A thought… on offshore outsourcing
Wednesday, March 21st, 2007This is just a thought I’ve been having over the past few days about outsourcing web work to countries such as India or China. I have had some conversations with friends at companies that frequently outsource work to other countries outside of the U.S. — India in particular — and whenever the topic of artwork or graphic design comes up, I keep hearing almost the same thing:
- These companies can provide some 2D artwork, but still greatly lack experience creative design and 3D.?
- These companies do not understand the U.S. consumer, and what they want or like to see — what they consider to be of quality or creative.
- These companies are great at providing services if they are provided clear direction, specifications, and require little creativity.
This is simply what I am hearing from many who I know within different types of companies and is not necessarily based off of my own experience. I have only worked with offshore companies on web development which I have had good success with, but haven’t had a chance to work with any offshore companies with creative.
Having said that, I am thinking that the reasons for the lack of experience in 3D and creative could be due to the following:
- Individuals within these countries work within high-stress production environments that focus on productivity and volume, rather than quality and creativity. They spend day and night on getting the job done, and done right on time. This leaves little time to think beyond what they are told is needed. After all, one of the main selling points of outsourcing to a company in India or China, is the lower cost of production compared to say, the U.S.
- Unlike most web production companies within India and China, many agencies and freelancers here in the U.S. dedicate a great deal of resources and money on creative direction. They do extensive research on what their customer’s target audience is, and are expected to come up with proposals that are creative, innovative, effective and are appealing (for the most part, to the marketer).
So what on earth am I trying to get at? I think the majority of offshore web companies out there are still in their very early stages. They have Web Development and productivity down, but they still lack the critical aspect to every project, which is creativity. Once these companies begin to focus more attention on spending time to “think” about projects, research and educate themselves about the U.S. consumer, and build their experience, I think we’re going to begin seeing some awesome work out of these companies.
// Jacob
