The Pit - IMI Trust

It seems like each month we are hearing announcements that companies will be outsourcing support and IT functions to India.

Companies are finding that they can no longer get the depth of experience they seek in Australia. Companies are finding that they can outcomes achieved for cents in the dollar and in less time then they can in Australia.

In Australia, this has caused a lot of controversy! The interesting thing about this is, if you ask people who have dealt with Indian IT companies, more often then not they will rave about their standard of service and their responsiveness.

An Australian based company recently tendered a job to both Australian and Indian companies. The response highlighted a strong difference in the hunger to do business, and the reason why companies are using outsourced services.

By the time the company received a reply from an Australian service provider, the job had been completed in India, and they were going through a testing phase.

Many corporate organisations are outsourcing to India, whether it be there call centre or the IT departments. Globally, the largest companies on the planet are also outsourcing these departments. In the UK, the have companies which have established European shop front, and then they outsource the business to India. The companies are generally… none the wiser.

It is great to see these developing nations thrive. It is refreshing to see the professionalism in their approach to business. Their hunger to succeed and thrive will make news announcements about the outsourcing of jobs increasingly common.

There is a famous saying in hospitality:

“The answer is yes, now what’s the question?”

The sentiment behind this is that the customer is always right.  The customer has a need that requires fulfilling.  There are many companies that follow this customer-orientated ethic.  Starbucks is one, as no drink is ever not made no matter how crazy the concoction may be.  If that’s the way they want it, then that’s the way they get it.

In the corporate world, and in particular financial services, there are several companies that try and maintain a business model that revolves around this attitide. However, at which point does corporate responsibility take over?  In many instances in business the customer is not the best person to ask for direction or opinion. In fact, they are absolutely the worst person to ask.

Customers should have an end goal and how that end goal is reached should be down to the service provider on how it can be best achieved.  This is the basis of good business.  It’s a Win/Win situation.

There are some business relationships that, from the beginning, that it is clear that it is going to be a Lose/Lose situation.  Why do we enter these?

Have you knowingly entered any of these before and has the outcome been different to how you expected?