While in India and working on my first outsourcing project, I survived a contracted company’s closure, an under-experienced programmer paid slightly more than a street sweeper and several rebirths… of deadlines. I ended up burning the midnight oil to shorten delays while my collaborators remained unphased and more importantly, unable to take stock of the situation.
Here are 5 questions someone asked me before coming to India.
1. I’ve heard that it is respectful and recommended to wear more conservative clothing for women - longer skirts/pants and t-shirts that
cover shoulders/upper arms, but several of the pictures I’ve seen show tourists in tanks tops and shorts. What would you recommend for a woman traveling solo who wants to be respectful, blend in, and stay cool?
2. Any recommendations for train or airline travel - different companies or classes you recommend? How early do you need to book tickets?
3. What should I expect from the monsoon? Rain all day every day? Sporadic hard rainstorms? Light constant rain?
4. I’m a runner, and I would like to continue running while in India. Any suggestions about this?
5. I’m also a fourth grade (9/10 year olds) teacher, and would love to visit a school in India to hopefully observe and take some photos to bring back with me. My students are fascinated by seeing how kids that are half way around do things! Any suggestions on how I might arrange this or if schools will be in session?
These are my personal answers keeping in mind that, India is so vast, it cannot fit into neat little boxes or generalizations…
Going for a new e-commerce or web 2.0 solution is a big commitment so it’s important to make an informed decision.
First, lets start with the basics:
1. The internet is a tool, not an obscure new world before which we bow down in servitude. It must work for us, not the other way around.
2. Any entity/individual, whether computer literate or not, has the same rights as the next to harness the power of the internet. This is the spirit of democracy.
3. It is the responsibility of firms like ours to use our knowledge responsibly, to listen and to educate you about the possibilities and limitations of the technology. And at the end of the day, the solution offered must empower not enslave.
No matter who you choose for this exciting new netventure, consider the solution from the point of view of all the people who will interact with your site :
Your business’
Your customers’
Your webmaster/programmer’s
Let’s get the terminology right:
1. Outsourcing means subcontracting or exporting non-core operations to another company/entity
2. Offshoring means exporting operations to another country, whether or not it stays in the same corporation/entity
3. Offshore Outsourcing means exporting operations to another country to another corporation/entity
Though the terms are often misused, the bone of contention in the 2002 US presidential race was offshore outsourcing.
When is it ok to automate?
The other day, in Paris, I lined up behind 4 people to buy a subway ticket. For some reason, the RATP (the company that runs the subway) decided that tickets at this station would only be available through the automated vending machine; fair enough. One very patient tourist didn’t have change for the machine and had a train to catch to London 20 minutes later. A cashier of the RATP in his nearby booth stared at him helplessly, he wasn’t equipped to sell tickets. Finally he came out of his glass cage to help the tourist. By then there were another 4 people behind me. And after 15 minutes of waiting, i finally got my ticket. I’m pretty sure the guy missed his train to London in the process.