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.

meh

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

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.

Makes sense

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

It's never done *that* before..

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

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"

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.

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!