Outsource Issue 30 - (Page 113)

THE BACK END INSIDE SOURCE Digging the very dirtiest outsourcing dirt… Love Conquers All It’s always nice to hear a tale of true love – especially when it comes from that most loveless, heartless and cold place, the legal industry (is this right? – Ed). But here’s a story that’ll warm the cockles of the most frigid heart… In fairest Australia do we lay our scene; to be precise, towards the end of last year during what my contact assures me was – to begin with at least – the most run-ofthe-mill contract negotiation. Unfortunately, as these things occasionally do, the details proved most devilish and the two parties’ legal teams ended up locking horns long into many sultry summer nights… And it appears that for two star-crossed juniors on the opposing sides “horns” was the operative word; despite all protocol and, indeed, professional requirements they grew fond of each other and it appears one evening following a particularly vituperative meeting push came to shove… Now, were this your typical Shakespearean tragedy no doubt one, the other or both would end up removed most bloodily from the tale; however, as fortune would have it it seems that before their shenanigans came to light the talks collapsed and both parties went their respective ways… And shortly afterwards – one assumes a decent interval had elapsed – the young lovers became not only an item but announced their engagement. So while it is pretty obvious to all in the know that there was a huge breach of the relevant rules governing these matters, all in the know have most generously decided to maintain a decorous silence and let love take its course… In the (Expletive Deleted) This one’s tricky to convey coherently as I’m under strict (very strict indeed – Ed.) instructions from the editor not to insult anybody or indeed any nation… So bear with me… At a conference recently organised in (Country X) the CEO of (Provider A) – under whose aegis the gathering had been convened – gave a short speech to the assembled luminaries. In this speech he made the following claim (not verbatim: this is as was relayed to me via hearsay and the Twilight Barking): “As an offshoring location (Country X) is much better than (Country Y) because (Country X) doesn’t smell of (expletive deleted).” This didn’t go down too well with the various nationals of Country Y who were present at the conference, some of whom were considering a partnership with Provider A. What was going through the CEO’s mind when he uttered such an inflammatory comment is unknown… “An espionage organisation is a collector: it collects raw information. That gets processed by a machinery that is supposed to resolve its reliability, and to present a finished product.” – Aldrich Ames www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk ●●● ● 113 http://www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outsource Issue 30

Peering through the fog
Who moved my world
Bringing on the beeb
Courting the commentariat
Everyone is responsible
Our survey says
Fast money
Smarten up
Seeing the biggest picture
NOA round-up
Embracing enterprise innovation
Customer matters
Application development outsourcing
India: rules for offshoring
Talent gap
The Professionals
Book learning
The outsourcing jigsaw
The legal view
Top ten
NelsonHall round-up
Spontaneity
Online round-up
The deal doctor
Inside source
The last word

Outsource Issue 30