After much wrangling, we came up with a number that knocked our client off his chair. Simple: Off-shore it! Our off-shore competitor, whose development rate we later learned an thrifty-sounding $20/hour, came in with a surprising bid: $2 million. How did the offshore vendor come up with such an astoundingly high estimate? More often than not, however, these guidelines can be dangerously misleading. Subject Matter Matter s – These surveys do a good job of accounting for varying levels of course complexity. At this point,we figured we were toast. MORE >>

In the 1970's a board game called Offshore Oil Strike was created by BP and it has a number of elements related to the current spill situation. The goal of the game is become an oil tycoon by digging for oil offshore and, naturally, players encounter hazards such as blow outs and oil spills and clean up costs. Cover of board game that outlined possible disaster scenarios. Too bad no BP executives ever played that game. Translate those lessons learned into activities and the spill might have been prevented or at least the clean up efforts might have been better coordinated. MORE >>

The ValueNotes report, eLearning Outsourcing 2009: Advantage India , reveals that: “Revenues from the Indian e-learning offshoring industry stand at approximately USD 341 million at the end of calendar year 2008. Taking these factors into account, our estimates suggest that the e-learning offshoring industry will grow at a CAGR of 15% till 2012, though growth will be more subdued till 2010. I have always believed that the present economic slowdown would positively benefit the eLearning industry in the long run. MORE >>

This talk will shed light on choosing Agile practices for your software development project and on what happens when the offshore value proposition comes along with the fact that the delivery team is spread over several locations. When: Wed, Jan 20, 11:00 am GMT/ 4:30 pm IST Here's an invitation for an interactive webinar on "Succeeding with Globally Distributed Agile" with Sameer Deans, Delivery Manager, ThoughtWorks. He is responsible for the initiation and growth of several communication channels for distributed development. Click here to register. Sumeet Moghe, 2009. MORE >>

Has "Offshoring" Online Course Development Gone Mainstream? Times have changed, and negative views of "offshoring" have gradually evolved into realistic assessments of the value of international development teams for online courses. 10/23/08). In this exclusive feature, journalist Laurie Rowell explores just how widespread this practice has become and what methods companies are using to manage increasingly international workforces. Our ever-more-global economy may one day hang in the balance. Would Anyone Object to Bill Ayers Delivering a Keynote Online? More Design Articles. MORE >>