is what this article is about. There may be times in the life of your projects or during your project management career, where the best alternative is to outsource an entire portion of the project to an outside vendor to perform, say, all of the development work or all of the testing of the system prior to user acceptance testing.

Let’s look at this option further….

Outsourcing Services

An alternative to using consultants is outsourcing, by which an independent vendor provides a service and assumes responsibility for the results. For example, a project manager might outsource the development and delivery of a deliverable or component of the product being built.

Outsourcing has its advantages. It can help shift the development of difficult, complex deliverables to expertise that does not exist on the team. It can shift nonessential deliverables to outside vendors so that the team can focus on critical matters. Finally, it can allow for flexibility in responding to a fast-paced environment, since less is invested in a project infrastructure and the outsourcing can be canceled without investing too much.

Outsourcing has its disadvantages, too. The potential for losing control may be high. The work can cost more initially. And it takes time to find a reliable outsourcing vendor.

To ensure that you make a good outsourcing decision:

1. Do an analysis to determine if outsourcing is a better option than having the team do the work.

2. Select from several outsourcing vendors. Compare each one, not just on a cost basis but also on reputability of work and service.

3. Identify what is too critical to outsource. A bad outsourcing decision can have disastrous results on the entire project.

4. Identify what you can outsource. Often, these are services or deliverables not essential to the outcome of the project.

5. If outsourcing something critical, then ensure that reviews and audits are stipulated in the contract. Actually, the rights for reviews and audits should be incorporated in the contract as a general rule, but especially for critical services or deliverables.

Source:http://pmtips.net/outsourcing-choice-project/

Congressman Tim Bishop expressed disappointment in response to the Senate’s failure to advance a bill that would eliminate tax incentives for companies that ship jobs overseas. As a sponsor of The Stop Outsourcing and Create American Jobs Act of 2010 (H.R. 5622), Bishop is a leader in efforts in the House of Representatives to fight outsourcing and encourage job creation in America.

“It is deeply unfortunate that the Senate has failed to respond to the House’s advocacy on behalf of America’s workers,” said Congressman Tim Bishop. “At a time of persistent high unemployment due at least in part to outsourcing, it is unconscionable to protect tax loopholes that encourage companies to ship American jobs overseas.”

The tax bill under consideration, the Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act (S. 3816), would have ended tax deductions for expenses incurred when companies close U.S. operations and send the work overseas and instituted a new tax on products manufactured by foreign workers that were previously made in the United States. Due to unanimous Republican opposition, the legislation failed to reach the Senate’s required 60-vote threshold to end debate.

Introduced by Bishop in collaboration with House colleagues Jerry McNerney (D-CA), and Gary Peters (D-MI), The Stop Outsourcing and Create American Jobs Act of 2010 (H.R. 5622) deters corporations from using tax havens to hide assets and create jobs overseas by increasing civil and criminal penalties for illegal transactions involving a tax haven country, such as fraud, false claims, and tax evasion. The bill also requires federal agencies to request information about a corporations’ outsourcing practices when it applies for government contracts and allows preference for companies that have not outsourced jobs in the last year.

Earlier this year, Bishop introduced the Aviation Jobs Outsourcing Prevention Act (H.R.4788), to prevent jobs in the aviation industry from being outsourced as a result of joint venture agreements. These agreements between U.S.-based airlines and international carriers, whose host nations allow lower standards of living and fewer essential workforce protections, place the U.S. aviation industry at a competitive disadvantage.

Earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed the Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act of 2010 (H.R. 4849), that includes a provision to save American jobs by eliminating foreign tax haven corporations set up to evade U.S. taxes.

Source:http://www.hamptons.com/News/For-The-Record/12136/Bishop-Blasts-Senate-Failure-To-Advance.html