ICC Announces Information Factory
Columbus, OH, March 05, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Columbus based Information Control Corporation (ICC) has recently introduced the Information Factory (IF). IF is positioned as a cost-competitive alternative for companies that may be considering using offshore vendors for IT needs.
An alternative to offshoring
IF addresses many of the shortcomings found in the offshoring model. Over the past ten to fifteen years, companies have been attracted to outsourcing offshore because of the low costs involved. Many times, it’s the only alternative considered to lower costs and improve quality. The Society of Information Management’s IT Trends Survey shows that IT leaders plan to increase offshore outsourcing in 2009, but only after two consecutive years of decline.
"It's likely that IT leaders think, in the face of this economy, offshoring will be a cost savings for them," says Don Jackson, Director of Business Intelligence at ICC. "What they seem to forget is why everyone cut back on offshoring in 2007 and 2008--because the offshore model delivered uneven results. When companies calculated the “real cost” of offshore in terms of overall efficiency, quality and risk, rather than just low rates, they began to pull back."
Jackson, who was responsible for the managing onshore delivery and worked closely with the offshore development centers in India from 2000 – 2004, asserts that in many cases, the costs of bringing in the high level project managers and architects needed to manage the offshore team negate any cost savings by moving work offshore.
"You have to have a very large scale effort for offshoring to pay off. And even then, you have to be outsourcing the right things, have solid onshore management in place, and monitor constantly for quality issues."
The IF model gives clients the low cost they're looking for, with all the benefits of a local provider. IF can be used for a range of IT needs, like application integration, data migrations, and modernization of legacy applications.
"With IF, we've incorporated modern methodologies that enable more user interaction with the development team, greater flexibility during the development and design process, higher levels of productivity, and improved quality along with tighter cost control," Jackson says. "These are things you don't get with an offshoring model."
The end result of IF's methodology is reduced effort and testing, and higher quality. This keeps the cost down and the turnaround time quick.
Keeping recent grads here in Columbus
The IF concept is also working as a way to develop and keep young professionals in Central Ohio. With the increase in software development work being sent offshore, the United States has lost a valuable and effective training ground for aspiring computer professionals. And many here in Columbus, including Ohio House Speaker Armond Budish, are voicing concern that Ohio is losing too many young people who are moving to other states. The IF team intentionally recruits from Ohio colleges, and pairs each of these new employees with a senior resource to help them train and come up to speed quickly.
"It's great to see all the fresh faces coming out of school and into our workforce," says Rick Ritzler, ICC's Director of Recruiting. "It's exciting to know we're giving them an opportunity to take a big step forward in their careers."
About ICC:
ICC is the largest locally-owned IT solutions firm in Ohio, providing professional consulting and project outsourcing for Fortune 500 and mid-market companies in a variety of industries. Our services include application development, networking technologies, business intelligence, technical support and project management. (www.iccohio.com)
For more information on ICC or Information Factory, contact Don Jackson at djackson@iccohio.com.
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An alternative to offshoring
IF addresses many of the shortcomings found in the offshoring model. Over the past ten to fifteen years, companies have been attracted to outsourcing offshore because of the low costs involved. Many times, it’s the only alternative considered to lower costs and improve quality. The Society of Information Management’s IT Trends Survey shows that IT leaders plan to increase offshore outsourcing in 2009, but only after two consecutive years of decline.
"It's likely that IT leaders think, in the face of this economy, offshoring will be a cost savings for them," says Don Jackson, Director of Business Intelligence at ICC. "What they seem to forget is why everyone cut back on offshoring in 2007 and 2008--because the offshore model delivered uneven results. When companies calculated the “real cost” of offshore in terms of overall efficiency, quality and risk, rather than just low rates, they began to pull back."
Jackson, who was responsible for the managing onshore delivery and worked closely with the offshore development centers in India from 2000 – 2004, asserts that in many cases, the costs of bringing in the high level project managers and architects needed to manage the offshore team negate any cost savings by moving work offshore.
"You have to have a very large scale effort for offshoring to pay off. And even then, you have to be outsourcing the right things, have solid onshore management in place, and monitor constantly for quality issues."
The IF model gives clients the low cost they're looking for, with all the benefits of a local provider. IF can be used for a range of IT needs, like application integration, data migrations, and modernization of legacy applications.
"With IF, we've incorporated modern methodologies that enable more user interaction with the development team, greater flexibility during the development and design process, higher levels of productivity, and improved quality along with tighter cost control," Jackson says. "These are things you don't get with an offshoring model."
The end result of IF's methodology is reduced effort and testing, and higher quality. This keeps the cost down and the turnaround time quick.
Keeping recent grads here in Columbus
The IF concept is also working as a way to develop and keep young professionals in Central Ohio. With the increase in software development work being sent offshore, the United States has lost a valuable and effective training ground for aspiring computer professionals. And many here in Columbus, including Ohio House Speaker Armond Budish, are voicing concern that Ohio is losing too many young people who are moving to other states. The IF team intentionally recruits from Ohio colleges, and pairs each of these new employees with a senior resource to help them train and come up to speed quickly.
"It's great to see all the fresh faces coming out of school and into our workforce," says Rick Ritzler, ICC's Director of Recruiting. "It's exciting to know we're giving them an opportunity to take a big step forward in their careers."
About ICC:
ICC is the largest locally-owned IT solutions firm in Ohio, providing professional consulting and project outsourcing for Fortune 500 and mid-market companies in a variety of industries. Our services include application development, networking technologies, business intelligence, technical support and project management. (www.iccohio.com)
For more information on ICC or Information Factory, contact Don Jackson at djackson@iccohio.com.
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Contact
Information Control Corporation
Aziza Jones
614.523.3070
www.iccohio.com
Aziza Jones
614.523.3070
www.iccohio.com
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