Offshoring, the approach many U.S-based companies take to secure IT talent, has lost much of its original appeal. In the past, U.S. companies sent IT jobs overseas for one key reason: to capitalize on inexpensive labor. In many cases, offshore vendors claimed hourly rates that were 80% less expensive. IT leaders, originally seduced by offshoring’s attractive bottom-line savings, quickly found out that offshoring’s challenges and risks often increased project costs, eroding the much anticipated savings. A few of these risks include:
- Time zone differences
- Language compatibility
- Cultural barriers
- Domain expertise
- Employee turnover
- Geopolitical risk
IT leaders, now familiar with the risks associated with offshoring and its eroding potential savings, are replacing offshoring with a proven alternative to talent acquisition: domestic sourcing or onshore outsourcing. Domestic sourcing taps into talent inside the United States to deliver the speed to market and responsiveness IT organizations require in today’s digital marketplace. In addition, it leverages a deep familiarity of complex business problems, a depth and breadth of capabilities, access to a scalable brain trust, efficient collaboration, and attention to quality. However, determining the value of domestic sourcing has been difficult to illustrate. Today, companies can utilize the Sparq TCO Calculator, a robust tool that enables the customization of six distinct and commonly accepted productivity factors to a company’s current situation. This allows for a more accurate assessment of their total cost of ownership of outsourcing needs.
A key advantage to domestic sourcing however, is its ability to deliver the agility needed to pivot IT priorities in response to changing customer expectations. It allows companies operating in this hyper-responsive digital environment to add and recast IT talent as needed. For example, this agility was recently demonstrated when one of our FinTech software clients asked Sparq to refocus our existing team and add a second scrum team to meet the regulatory demands of one of their largest clients. Taking a flexible approach allows IT teams to adjust project priorities and delivery timelines on the fly – based on the actionable recommendations that come from real-time analysis of customer expectations.
Analysis Paralysis in AI Adoption
Learn why endless discussions and the relentless pursuit of flawless data are actually costing you valuable time, insights, and competitive advantage – just like it did for giants like Kodak and Blockbuster.
Don’t Take Product Out of the Equation: How to Nail Your AI Implementation
AI isn't just about the technology, it's about solving real problems and delivering real value. One way to do that is to keep product at the forefront during your AI implementation. Learn more about why having a product-first mindset is so important in this article by Principal Product Strategist Heather Harris.
Navigating AI in Banking and Financial Services: A Risk-Based Rebellion for Leaders
Every shiny AI use case in regulated industries has a shadow: governance, compliance, model risk, ethics, bias, explainability, cyberattack vectors and more. It's not that organizations and leaders don’t want AI, it’s that they’re paralyzed by the political, regulatory, and operational realities of deploying it. Sparq's Chief Technology Officer Derek Perry and VP, BFSI Industry Leader Rob Murray argue we need to change that. Check out this article to learn how to actually ship production AI use cases in regulated environments.
Five Important Questions to Ask Before Starting Your AI Implementation
Creating a lasting impact with AI requires more than just technical output. In this article by Principal Product Strategist Heather Harris, learn five questions to ask before starting an AI implementation so it can deliver long-term business value.