Monday, 23 February 2009
Why it is Important!
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Seeing it through the mist of recession...
A few weeks back I sent in my proposal to a client after reducing costs as much as we could due to the recession issues and it was at the brink of approval, when my client called me up to say that he got someone over the internet offering $500 to build them a site. That sounds like a good deal, doesn’t it? Wasn't great news for my company?
I actually feel bad for the companies who fall for this kind of cost-efficiency. What they don’t see is that this offering is probably from a two man team at the most. Professional web designing companies won’t last too long if companies are ready to sacrifice their quality to save their money.
Here are questions you ask yourself when choosing a web designing company:
What are their success stories like?
The only way you can forecast the weather is to look at prevailing patterns and historical data. Choosing a web design firm is no different. You need to make yourself aware of what work they have done before and what the quality of their work is. Big names are attractive in a portfolio, but are they doing a neat job at it?
Specialization in Web Design?
It’s always smart to have an agency that specializes in Web Designing and doesn’t just do it as a brand building exercise. Can they handle creating a website that is Search Engine Optimized (SEO) friendly and in turn generates more business?
Are they looking at helping you or simply just helping themselves?
Any responsible Web design agency will look beyond just creating a site for you. The site will need to be Search Engine Optimized (SEO) and will help visitors easily move on to leads or sales. A site created completely in Flash will not show up on a Search engine like Google or Yahoo.
The same questions can be asked of companies who offer search engine marketing. It needs to be a part of the primary services of the company you choose.
Hiring an amateur or inexperienced web designer can hurt you in the short run and the long run. I see people start small business who spent tons of time and money on brochures or embroidered shirts when they should concentrate on a good web site and even better business cards. Great business cards are cheap and easy to design, and communicate a lot about you when you hand it to a possible new client.
And having a great web site says even more about you than the great business card. It will be a foundation for your business for years to come. And that can’t be found by having your site designed by an amateur.
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Outsourcing in Dubai
I read about this and according to global market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), spending in information systems outsourcing, which started with a small base in the UAE, has increased by nearly 7.5 times recently. Services related to hosting infrastructure also made striking advances, rising by 69 per cent in 2005. The firm predicts outsourcing spending, which amounted to around 15 per cent of the total information technology services market, will reach approximately 23 per cent of the spending by 2010.
The added interest in the region comes just in time when doubts have been cast over the outsourcing success in various hubs such as India and the Philippines. Being an Indian, I’m thoroughly aware that India has been described as "the poster child" of the global off shoring industry, and clearly its success has encouraged other countries to tap into this growing industry. By 2007, worldwide spending on globally sourced resources (near shore and off shore) with external providers nearly surpassed $50 billion for information technology (IT) and applications services, 10 times what it was in 1998. This represents a shift from between two and three per cent currently to between 7 and 10 per cent of total worldwide external IT spending, said Luis Leamus, Gartners president, executive programme, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMA). I’m happy to see that expansion is happening fast, and the IT outsourcing industry is predicted to grow at about 28 per cent a year. However, the advantages to banks and insurers of using offshore call centres are diminishing as wage costs rise in markets such as India, according to a new study.
I had a talk with Mr. Eric, CEO of Greenfin Solutions, and he agreed that today there is a strong need for outsourcing as an estimate of about 11 per cent of the total service sector in the US and Europe can and probably will be outsourced by 2010 of which the financial services sector is a very important part. He said: "Research in the UK suggests that the financial sector is planning to increase outsourcing of processing at a rate of 34 per cent a year over the next four years."
Even China, a country once recognized as a net gainer of outsourcing services, is expected to outsource some of its business processes, said Lambert. In Singapore and Malaysia too, research indicates that 50 per cent and 80 per cent of businesses respectively are planning to outsource over the next five years.