My experience with offshore outsourcing which is mainly based on the Europe perspective started during the “hype times” around 2000 and at that stage, most companies were urgently looking for talented IT experts. I believe the discussions about the positive and especially the negative effects off offshore outsourcing and who will be the winner happened a few years later when the downturn hit and people feared to lose their job or managers to lose lots of their direct reporting staff.

Analysis done by consulting companies (e.g. the McKinsey Global Institute) outlines a positive long term perspective concerning the effects of offshoring on the countries deploying offshore services, but this seems not always reflect personal experience of people affected.

Who will be the winners of the globalisation trend in IT services? Will it be solely the offshore locations or also the ones using the services? I encourage everybody to articulate this opinion and the supporting facts.