back to article Microsoft offshores its own IT

Microsoft is outsourcing its internal IT to Indian company Infosys. The worldwide deal covers offices and other facilities in 450 places in 104 countries. Infosys will provide help desk services and desktop, infrastructure and application support. Infosys is working with Unisys on the desktop support contract using a multi- …

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  1. Stef 4
    Welcome

    So, not long then...

    So, not long until China and India begin their war for global domination. Let's face it, no one is going to be able to stand up to them soon.

    I for one welcome our soon to be appointed Indian and/or Chinese overlords.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    meh

    i wouldnt want to phone M$ anyway - might get Ballmer, then be forced to stab forks in my ears

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    How long before .....

    .....companies realize that offshoring is useless in the long term?

    They find a country to do business in cheaply then build factories, offices, and hire locals that will work much cheaper then US or UK based workers.

    While short term this may sound like a good idea, eventually the country/employess being used start realizing just how much they are being taken advantage of and start demanding standard pay and benefits. This eventually results in:

    1. Employees will start requesting/making more money.

    2. Local government will start requesting higher taxes for infrastructor and development.

    3. Local government will start passing higher "minimum wage" laws so that residents can have a chance of paying the new taxes.

    4. Local businesses will start charging more for local items since they will need to pay THIER employees more since they will have to stay within the limits of #2 and #3.

    While the above seems like a good thing, as employees will be making more and the government will be making more, and this will eventually result in a higher development of the local country, the eventual route of 2 and 3 are:

    1. Those business from the US and UK will start moving away to other lower priced countries to save money.

    2. Since a large part of the jobs will be leaving the country, the employees will no longer have work, and will start looking for local jobs.

    3. The countries employers, who have to stay within the "minimum wage" requirements and the taxes they have to pay, will start reducing staff to just the bare minimum.

    4. Companies in the country will start outsourcing THEIR jobs to cheaper countries.

    5. The country will end up having less and less jobs locally for their residents, however as the government has an infrustructer to maintain and have gotten to the point of liking the money they had, they will not reduce taxes.

    6. The country will result in having a "recession" simiilar to the US and the UK are now experiencing.

    7. Employers will not reduce prices. In a recession its common for prices to go up, so that a business will make the same amount or more then they were making before the recession.

    The above cycle will continue to repeat as long as there is a country that employers can move jobs to that is cheaper then the previous country.

    The one benefit?

    Eventually it will be cheaper to have jobs in the US and the UK then in the rest of the world, however this will only be for a limited time as the above cycle will eventually repeat.

    Possible fixes?

    The US/UK government:

    1. Slow down unecessary infrastructure changes.

    2. Streamline governmental agencies to limit cost overruns/wastes.

    3. Tax companies who outsource jobs to other countries, to the point that it is cheaper to higher local workers. (not going to happen)

    Business in the US/UK:

    1. Lower prices of goods. While this may sound weird, as long as prices are higher then costs, they can eventually make it up in volume.

    2. Branch out into other areas if possible. A company that provides only 1 service is doomed to failure due to competition.

    Unfortunantly, we will never see these type of changes.

    1. Trevor Pott o_O Gold badge

      Absolutely right.

      Giving a corporatist a bonus is like tipping a rapist.

      Never were truer words spoken.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Jobs Halo

    Makes sense

    When you think about it, it's not a core function of Microsoft's business (producing solutions).

  5. Shane Kent

    Infosys said it hopes....

    "Infosys said it hopes the move to Windows 7 will help lower costs for Microsoft."

    Hopes? F'n LOL, their own IT doesn't even know if a move to Win 7 will save money. Next time I see a MS ad saying a windows upgrade will save time/money I will remember this and laugh.

    P.S. MS core is solutions, solutions for Intel, AMD, HP, etc. to sell new chips/PCs for a bloated OS.

  6. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    Irony

    I find it ironic that Microsoft does not want to administrate their own products. I wouldn't either.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Linux

    It's never done *that* before..

    Now Mr Gates, have you tried switching it off and on again?

  8. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge
    Paris Hilton

    Not a good idea

    I already gave the "short response" above, but here's why I do think this is a bad idea other than being ironic...

    Think of a car company, that decided dealer support networks are expensive, they'll fullfill their warranty by paying for repairs at a mechanic. (I doubt this'd save money, but for sake of argument.) OK, presently the dealer *besides* doing the repairs also feeds back information used to make TSBs (Technical Service Bulletins), recalls (if it's safety related), improvements on future models and sometimes revised parts for existing models. Outsourced, they'd see what costs money ("Oh our bills show this model is going through a lot of mufflers..."), insourced they can and do request specific info ("Oh yeah, we keep seeing muffler problems because this bolt was too short for some reason"). TSB: "Check the muffler for a short bolt", improvement "Don't use a bolt that's too short there".

    Well, Microsoft could have the same problem. They are oustourcing IT support of infrastructure using Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Windows Server servers, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange. See analogy above -- I think there's potential for much less information on "What should we improve/fix next", earliest early warning on virus outbreaks, etc than they have now.

    I know it will not happen, but it'd be hilarious if after they outsource the IT, they show up to work one day and "Hey man this file server's running SWEET". "Oh yeah, it's running Samba now"

  9. Ned Leprosy Silver badge

    Heh

    I have to admit to a certain amount of schadenfreude at the idea of Microsoft enjoying such quality support. Even though it's not going to do the rest of us any good.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    IT Angle

    Yet in another article...

    Intel: Just 3,000 employees run Windows 7...

    Windows 7 (LOL!)...Corporate America is still running Windows XP, and don't seem to be planning to switch any time soon. All one needs to do is check out what IT job skills companies are currently looking for.

    And please, don't get me started on outsourcing. Outsourcing gives everything away for free in terms of technology. The US and UK never should have outsourced a single bit of technology but instead charged the rest of the world huge $$$'s for products and technology. Perhaps then we might have actually seen some innovation come out of China and India, rather than baby mills providing generations of labor to come.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Basically Slave Labour

    http://www.channelregister.co.uk/Design/graphics/icons/comment/paris_hilton_32.png

    So, we hire these peeps with ZERO experience that no one can understand and then pay them up to 13 ruppies a day with no sick leave or any other leave except Death Leave.

    Time to hit offshore ops with extreme taxes.

    Paris, because she is into slave role playing.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Grenade

    Hmmmmm speaking from experience

    MS customers service in Australia was generally piss poor. The script monkeys starting with "What is your name and credit card number"...

    Now - after closing down the customer service dept in Australia - the script monkeys have gotten several magnitudes of order even more useless and stupid...

    Microsoft = shit management + shit products + shit service = Success and Happy Days!

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    $150M could of been 2,000 American, Canadian or Euro jobs

    $150M could of hired 2,000 North American or Euro programmers @ 75K USD /yr

    The “global” playing field will only be level when it is no longer cost effective for companies to hire labor in India, China and other popular outsourcing destinations.

    America needs to enforce a “VIRTUAL FOREIGN EMPLOYEE” tax on all US corporations that hire foreign employees to work on US based projects.

    If skilled engineers from foreign countries want to work for US corporations on product versions that will be sold to US consumers then allow these skilled foreign engineers do it from the US headquarters of these corporations not from their home countries such as India.

    Until a “virtual foreign employee tax” is enacted no one in America could compete with someone in India or China as a lot of people living in those countries could afford to live on $5,000 USD /yr. It’s not a matter of skill or education those are cop out excuses the real decision about outsourcing is cost and payroll savings.

    Trust me I know I am a former Senior EVP of a large Fortune500 technology company and I was in charge of locating and managing the company’s outsourcing partners. I hope Obama tackles this issue. I hate seeing our country in this situation.

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