Is outsourcing information systems a better proposition in most of the situations? Discuss some advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing.

Information Technology has many advantages and disadvantages. IT Outsourcing is just similar to any other type of overseas development services. Now a day Offshore Software Development is expanding all over the world. Previously, outsourcing decision was as simple as checking the budget, experience of the service provider and present in-house ability. India is the hottest spot of the IT outsourcing. The reasons are that India has supportive government policy, advanced Technology, reliable communication facilities, huge skilled men power with proficiency in English language.

Thus, there are lots of advantages of IT outsourcing. Let us have a look at some of them:

1. Cost-Effectiveness: There is no doubt about this advantage of outsourcing to India. Outsourcing your IT requirements save you as much as 30% of company's expenditure and that says for itself. One can always resort to Offshore Software Development to implement huge projects which may not be affordable to a company in the western world. Offshoring not only takes care of the development costs but also slashes hiring costs, training costs and cost of infrastructure to a great extent.

2. Qualitative Services: Service providers provide qualitative services not at high cost but competitive rates. Asia is known for its service and this attribute clubbed with qualitative manpower makes Asia especially India an ideal outsourcing destination.

3. Skilled Manpower: India has a large pool of technically skilled and English proficient population, thus making it favourable for making it an outsourcing partner.

4. Focus: Outsourcing enables a company to focus on its core competencies while it offloads its non-core activities to other service providers.

5. Expertise in IT Outsourcing: Expertise comes only at that time when customer deals with highly skilled and capable service provider. Everybody wants to become an expert service provider. This business playing progressively major role to become an expert businessman.

Now look at the Disadvantages of IT Outsourcing:

1. Loss of Control: Because of some misunderstanding you will lose control on all over project in that case you have to clear all things. That means transparency must have to in the business of Offshore Software Outsourcing.

2. Communication Challenges & Different Standards: Sometimes in the business of IT Outsourcing communication problems are usually comes. For the better communication service provider have to use email and instant messaging program because it's online communication. Sometimes telephone communication is the bad thing for this business.

3. Time Zone- a double-edged Sword: Time zone would be creating disadvantages of IT outsourcing. Because vendors and customers are in the different countries so in that case they have to understand the difference between time for online meetings and requirement between the customers and vendors.

4. Cultural Differences: Because of the two different countries language and cultural problems might be create disadvantage of Offshore Software Outsourcing.

5. Service Provider wants to diversify and take more projects: To diversify the business of IT Outsourcing, service providers' wants to take more projects and in that case sometimes they can not give better preference for all projects.

6. Customer is Novice: Many a times, customer is novice and in the effort to satisfy him, the project may go haywire.