Offshore outsourcing & Web design

How Website width can improve traffic

2005-10-19T02:43:00.000-07:00

These days there are many search engine optimization efforts that are paying attention on pushing the home page of a site. This is a fundamental mistake that can result in the site missing out on a lot of traffic. Go Wide, Young Man. In nearly every case, a site should be designed to draw traffic through both the home page and various internal pages. Home pages, obviously, can be tailored to the primary keyword phrases you are seeking, but don’t forget the minor pages. I always find it odd when people ask which keyword phrase they should try to optimize for on their site. They become a bit flummoxed when I tell them to optimize for all of them. The only question is which keywords should appear on which pages.For example, the site NomadJournals.com sells writing journals for outdoor activities such as fly fishing, traveling, hiking, bird watching and so on. So, which of these subjects should be used as the keyword phrase for the home page? None! Instead, the generic term “writing journals” was chosen. But what about the specific journal subjects? The individual pages on the site promoting each journal are optimized for the specific product. The fly fishing journal page is optimized for fly fishing keywords, the travel page for travel keywords and so on. The end result of this is the home page is appearing high in “writing journals” search results, while each of the internal journal pages are also appearing high. This can often lead to an interesting visitor situation. As you review your server stats, you may start noting a majority of your traffic is coming in through internal site pages, not the home page. In the above Nomad Journals scenario, the travel journal page far outdraws the home page, which makes for a nice revenue increase. The home page of a site is critical in a search engine optimization campaign. Just keep in mind it isn’t the only page that can draw free traffic and revenues to your site. The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and offshore software development

What gives a site a professional appearance?

2005-09-13T03:46:00.000-07:00

From: phoebemoon · Your site should contain useful and interesting content, presented in an appealing manner with a quick download time. Your sites overall appearance (backgrounds, fonts, etc.) should remain the same from page to page. Use only web-safe colors and fonts. · Your site should load fast with a clear navigation system, unbroken graphics and links that work. · Your site should use appropriate graphics. Don't put in too many, and make sure to optimize the ones you do use to improve load times. · Your site should have content that changes frequently, encouraging return visitors. · Your site should have easily accessible contact information and you should give a quick response when people request information or report trouble. · Your site should have a newsletter that allows visitors to keep in touch and tells them about new changes but does not harvest those E-mail addresses for spam purposes. · Your site should offer lots of free stuff and members-only specials. · Your site should not annoy visitors with too many animated graphics, unwanted popups or music with no "off" button. · Your HTML should be clean. · Your website should be cross browser compatible and accessible to those using text only browsers. The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in offshore outsourcing and offshore website development.

When you design a website how do you start?

2005-08-26T02:39:00.000-07:00

Do you start with the banner graphics at the top, or the order page or maybe the sales letter? All of those are areas that have to be created but they're really not the place to start.The place to start is by answering one simple question about your site. What do I want my visitor to do before she leaves?We'll call the answer to that your primary objective, the single thing you most want a visitor to do before leaving.Of course the answer gives rise to another equally important question... If she doesn't do that, what else would I like her to do? We'll call the answer to that your secondary objective, it's your fall back position. If you fail to convince them to take the action that you most want them to do, this fall back action will still serve a purpose and get you other opportunities to achieve objective one.The answer to these questions will define the design of your site for you. Your site will have to be designed so that it can react 'on the fly' and lead the visitor to objective 2 if you fail to achieve objective 1.

REALISTIC OBJECTIVES

Let's take the case of a web site owner who's selling software direct to the end user.What would be the primary objective for such a site? Often the site owner will decide that Objective 1 - the one thing he most wants a visitor to do is to buy the software there and then.Great, that now defines the site for him. To meet the objective the site has to be completely focused on that objective but, it may turn out to be unrealistic to expect to achieve it in one hit.

DESIGN THE SITE TO ACHIEVE THE OBJECTIVE

The sales copy has to describe a problem, lay out the solutions and show how the product available from this very page will solve the problem now.The copy must be compelling, it must describe the problem that the product solves in a way that creates detailed pictures in the visitors mind. Pictures of the day to day effects of this problem that the visitor would really want to solve.The copy must then paint pictures to create thoughts and images of life for the visitor without this problem and how much better, easier or more profitable etc life would be if this problem could be solved.Then, like the 7th cavalry riding in, the copy must link the features of the software to the benefits that go with using it and the problem being solved.The more powerful the links and the more positive imagery created in the visitors mind, the more likely it becomes that s/he will be motivated to take action to end the problem and buy the product then and there.The good feelings developed by the copy can be reinforced by glowing testimonials from users who are already enjoying life with the software and without the problem defined.A superb close should be used that reinforces all of the good feelings achieved so far and adds value by careful positioning of the price to be paid against the real value of the product and the list of wonderful exclusive bonuses on offer if the visitor orders now.The visitor feels so positive she reaches for her credit card, completes the order form and buys the product.Great! Primary objective achieved. But.... First, what sort of secondary objective might be achievable by the site owner? We'll look at a couple of examples.

NEWSLETTER

He may have a newsletter about the subject area that his software covers. If so, his secondary objective may be to get the visitor to sign up for it before leaving. That way the site owner has opportunities to build on the pictures painted by the site. He can use the newsletter to reassure, prove the benefits, introduce other benefits. He can show more testimonials and provide a stream of useful, valued information to build a relationship of trust with the visitor.FREE TRIALHe may have a 'test drive' version of the software that will allow the visitor to find out first hand what it does and how it will benefit him to own it. If so his secondary objective might be to get the visitor to download the 'test drive' and then supply him by email with how to's, tutorials and other useful information to get the visitor using the software and experiencing the benefits first hand.

BACK TO OBJECTIVE 1

Either of these secondary objectives provide the site owner further opportunities to develop a relationship with the visitor until they feel ready to buy the software.

HOW TO RE-PURPOSE THE SITE

One of the best ways is the intelligent use of Popups.In this case the site owner only wants to go for objective 2 if objective 1 is not achieved. He knows it hasn't been achieved if the visitor is leaving the site without going to the order page or does go there but doesn't buy the product.Time for a great Popup triggered by either event.A good, fast loading Popup inviting the visitor to sign up for the newsletter or download the test drive works wonders. They're about to leave, but now they see something that's so compelling, free, zero risk, high benefit that they'd be crazy not to react to it.It's a simple technique that has earned a lot of money for a lot of site owners.Set your objectives carefully and structure your site to give you the best chance to achieve at least one of them.

Look out for more in this series from Martin Gateshill http://www.adzinmotion.com The article sponsored by A-1 Technology, dealing in application development outsourcing.

10 Tips For killer website design

2005-08-25T01:15:00.000-07:00

By Jan Peterson

1. Easy Navigation- The Road To Success When people come to your website they are usually searching for something in particular. It might be recipes for a healthy low fat diet that takes less than 30 minutes to prepare or what is the best business to start online. Whatever they want, you need to have the answer. So ask yourself, why do people come to my website? When you know that then you know you should make it easy for them to find it. So, if people come to your website to find widgets, have a button easy to see and locate that says "Widgets". People have been trained to look to the left of the website for the navigation bar.

2. Flashing Gizmos - The Exit Ramp To A Dead End Street

If you are a running a professional site, please don't use flashing graphics. Guaranteed you are encouraging people to leave your site. People have come to you for information. Not to clïck on an ad or have their brain scrambled. Make your website a pleasant environment for the customer to be in. Just like a store. Think about when you go to the mall. You want to go in a store that is clean, well laid out, has good customer service and the products you are looking for. Your website should reflect this. If it is what you expect in your shopping experience, then isn't it reasonable that your customers are looking for this in your website.

3. Color - Enhancing The Highway Scenery Color is an individual preference, but studies show that colors have an affect on people's emotions. Look at the top sites like Amazon; their layout is simple and so is their color scheme. A recommendation would be to go with the flow. If you have a financial investmënt site, then conservative colors seem to follow. If you sell beach items, then lots of fun colors apply. If you have a bridal showër website, I would say soft pastels. Think about your audience and you will know the color scheme.

4. Page Links - I-95 To Your Destination This is a no brainer but make sure all of your buttons are hyperlinked to a page and the right destination page. No one including Google likes broken link pages. It can be tedious but do it anyway. As you hover over the button and look down in the left-hand part of your screen, you will see the hyperlinked page. Just verify that yours are correct.

5. About Us - Is Your Map Reliable? People usually want to know basic things before they do business with you. Who are you, how do I get a hold of you, what is your product or service guarantëe, will you resell my email address, what is your privacy policy, when will I get the product, etc. You need to answer these questïons to create trust between you and your potential customer.

6. Sitemap - How Do I Find My Way Around This Big City? Let's say you have a lot of products or pages and resources. A sitemap helps people to find what they are looking for quickly without have to rummage through your whole site like a lost soul. They are not hard to create but are useful for large sites. It also helps the search engines to know what you are about very quickly.

7. Fast Loading Pages - All Lanes Are Go! There is nothing worse than slow loading pages. You can optimize your graphics for your website. People hate to wait. You can chëck your page load time and page rank on Alexa.com. Slow pages equal death to an online business.

8. Shopping Cart - Need To Buy Some Souvenirs If you are selling items or services, you need a reliable and well organized shopping cart. There are some websites that have a zillion products listed and to email them for orders. What a nightmare! Yes, the shopping carts will charge you a fee, but it is worth it for them to handle the transaction. There are many good shopping carts available and I would research them based on your business' needs.

9. Templates or Original Design- Chevrolet or Porsche People often think that to have a website designed is going to cost thousands. So they opt for the templates and throw together sites. There is nothing wrong with this approach except I can tell the difference between what I call a "canned" site and one that was created from scratch. While I don't think a website that uses templates will turn off a customer, I just think it may not be as appealing. Have fun with your online business. You can go to any number of photography sites and download professional photos from cows to race cars. This will make your site look more customized.

10. Customer Service - The Finish Line! Okay so how is customer service a website design? Well, customer service should be written all over your site. From tips, to frëe reports, to guarantees, to fast and reliable shopping. People want to know you know what you are talking about and can deliver the goods they want. Give a little you'll get in back tenfold.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology, an offshore outsourcing company.

Web Browsers and Website Development

2005-08-24T03:36:00.000-07:00

From: Bravenet Webmaster Tips

Let's talk about browsers. A browser is the piece of software that you use to surf the web. Browsers 'render' code used to develop web pages into what you see when you type your URL (www.yourname.com). To see this in action, go to your favorite web page, right click on the page (make sure you are not over an image when you do this) and select view source. You can see the source code of the page which is rendered by the browser. (sample from my browser, firefox, with two developer extensions listed at bottom) If you are running windows, chances are you are using Internet Explorer (IE) as your web browser. But here's the thing, if you build your website and only test it in IE you may be missing nasty layout and functionality errors that other people will see from other browsers. The truth is, IE doesn't always render things according to the guidelines set out by the 'World Wide Web Consortium - W3C'. IE often fills in the blanks in your bad code, and doesn't implement different models, and CSS specifications correctly. Firefox is the safest browser out there for surfing, it doesn’t contain many of the vulnerabilities that IE does which can be exploited by spyware and other malicious programs. Most importantly, Firefox is constantly under development by a community of volunteer coders. When a problem is found, it is fixed immediately and updates are sent out For the best services in offshore outsourcing, contact A-1 Technology, Inc.The company also deals in application development outsourcing and offshore software outsourcing IT.

The Best and Easiest Google-Friendly Change to Your Web Site

2005-08-19T00:54:00.000-07:00

By: Robert Plank From: site-reference

No matter who you are or how much you pay for web site advertising, free search engine traffic is probably responsible for a big part of your business. So why make your web site so hard for search engines to figure out? Luckily, it seems like in the recent years people have paid attention to SEO, moved their sites over to CSS, abolished 'table' and 'font' HTML tags, started using the H1 tag around their titles... and in general, moved the main content of their site as close to the top of the HTML document as it can go. 'But Robert,' you tell me, 'I have a bunch of fancy JavaScript and CSS at the top of my site that I don't want to get rid of.' That's ok, you can keep it. Just stash it away in another file. By that I mean... if you were lazy and included your CSS right in the HTML document like this: (style type='text/css') (!-- CSS code in here --) (/style) Copy all that text out and delete it from the HTML page. Remove the 'style' tags and the '(!--' and '--)' stuff. Open a new text file, paste the text from the clipboard in, save the file as 'layout.css' then save and upload to your web server. Now, back on your HTML page, place HTML code like this: (link rel='stylesheet' href='http://www.example.com/layout.css')

When someone loads your page in a browser that tells them to look to the URL

http://www.example.com/layout.css for the CSS info. But when the search engines crawl your site they will see a nice, clean, simple layout.

You can do the same thing with JavaScript. Say these are your 'script' tags: (script language='JavaScript' type='text/javascript') (!-- JavaScript code in here --) (/script) Do the same thing, copy the JavaScript code but NOT the 'script' tags themselves or the '(!--' or '--)'. Erase the original from the HTML page. Paste the stuff you copied into a new text file and call it something like: 'functions.js' Upload functions.js and in the spot you had your JavaScript code use this: (script language='JavaScript' src='http://www.example.com/functions.js')(/script) One important thing to remember is that NO JavaScript code can be placed between the 'script' tags if you use the 'src' parameter like that. So remember: use H1 tags, use meta description tags, and use CSS, but make sure you include your JavaScript and CSS stylesheets in separate files otherwise there's no point.

The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, a software outsourcing company.

Search Engine Placement: How to get on top?

2005-08-05T22:45:00.000-07:00

What can you do to win a search engine over and gain a top ranking to achieve visible placement? This is where those great web site optimization tips come in handy. The internet marketing specialist discusses a few facts: Determine Your Web ThemeGoogle is a "theme" based engine. They like to provide search results to web sites that primarily contain a lot of information on specific topic. You should be able to name the "theme" of your site in a two to three word phrase. Create Many Pages!Google loves large sites with loads of quality information. The larger your site is, the more likely you are to gain a ranking under multiple variations of your keyword phrases. Heavily Cross Link Your PagesThis not only makes it easier for Googlebot to crawl through your site, it will also increase your Page Rank and make your pages easier for your visitors to navigate through. Include a link to your home page on all of your pages. Your home page will be viewed as your most important page. The more links coming to it, the better. Keep All Important Pages On TopKeep all of your important pages on the first level of your site. You should never include important pages below the first level. Include A Site MapAgain, this will assist in presenting Googlebot with links to all of your pages from one central location. Don't forget to include your links in text and add descriptions too! Analyze your competitors sites for their titles, keyword weight, placement, word count and link popularity and attempt to model your own web site optimization after these sites. For more help on web designing tips and search engine optimization, contact A-1 Technology, Inc an offshore outsourcing company dealing with software outsourcing, website designing , offshore software development and more..

Website Planning

2005-07-27T22:56:00.000-07:00

1. The first thing to be done is to draw out a blueprint for your site. Plan about the purpose of the website, what is it intended for? 2. The overall design should match the purpose of your website. You should not create a site without knowing its purpose. A good website's purpose will be indicated on the first page, and the content will back up that purpose to the full extent.3. After that, decide about the goal of the website. Do you want visitors to return to your site, to save money with your product/service, to make money, to provide an easier way to reach you? The goal of a website goes hand-in-hand with its purpose. 4. After deciding on the purpose and goal of your site, then it's time to map out the flow of the site. To do that, start with the home page and then continue through every page that follows. Each page, including layout, colors, content, and themes, should be consistent with your overall purpose, leading up to the goal of the site.Many websites fail or turn away visitors because they lack an obvious purpose. The design isn't navigable or consistent with their vision.So it's the owner of the site, who needs to state it and to make sure that the design is consistent with the goal of the site. For further details, you may contact A-1 Technology, Inc, an offshore outsourcing company, also dealing in offshore software development and software development outsourcing

Ecnomic benefits of outsourcing

2005-07-13T01:14:00.000-07:00

From: mackinac Outsourcing itself is nothing new. U.S. companies and governments have been outsourcing domestically for decades by contracting out such services as payroll, database management, and janitorial services. The new twist has been the recent increase in foreign outsourcing, or offshoring, in which companies buy services from foreign-based providers. Foreign outsourcing has been made increasingly cost-effective because of the personal computer, which has digitized much of our work, and high-speed and deregulated transmission of that information through broadband and the Internet. Informational technology (IT) companies are increasingly outsourcing routine programming, data entry, and system monitoring. Call centers are shifting more of those thankless jobs abroad. Foreign outsourcing almost certainly benefits the U.S. economy in the short run as well as the long run. Like more conventional forms of trade, foreign outsourcing allows U.S. companies to dramatically cut the cost of certain information technology services. As a result, U.S. companies become more competitive in what they do best, their “core competencies.” Better and more affordable services become available for consumers and taxpayers. Outsourcing allows companies to operate on an around-the-clock, “24/7” production cycle, further adding to productivity. Outsourcing is even making possible work that simply wouldn’t exist otherwise, such as chasing down delinquent accounts receivable that were thought to be beyond collection. For the best offshore outsourcing services, offshore software development and offshore software outsourcing, contact A-1 Technology, Inc, an offshore outsourcing company.

A good website design: know hows

2005-07-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

Visual appeal is a must when it comes to website design. A website’s design should be easy on the reader. Using the right fonts and choosing the right colors that can create the correct appeal to the people is a crucial factor. For your design elements, think clean, crisp, and appealing. Always use darker text on a light background. If using light text on a dark background, just be aware that the color does not mix up and it can be hard to identify the text. Clutter is not appreciated. Flash or gif animation should be avoided, and used only when there is an actual need of these. Create proper alignment of pictures and text. Text is read better in the left alignment as opposed to the center alignment. Pictures work well with text when left aligned in the body of the text. Navigation should be consistent throughout each page. Take advantage of a structured template and navigation scheme that is consistent for each page of your website. Check to make sure that none of your links are broken. When adding new links to the navigation, make sure it is added on each page.These are all steps that can help you create a well-planned design. Remember, visual appeal is very important and plays on the five senses of each of your site visitors. If you can greet your visitors with a good design, you have a higher chance of retaining that visitor for a longer period of time and catch them on the first visit. For the best offshore outsourcing services, software development outsourcing and offshore software development, contact A-1 Technology, Inc, an offshore outsourcing company.

Web site design facts

2005-07-05T21:19:00.000-07:00

From: informit If you have a small informational site to post, this might be a great, quick way to get your message out. If you have limited web skills (or none), but really understand Word, you should love this approach. Even those who routinely use other tools for web construction might use Word's web features some of the time—particularly to storyboard

Gathering Ingredients

There are three big steps to actual web publication:

Gathering the information (both textual and graphical). Building the site. Posting the site. Here are the kinds of raw materials you'll need to gather. You can put them together first, or do as many web designers do.Use placeholders until you write the text and locate the graphics.

To build the whole site you'd need the following:

Text. Graphics in a web-supported file format such as GIF or JPEG. If you're designing first and building later, you can use Word's clip art feature for placeholders. An email address where you'll feel comfortable receiving mail from people who contact you through your site.

For the best offshore outsourcing services, offshore software development and software development outsourcing, contact A-1 Technology,Inc,an offshore outsourcing Company

A well-designed web site

2005-07-04T02:54:00.000-07:00

Beauty might be in the eye of the beholder, but good design is not. Unlike art, design is meant to be used, and can be judged more objectively. The well-designed web site: 1. Lets the users accomplish their goals. Your design must be—above all else—intuitive and functional for users. It should allow them to smoothly—almost effortlessly—accomplish their goals. 2. Makes its purpose clear. The web is an ambiguous medium. Designers must work overtime to make the site's purpose and functionality clear to the user, even if a site's purpose is to delight, surprise, and amuse—that, too, must be clear. 3. Follows conventions. Over the years, conventions have emerged for how sites should look and work. When you follow these conventions, you make your users' lives easier (and yours, for that matter). Your web site doesn't have to look like everyone else's, but it should work the way people expect it to. 4. Speeds along. Your web pages have to load quickly. That is, if you want people to use them. You'll need to weigh the trade-offs between the effects you want and the speed they'll cost you. 5. Displays well in different environments. Unlike other media, web sites appear differently to different users, depending on their computer, browser, and monitor. Good web design rises to the challenge—appearing differently, perhaps, but functionally across a range of user environments. 6. Has some style. Despite all these constraints, it's possible to design a site that's stylish and appropriate to your brand. For the best offshore outsourcing services, offshore software development and software development outsourcing, contact A-1 Technology, Inc, an offshore outsourcing company.

Offshore Software Development Quickly Becomes Standard.

2005-07-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

From: enterblog Offshore software development has become the de facto standard. This change has in part become possible by continual refinements in networking and software technology. Foremost among these is predictable, high volume bandwidth. A study of 36 companies by the Gartner groups predicts that the area of information technology with the highest predicted rate of growth will be offshore application management. This field takes advantage of highly skilled foreign workers. The workers toil across the fat pipes laid across the bottom of the ocean floor, keeping databases tuned, and ERP systems bug free According to a report, many of the large Indian technology outsourcers are beginning to threaten the top companies in America. IBM currently has a strong lead in the area of mega-deals. However, Wipro and Infosys are very competitive. Companies from India work very hard to differentiate themselves. Everyone is aware of the large price differential between foreign services and local services. However, if it was only an issue of price alone, the movement of work offshore would not be happening as quickly. The fact is that the many in the industry find that offshore service companies, especially in India, have higher standards for development than do local companies. A clear representation of this can be seen in quality certification. Indian companies have taken great steps towards certification in the ISO and SW-CMM standards. While this does not guarantee results, the time and effort involved with receiving these certifications show a commitment to producing quality work Globalization is a swiftly moving force. It affects every company in the world, whether they like it or not. In IT, this process has suddenly increased in pace, thanks for low prices, and high technology For the best Offshore Software Development, i.e, software Development outsourcing and Offshore outsourcing services, contact A-1 Technology, Inc, an offshore outsourcing company

5 Basic rules of web design and lay out

2005-06-30T22:50:00.000-07:00

Your web site should be easy to read

The most important rule in web design is that your web site should be easy to read. What does this mean? You should choose your text and background colors very carefully. You don't want to use backgrounds that obscure your text or use colors that are hard to read. Dark-colored text on a light-colored background is easier to read than light-colored text on a dark-colored background.You also don't want to set your text size too small (hard to read) or too large (it will appear to shout at your visitors). All capitalized letters give the appearance of shouting at your visitors.Keep the alignment of your main text to the left, not centered. Center-aligned text is best used in headlines. You want your visitors to be comfortable with what they are reading, and most text (in the West) is left aligned.

Your web site should be easy to navigate

All of your hyperlinks should be clear to your visitors. Graphic images, such as buttons or tabs, should be clearly labeled and easy to read. Your web graphic designer should select the colors, backgrounds, textures, and special effects on your web graphics very carefully. It is more important that your navigational buttons and tabs be easy to read and understand than to have "flashy" effects.Link colors in your text should be familiar to your visitor (blue text usually indicates an unvisited link and purple or maroon text usually indicates a visited link), if possible. If you elect not to use the default colors, your text links should be emphasized in some other way (boldfaced, a larger font size, set between small vertical lines, or a combination of these). Text links should be unique -- they should not look the same as any other text in your web pages. You do not want people clicking on your headings because they think the headings are links.

Your web site should be easy to find

How are your visitors finding you online? The myth, "If I build a web site, they will come," is still a commonly held belief among companies and organizations new to the Internet. People will not come to your web site unless you promote your site both online and offline.Web sites are promoted online via search engines, directories, award sites, banner advertising, electronic magazines (e-zines) and links from other web sites. If you are not familiar with any of these online terms, then it is best that you have your site promoted by an online marketing professional. Web sites are promoted offline via the conventional advertising methods: print ads, radio, television, brochures, word-of-mouth, etc. Once you have created a web site, all of your company's printed materials including business cards, letterhead, envelopes, invoices, etc. should have your URL printed on them.Not only should your web site be easy to find, but your contact information should be easy to find. People like to know that there is a person at the other end of a web site who can help them in the event that:

1. they need answers to questions which are not readily available on your web site;

2. some element on your site is not working and end users need to be able to tell you about it, and

3. directory editors need you to modify parts of your site to be sure that your site is placed in the most relevant category.

By giving all relevant contact information (physical address, telephone numbers, fax numbers, and email address), you are also creating a sense of security for your end users. They can contact you in the way that makes them feel the most comfortable. Your web page layout and design should be consistent throughout the site Just as in any document formatted on a word processor or as in any brochure, newsletter, or newspaper formatted in a desktop publishing program, all graphic images and elements, typefaces, headings, and footers should remain consistent throughout your web site. Consistency and coherence in any document, whether it be a report or a set of web pages, project a professional image.For example, if you use a drop shadow as a special effect in your bullet points, you should use drop shadows in all of your bullets. Link-colors should be consistent throughout your web pages. Typefaces and background colors, too, should remain the same throughout your site.Color-coded web pages, in particular, need this consistency. Typefaces, alignment in the main text and the headings, background effects, and the special effects on graphics should remain the same. Only the colors should change.

Your web site should be quick to download

Studies have indicated that visitors will quickly lose interest in your web site if the majority of a page does not download within 15 seconds. (Artists' pages should have a warning at the top of their pages.) Even web sites that are marketed to high-end users need to consider download times. Sometimes, getting to web site such as Microsoft or Sun Microsystems is so difficult and time consuming that visitors will often try to access the sites during non-working hours from their homes. If your business does not have good brand name recognition, it is best to keep your download time as short as possible.A good application of this rule is adding animation to your site. Sure, animation looks "cool" and does initially catch your eye, but animation graphics tend to be large files. Test the download time of your pages first. If the download time of your page is relatively short and the addition of animation does not unreasonably increase the download time of your page, then and ONLY then should animation be a consideration.Finally, before you consider the personal preferences of your web page design, you should consider all of the above rules FIRST and adapt your personal preferences accordingly. The attitude "I don't like how it looks" should always be secondary to your web site's function. Which is more important: creative expression/corporate image or running a successful business?

For the best Offshore Software Development, i.e., software Development outsourcing and Offshore outsourcing services, Contact A-1 Technology, Inc, an offshore outsourcing company.

Improving Outbound Sales through Outsourcing

2005-06-27T23:11:00.000-07:00

Just a few years ago, face-to-face selling was still the primary way to market any product or service. Rare were the companies or individuals who purchased an item over the phone from an unknown caller. The changing conduct of society, the falling cost of telecommunications and the revolution in technologies have transformed the way companies are selling their products and services today. More important, competition in the marketplace and the necessity to achieve greater efficiencies have driven companies to further reduce the cost of their business operations. More and more, the telephone is a primary media used in most selling processes. Many corporations today engage in the high-margin business of telephone sales. Programs range from single-call sales for a product or service, to lead generation for a sales team (some involving appointment set up, seminar registration or follow-up calls on inquiries made on a customer service line). There are almost as many ways to implement an outbound campaign as there are products or services to market. Strategically outsourcing outbound sales has increased greatly among Fortune 1000 corporations whose main objective is to increase sales while reducing their costs. Some reluctance still exists, however, due to issues historically related to the outsourcing decision: lack of data control, fear of over-dependency on a third-party vendor, internal resistance, management issues, etc. Before presenting the benefits of outsourcing, it is important to bear in mind the critical success factors for an outbound campaign. Thereafter, improving outbound sales, whether through outsourcing or internally, lies in enhancing any or all of the key areas: Pre-direct-mail campaigns, Lists, TSR selection, TSR training, Technologies utilized, Incentive programs, Offers proposed to potential customers.

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Fujitsu's five-point plan to successful IT outsourcing

2005-06-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

From: fujitsu

1. Ensure cultural alignment Successful IT outsourcing depends on a shared vision and approach to working together, with like minded people working on common goals.

2. Set clear, measurable objectives Align the IT objectives and the business goals with a common focus on meaningful business and operational objectives. Avoid the pitfall of micro level objectives and do not expect results overnight.

3. Keep sponsors engaged Have appropriate relationships at all levels of the client and supplier organisation, including the key sponsors from both parties to keep the agreement on track.

4. Expect change Things will not stay the same for long. Expect and accommodate business change, operational improvement, and technology enhancement.

5. Win win Acknowledge and welcome the mutual dependency an outsourcing arrangement creates. Ensure that your objectives are aligned and that a win for one party is also a win for the other.

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Managing Software Project

2005-06-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

There is a significant difference in outsourced software development methodology vs in-house software development. The outsourced software development involves a key decision – primarily a management decision – Should you manage the project in-house or Should you outsource the complete product development? Both of these approaches to outsourced software development have benefits if you have the right outsourcing partner. Typically, if the project management and solution architecture is managed in house using internal resources, it involves a very close resource management. Project manager takes the responsibility of managing the software development direction and ensuring efficient use of development resources. The software development is divided into definable tasks by the internal team, and performance is measured against the individual tasks. The second approach, where the offshore vendor provides complete software development including software architecture and project management services, involves interaction at the functional level. It some times involves a detailed product specification phase – where a project manager spends significant time with the business and interface with the offshore team. The vendor as well as the client, in such cases, shares the responsibility and risks of product development. It involves an interaction at the functional level as opposed to technical level.

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Outsourcing - a New Surge

2005-06-23T01:22:00.000-07:00

From:seguejobs Recent trends clearly indicate that companies are generally avoiding traditional outsourcing risks and forming a deeper relationship with their offshore partners by setting up dedicated centers. A dedicated center is an extension of an organization abroad. The dedicated center devotes all its efforts to the host organization and, to maintain consistence with the organization's standards, it follows their culture and methodologies to produce immediate results. The center enhances overall productivity, and more importantly, it results in considerable long-term cost savings. Countries like China, India, Israel, and Russia, which possess highly skilled labor forces as well as outsourcing capabilities, have been the major gainers. Despite the fact that each of these countries has its own advantages or drawbacks, there has been a sudden upsurge of dedicated centers in these countries

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Outsourcing + Insourcing Key to Smartsourcing

2005-06-23T01:20:00.000-07:00

From:seguejobs In today's high-speed global business environment, every organization is out to maximize its profits, enlarge its market share, and above all, put a check on ever-increasing costs. Management gurus are undertaking every effort and every possible mantra is being applied to re-think and re-adopt new processes, especially the buzzwords "outsourcing" and "insourcing." Outsourcing is the process of procuring services or products from an external service provider with a view to curb costs, replace in-house capabilities, and thereby reduce the time period of projects. Outsourcing is thus a full transfer or delegation of an organization's facility management functions to an external firm. Outsourcing has emerged as an effective tool to revamp the strategies and benefits of business in a financially viable and pro-active manner. Fundamentally speaking, outsourcing may be classified into two types: traditional outsourcing and Greenfield outsourcing. a. Traditional outsourcing means that the staff of the organization does not perform the same jobs or tasks. Here, tasks to be performed are identified and the service provider usually hires the staff. For instance, IT outsourcing may include a transfer of responsibility for management of data centers and networks. In the field of facility management, the people working as property managers might become the staff of a facility management company. b. Greenfield outsourcing, on the other hand, means that the organization can change its business processes without any hiring of staff by the service provider. The organization, for instance, may hire an up-and-coming company to provide a new service such as wireless remote computing, which was not previously handled internally.

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Outsourcing generates tremendous benefits

2005-06-22T01:19:00.000-07:00

From: Fortwayne

Careful analysis reveals that worldwide sourcing - made possible by new technologies that digitize and cheaply transmit information around the world - provides real benefits.

History tells us that new technologies and improved business strategies displace jobs. For example, automobiles workers replaced buggy makers, and ATMs, voice mail and voice recognition software eliminated bank tellers, receptionists and medical transcription jobs.

Consider this: The U.S. economy loses an average of 31-million jobs annually. But new jobs are created even faster. The proof: America generated 60 million net jobs since 1970. And according to the Labor Department, the U.S. will generate another 21.3 million net jobs from 2002 through 2012. Those are over above the jobs that were outsourced.

New technologies, innovation and higher productivity, the primary causes of the so-called job churn, increase wages and improve living standards. In turn, new industries and higher-skilled jobs emerge. Thus, Forrester Research's estimate of the 3.3 million service jobs moving offshore by 2015 represents only a fraction of job churn.

Higher-tech jobs most likely to be outsourced, like computer programming and software design, are projected actually to increase here at home, according to the Labor Department.

What's more, by 2012, all U.S. computer-related occupations are estimated to grow by 15 to 57 percent. Lower-tech jobs prone to outsourcing, such as bookkeeping and customer service, also are projected to increase.

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Software Testing: The next outsourcing boom sector

2005-06-22T00:58:00.000-07:00

From: blogtaragana

Indian Outsourcing industry is increasingly turning towards software testing. In fact India has started providing software testing services to customers from 2005.

Reuters reports on companies like Wipro, Infosys and Aztech who are experiencing boom in this sector.Wipro has jumped four-fold to 2,400 in two years. In the nine months to December, revenue grew 90 percent to $64 million, three times the industry average.

Software glitches are estimated to cost nearly $60 billion a year in the United States alone, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Companies such as online share brokers and handset makers are willing to spend a lot to avoid them. Testing could make up 25-50 percent of software budgets. Independent testing is growing at 50-65 percent while the part of work done offshore is growing at 35-40 percent.

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Carlson Cos. Close To Seven-Year Outsourcing Deal With IBM

2005-06-20T23:27:00.000-07:00

From: InformationWeek Carlson Cos., an operator of several well-known travel and hospitality brands, plans to outsource a number of business and technology functions to IBM, company officials confirmed Friday Carlson, whose brands include Radisson Hotels, T.G.I. Fridays restaurants, and Carlson Wagonlit Travel, is negotiating with IBM to hand off a portion of its IT and finance operations to the vendor. Carlson expects to have a final seven-year agreement with IBM in place within 45 days.Carlson executives believe IBM, which maintains technology and business-services centers in India and other low-cost countries, can operate those functions more efficiently and economically than in-house workers. Carlson said it expects to cut about 525 jobs as a result of the move, but officials note that 100 to 125 of those workers will be picked up by IBM. The remainder of the work will be distributed to IBM facilities in the United States, Canada, and India. Carlson said it's not outsourcing customer-facing activities, such as hotel and travel reservations, because for the most part it considers those operations too important to turn over to a third party. Analysts say Carlson's plans show how more companies are outsourcing in an effort to align their costs structures with those of competitors that have already taken such steps. For the best Offshore Software Development, i.e, software Development outsourcing and Offshore outsourcing services, contact A-1 Technology, Inc,an offshore outsourcing company.

Indian Outsourcing Firms Make Global Push In China, America

2005-06-20T22:51:00.000-07:00

From: outsource360

While U.S. workers and corporations continue to digest the idea that college grads on the other side of the planet can do the same jobs for one-third the price, the very firms that have made these shifts possible are heading to new countries — and, in some cases, circling back to the U.S.

Cognizant Technology, (CTSH) Infosys, (INFY) Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro, (WIT) companies whose heavily India-based staff develop and maintain big IT systems for their North American and European clients, have started to set up operations in other cheap-labor locales such as China and the Czech Republic.

At the same time, they are recruiting more experienced U.S.-based workers to offer the business consulting typically provided by firms like Accenture (ACN) and McKinsey.

Stoking these ambitions are growth rates that outshine those of their U.S. tech service rivals. The Indian firms have increased annual sales by at least 40% for each of the past two years, and investors have taken note.

Take Bangalore-based Wipro. With $1.9 billion in annual sales, it's just one-tenth the size of EDS. (EDS) But Wipro's market capitalization tops that of its Texas competitor's by more than $5 billion.

Strong sales and stock prices have given the Indian firms momentum to expand in countries like China.

Indian firms have invested close to $50 million in China and employ nearly 2,000 people there, says Indian trade group NASSCOM.

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Eye on offshoring: Accessing the suppliers

2005-06-19T20:55:00.001-07:00

From: computerworld

Recognizing the current state of flux of offshoring, key characteristics that must be understood in detail for each supplier under consideration include:

Multinational capability. Are services located in one country or even one city, or are they diverse on a global scale?
Partnerships/use of third parties. What are the key partnerships the supplier has formed? Does it have offshore partners it will outsource work to?
Turnover rate. Many call centers in India are experiencing a turnover rate of 50%, and application development centers are experiencing 15% to 25% turnover. Obviously, the lower the turnover rate, the more stable the environment.
Technical infrastructure. What is the composition of the supplier's technical infrastructure and support structure? Is its support plan standards-based
Business continuity and disaster recovery. What is the plan, and has it been evaluated lately?
Security. What is the security plan, and has the supplier recently conducted a risk assessment? If so, how often does it assess its security posture?
Service-level agreements. Does the supplier tie all of its SLAs to the delivery of the product, or is the SLA modularized?

Different companies will have different comfort levels with the answers to these key characteristics. To reinforce the point; the key to successful offshoring is a well-defined, executable strategy and governance plan. Using a supplier-independent consultancy to select the most responsive and responsible supplier of offshore service will help guarantee success.

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Outsourcing in India: Advantage

2005-06-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

From: outsourcing2india

Indian companies are seen as preferred partners all over the world. The natural resource of India lies in its abundant technically skilled manpower, easily transforming India into an outsourcing paradise. It has a large pool of computer literate and English speaking professionals and, above all use of state-of-the-art technologies especially in software development. The solutions are cost-effective, high quality, highly reliable, and delivered on time.

The Indian advantage lies primarily in the educational and technical qualifications of the personnel, who are often more qualified than the people working in the parent locations. A survey conducted in 2002 by NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies) showed that an India based ITES-BPO center in the banking and financial service sector, performs better than a UK or US based facility on significant factors such as the number of correct transactions/total umber of transactions, total satisfaction factor, number of transactions per hour and the average speed of answers.

The survey also says that 45 percent of Indian service providers have certifications like Six Sigma (a disciplined, statistical quality control method that measures the number of defects compared to the opportunities to make defects) and CMMI ( Capabilty Maturity Model Integration - which is a process improvement method that provides a set of best practices that address productivity, performance, costs, and customer satisfaction.). Moreover, a lot of organizations are upgrading their quality standards to from the ISE 9000 to the new ISO 9000:2000, and from the CMM framework to the new CMMI framework.

Pune is a fast emerging outsourcing destination. This fast emerging info hub fast has a large number of quality educational institutions and universities. Today its resources and statistics back its claim for the numero uno destination for IT investments. The setting up of IT Parks with good connectivity, phone lines and electricity and a robust telecom infrastructure is another reason for why Pune is the new IT destination. The availability of huge land in prime locations coupled with the abundant trained manpower has prompted many companies to open office in Pune.

The Indian model ensures that it works in systematic manner. IT systems - production servers, mainframes, and application systems - rarely reside in India. Rather, outsourced systems reside at the client site, or in some cases, at a hosted site in the US or Europe. Remote workers in India develop code or maintain systems from a facility in India over a variety of communications links.

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Offshore outsourcing strategy

2005-06-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

From: cnet news

The reality is that offshoring is another form of trade, and trade brings both opportunities and challenges. Benefits have always exceeded costs, however, and our great imperative is to maximize the former while minimizing the latter. Specifically, we must do the following:

Enforce current and future trade agreements.
Enable global flows of goods, services, capital and people.
Promote lifelong learning environments, efforts and skills.
Identify ways to encourage saving and to maintain health coverage during work force transitions, but ways that don't restrain future hiring.
Ensure our business climate encourages entrepreneurship (access to capital, employer flexibility, and more rational regulations and torts).
Improve our infrastructure to maximize companies' and workers' productivity.
Ensure adequate resources for educational innovations that work.

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Procurement outsourcing

2005-06-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

From: information week

Nearly 75% of buyers expect to increase IT outsourcing this year, up from 64% last year. Just 7% say they'll decrease use of onshore outsourcers, and 5% plan to reduce use of offshore outsourcers. Most buyers like what they get: 78% are satisfied with their outsourcing deals, up from 74% last year.

Over the past year, ICG Commerce has seen an unprecedented level of interest in procurement process outsourcing. Many industry thought-leaders have launched comprehensive studies on the topic, reporting that performance has exceeded early adopter's expectations and are projecting 15 to 50% growth over the next three years. Trade media and educational organizations that have historically avoided the topic are now approaching it proactively. But perhaps the most direct evidence of a growing trend toward procurement outsourcing from ICG Commerce's vantage point is the 10X increase in the number of inquiries and RFPs received for outsourcing services. While this increased interest in procurement outsourcing is clear and the value proposition can be compelling, many companies still seem to struggle to understand procurement outsourcing and determine the appropriate path forward for their own organization.

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Software outsourcing industry: trends

2005-06-16T22:31:00.000-07:00

From: oocenter

Order books of software exporters are full and the guidance for the remaining period of the year looks positive. CEOs talk of India becoming the de-facto destination for software offshoring. The list of companies waiting to jump onto the offshore bandwagon is increasing. Signs, which on the surface, looks rosy for the Indian software service exporters. The 2005 IT outsourcing study includes the insights of 210 buyers and 242 providers of outsourcing services. All participants were directly involved or highly aware of their company’s outsourcing-related decisions, states the study. IT budgets of participating companies ranged from less than $5 million to more than $500 million. The survey points to a continuing growth in the outsourcing market, with 74% of buyers anticipating an increase in IT outsourcing.

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Business continues to see strategic benefits of outsourcing

2005-06-16T22:05:00.000-07:00

From: personnel today

The majority of companies still believe there are significant strategic benefits and competitive advantage to outsourcing. Almost two-thirds of companies believe that outsourcing can bring real competitive and strategic advantage, according to a research.

India and Russia are singled out for their expertise in services provision. India is hi-tech and well educated resources, so it's a good place to base centres of excellence. Russia same way is using a fantastic research institute [with] a lot of well trained scientists and engineers that has surprising technology.

China is seen as a manufacturing hotbed. However, direct investment in the country remains difficult. However, the research also highlighted environmental inhibitors to moving into these markets. These inhibitors included corruption and political and economic volatility, which were mentioned in relation to Russia and Brazil. Human rights were of greater concern in India and China.

A survey 2,100 UK companies and organizations, conducted by pollsters NOP, shows that business attitudes to outsourcing are becoming more positive. More than half (51%) of the companies surveyed said that outsourcing has become an established way of working – a figure 14% higher than it was in 2003.The survey reveals that more and more organizations are realizing the benefits that outsourcing can bring.

But it is important that businesses don't solely focus on the benefits - to achieve outsourcing success, companies must adhere to best practice policies and practices.

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Offshore outsourcing:Facts

2005-06-15T23:59:00.000-07:00

From: e-isn

For most software companies across the globe, offshore outsourcing is an interesting option. Whether it is a service or a product to sustain an organization's competitiveness, one has to pursue cost reduction goals without compromising the quality of the solutions. The biggest boon outsourcing has given to the global business community is the strength to upgrade their core business while being at the cutting edge of technology.

There are a few logical and important guidelines that any organization has to follow to be successful in outsourcing software to offshore businesses. India has established itself as one of the most competitive destinations for software outsourcing development services.

Unlike in house development or on site development, the offshore software development has certain peculiarities associated with its process. Most of the steps that are involved in onsite development are present in offshore development. Critical steps have been included in the process to ensure successful completion of the project.

Software outsourcing though in huge demand & profitable proposition, if not handled properly can become a pain also. But professional organizations outsourcing software are very cautious these days & do they due diligence before selecting the right software outsourcing partner.

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Domain expertise important for software outsourcing

2005-06-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

From:e-isn

Consulting software companies focus on defining, optimizing and aligning client's business strategy with IT initiatives. Business and technology work hand-in-hand. A proper understanding of this synthesis motivates every engagement, enabling us to deliver technology solutions that give you a decisive competitive advantage.

Customers are tilted or harp on choosing software outsourcing companies who understand business strategies and is good at generating ideas & also has the technical expertise to turn those ideas into reality. It is better than making the mistake of choosing technology companies having good technical expertise but little domain knowledge. It is important to strike a balance between the two & opt for business oriented technology solution provider. Only they spend time to understand customer requirements, and then tailor complete solutions that deliver tangible value to the enterprise

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Software outsourcing jumps target

2005-06-15T03:44:00.000-07:00

From:open outsource

India's export revenues from software outsourcing have exceeded targets and will reach $17.3 billion in the fiscal year ending March 2005. For the first time, the total number of people employed in India's outsourcing industry has also touched 1 million hands, said the National Association of Software and Service Companies. The exports gained momentum this year with more companies realizing the value of global sourcing, In the year to March 2004, India's software exports stood at $12.8 billion and the industry employed 770,000 people. India's domestic market for the current fiscal year has been valued at $$4.9 billion, up from $$3.9 billion a year earlier. Thus, the total annual value of India's software industry, including exports and local sales, is nearly $22.2 billion.

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Outsourcing: Getting Off on the Right Foot

2005-06-13T20:22:00.000-07:00

From:Computerworld

An effective governance and relationship management process, implemented early, can help both buyer and provider make healthy offshore outsourcing. But effective governance doesn't just happen spontaneously, at least not very quickly. Here are five tips for achieving real "speed to governance."

1) Contract issues are at the root of many problems that arise early in outsourcing arrangements. Many buyers lament that their contracts are hundreds of pages long and are confusing. Given the length and complexity of outsourcing contracts, it is hardly surprising that buyer and provider enter the agreement holding different assumptions about a number of critical issues.

To improve the transition from negotiation to implementation, buyer and provider should conduct joint contract briefing sessions. In such sessions, key members of the provider and buyer negotiation team brief transition leaders, delivery managers and functional managers from both sides. Topics should include the terms of the deal and the underlying intentions behind them, highlighting any issues that were deferred or not fully resolved, as well as critical scope boundaries.

2) Not all outsourcing relationships are created equally. At one end of the spectrum, some are primarily about lowering price by leveraging economies of scale, while others are about transformation, innovation and shared risk/reward. As might be expected, many buyers aspire to keep their providers closer toward the "lower price/less integration" end of the spectrum, while providers often aim to integrate further (and thereby enhance their margins).

3) Ensuring end-user buy-in, both at the employee and executive level, is critical. Many outsourcing arrangements require that buyers make significant process changes to reap cost savings. End users, accustomed to specific ways of doing things and a particular level and type of service, can turn a business case upside down when they don't comply with new processes.

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Offshoring improves business competitiveness

2005-06-12T20:14:00.000-07:00

From: personneltoday

Eight in 10 organisations believe that offshoring has improved their competitive position, according to a research by the National Outsourcing Association (NOA).

The study also shows that a quarter of organisations now use offshore business process service delivery.

According to the study, the main ways that offshoring affects the competitiveness of organisations were identified as a combination of improved customer services, reduced costs, improved scalability and ability to manage fluctuations in workload. On the whole, respondents reported an average return on investment of around 29 per cent through the use of offshore services.

According to the research, 84 per cent of respondents believe that the use of offshore services makes a net contribution to the UK economy, which supports the findings released at this month's CBI conference. This means organisations tend to regard the use of offshore services as a means to improve their competitiveness through cost effective access to higher quality services and personnel.

The NOA study also found that organisations were 100 per cent satisfied with the calibre of personnel and data security in offshore locations. The lowest satisfaction ratings were related to cultural compatibility (67 per cent) and language capability (67 per cent), indicating that organisations need to carefully assess these factors before opting for an offshore service.

Offshoring seems to be gradually shaking off the negativity that has surrounded it. Organisations are beginning to realise the real benefits that offshoring can bring, if managed effectively.

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Five Golden Rules For Offshore Outsourcing

2005-06-10T22:25:00.000-07:00

From:blogsource

1. Develop enduring relationships between key management personnel. The usefulness of the relationship between the key management personnel of both teams depends on good understanding and strong working ties between them. Studies on outsourcing success stories have demonstrated that working chemistry in management and peer friendships among employees have proved to be important determinants in forming long-term relationships that yield real value.

2. Present a Quantifiable Objective. A useful performance criterion includes quantifiable objectives and clarifies expectations of the quality of service. If you can get ahold of SLAs for comparable projects, they will serve as reasonable starting points—but remember, these are negotiable. In any event, ensure that exact objectives and expectations are included in the SLA and are understood by both organizations prior to implementation.

3. Pre-determine the Incentives and Penalties Schemes. The provider should be driven to meet the established customer expectations or even exceed it by adopting the performance based pricing criteria. If performance of the service provider exceeds expectations, then incentives should be given; conversely, appropriate penalties should be imposed if objectives are consistently missed.

4. Review Periodically to Maintain Successful Relationships. Organize formal review meetings often. During the meetings, both sides can discuss the performance of both teams and determine the future objectives or goals of the company accordingly. They can also discuss product reviews and deliverables during these meetings. Keep in mind that performance objectives may need to be continually revised according to changing market conditions and the opportunity costs of both firms.

5. Communicate Well & Often to Bridge Cultural Differences. The parties involved in an outsourcing relationship belong to distinct cultures, these differences have to be accepted and bridged. The cultural understanding between the two organizations can be enhanced by organizing social events, educating about company background, participating in each others’ quality programs, etc. Communication really is the key to a healthy relationship. It may be helpful to send a loyal employee to the BPO site for a few months to facilitate understanding in the implementation phase.

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Outsourced product development expanded in India

2005-06-09T22:31:00.000-07:00

From: financialexpress The Indian outsourcing industry has matured substantially and is seeing some interesting trends. With the rupee appreciating and costs rising, India loses the edge of a cost advantage that can affect our profits and the clients’ decision to outsource. To combat this, India is moving away from offering just a cost advantage to redefining business plans that bring in value-adds and enhanced delivery capabilities. There is a continuous effort to move up the value chain towards high end product development, innovation and design. Outsourced Product Development (OPD) is the rapidly emerging niche with many product companies looking towards India to outsource their product engineering work. Software product outsourcing seems to be gaining significant traction not just in established companies but also in startups with many venture capitalists (VCs) specifically asking for an ‘India plan’. In fact, the last two years has seen a sizable movement from VCs towards an interesting business model. VCs are increasingly funding entrepreneurs with hard-core business domain knowledge who partner with an Indian technology major specializing in end to end product engineering. Product start-ups are now coming to India with just a vision document based on market needs. There has been an increase in business from the European countries, where product talent is still not widely found. The European markets have opened up towards outsourcing product work to India. According to Frost & Sullivan, R&D outsourcing market for information technology in India is estimated to grow to $9.1 billion by 2010 from $1.3 billion in 2003, at a compounded annual growth rate of 32.05%. India’s talent pool is its other competitive edge. Over the past decade this has received sufficient international exposure. A combination of high-end product services and abundant IT talent makes us the ‘leader’ to deliver world-class expectation. Along with being scale players, Indian companies also need to show focus and depth of knowledge in the vertical they identify for themselves and go to market with success stories. So OPD is an evident trend that is likely to gain momentum in 2005 - While Product companies are already looking at entering India with an OPD partner, small and medium level captives might go the third-party way, as they might find it easier to ‘rent’ already existing high talent teams instead of creating one themselves. For the best Offshore Software Development, i.e, software Development outsourcing and Offshore outsourcing services, contact A-1 technology,Inc, an offshore outsourcing company

Offshore outsourcing: Key facts

2005-06-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

From: Hewitt resource library In light of uncertainty in the software marketplace, many companies are concerned about their investments in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and are not only wondering what software providers will be around for the long-term but are also evaluating their options. Through outsourcing, companies can get rid of the expense, headache, uncertainty, and risk of managing their own ERP system and relying on software providers. They can also transfer the risks and responsibilities to an outsourcing provider. Over the last 20 years, the HR outsourcing marketplace has evolved beyond benefits administration. Companies are outsourcing more HR activities to achieve a fundamental shift from an administrative, tactical, and compliance-driven function to a focus on the strategic acquisition, motivation, and retention of talent. The transactional functions must be done right and can be handled with greater quality and efficiency by a provider who has the process and technology expertise. Outsourcing has become a mainstream business practice. A growing number of executives understand the benefits it can bring in terms of not only cost savings, but also heightened strategic focus. Many recognize outsourcing relationships as long-term partnerships created to further the strategic goals of the organization. Today, companies want to build an internal competency around outsourcing so that they can work with partners to build the kind of responsive business ecosystem they need to compete. For the best Offshore Software Development, i.e, software Development outsourcing and Offshore outsourcing services contact A-1 Technology, Inc, an offshore outsourcing company

How Outsourcing Facilitated a Sale

2005-06-08T05:07:00.000-07:00

From: outsourcing-journal Company X designs and manufactures devices installed in the ceilings of casinos that allow computers to track the movement of people. A major manufacturer wanted to purchase the company, but it had a problem with its manufacturing process. Company X's sales force was known for selling whatever its clients wanted; customization became standard. They also promised these customized systems in record time frames, which had its engineers scrambling to make the requested changes. In addition, Company X had a product plant in Ohio that only experienced a 33 percent utilization rate. Together, these gave the company two headaches its new owner did not want. The solution was to find a contract manufacturer who could engineer, then produce these customized systems for Company X. Outsourcing transformed its traditional supply chain into a build-to-order model. Now Company X has no inventory or waste. There are now no more fire sales for surveillance gear that's suddenly out-of-date. The outsourcer is only manufacturing what its customers order. Today Company X's sales force can concentrate on selling systems its customers want instead of the systems they have to sell. This produces a profitable product line for its new owner. Trend: Engineering Going Offshore to India While most manufacturers are outsourcing the typical general administration processes like human resources, finance and accounting, purchasing, and IT, the new leap in outsourcing is in electronic manufacturing services (EMS). EMS outsourcers are bundling their engineering functions with the manufacturing of electronic components; this is exactly what Company X needed. Engineering is becoming the new outsourcing frontier. One of the big trends in EMS is sending more of the engineering work to India, where several new research and development centers have opened. Companies like Company X are seeing the value of sending lower-value engineering jobs to India. For the best offshore software development and offshore outsourcing services, contact A-1 Technology, Inc, an offshore outsourcing company.

India is the outsourcing benchmark

2005-06-07T02:52:00.000-07:00

From:computing news Once a year, the Indian IT industry hosts a London conference to persuade UK organisations to outsource their technology or business operations to the sub-continent. The event last week, organised by India's National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), presented a story that is by now pretty familiar to most IT directors. Indian outsourcing can save companies as much as 50 per cent of their operational costs, says Nasscom. Companies such as Standard Chartered, HSBC and Channel 4 rely heavily on Indian service providers. All of British Airways' back-office ticketing is in India. Analyst Richard Holway predicts that an Indian IT company will soon be among the top five technology vendors in the world. The business facts are impressive. But it's only when you look into some of the statistics behind the remarkable rise of the country's IT providers that you start to appreciate just what a powerhouse is being created. It was difficult not to be impressed by the way IT has been identified as an area where India can have an enormous global influence as well as boosting its own economy. IT exports are currently $10bn (£6bn) (more than $2bn of which is from Europe), and growing by 30 per cent a year. Compare that to the depressed sector worldwide. By 2008, Karnik predicts that export earnings will be $50bn (£30bn), with total revenues of $87bn (£53bn). IT will account for 25 per cent of all exports and eight per cent of India's GDP, but will be generated from just 0.25 per cent of the population. Every year, there are 500,000 new IT and engineering graduates in India. The country's five Institutes of Technology take just 1,000 students a year for their elite courses - and receive nearly one million applicants. For the best Offshore Software Development, i.e., software Development outsourcing and offshore outsourcing services contact A-1 Technology, Inc, an offshore outsourcing company

India's offshore outsourcing revenues grew 34.5 percent

2005-06-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

India's software and services exports totalled $17.2 billion in the fiscal year to March 31 this year, up by 34.5 percent from the previous year, according to India's National Association of Software Companies (Nasscom) in Delhi. The country's exports of software and services are expected to grow by between 30 percent and 32 percent in the fiscal year to March 31, 2006, according to Nasscom In the year to March 31 this year, exports of IT software and services grew by 30.5 percent to $12 billion, while exports of business process outsourcing (BPO), call center, and related services grew by 44.5 percent to $5.2 billion. The U.S. accounted for about 68 percent of India's outsourcing exports, with Europe accounting for another 24 percent. About 35 percent of Indian exports of IT services and 60 percent to 65 percent of the exports of BPO call center, and related services came from wholly owned operations in India of multinational companies, according to Nasscom. Alongside the Indian outsourcing companies offering services to companies in the U.S. and Europe, a number of multinational services companies, technology companies, and user companies have set up software development, BPO, and call center subsidiaries in India. Domestic (non-export) revenue from software and services totalled $4.8 billion in the year to March 31.India's outsourcing industry currently employs over 1 million according to the reports. For the long term, however, India's outsourcing industry will have to forge ties with educational institutions to ensure a larger supply of quality staff for the industry, according to Nasscom.The industry will also have to innovate its services and processes to add greater value to the customer and improve productivity.

Tips for Good Website design

2005-06-02T02:57:00.000-07:00

Following are the tips in order to have a Good Website design Browser Friendly Your website should be browser friendly as there are many different browsers available today. Ensure your home page is friendly to all of them. Do this by keeping your page simple and if you are using frames, tables, image maps and other enhancements, ensure you have an alternate page available for browsers that cannot display the enhancements. For example, if we use frames so we provide a "no-frame" gateway for those users with older non-frame friendly browsers. Loading time We have about 15-seconds to catch and keep a visitor. Our home page should load quickly. Ensure this by keeping graphic files small if possible break the large image into several small images, backgrounds simple and by using height and width tags with every graphic. The height/width tags will force the text to load first giving the user something to read while the graphics load. It is also a good idea to use ALT tags with the graphic tag Meta Tags As search engine love the meta tags so it is good practice to use them in the website site smartly. These html tags are used to define the name and content of you site. Update content frequently Updating content frequently helps in creating the interest of the visitor. So you should keep on added the fresh content on your site so that you get the more traffic.

CRM Offshore Software Development

2005-06-01T05:57:00.000-07:00

CRM stands for Customer-Relationship Management, and adopts the basic of self-service channel such as the Internet. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a business strategy built around the concept being "customer-centric". The main goal is to maximize revenue through improved customer satisfaction and focused interactions at each customer touch point. The above can be achieved by understanding the needs of the customer that based on their purchasing patterns. Customer-Relationship Management Customer-Relationship Management follows the principal of customer interaction, allowing each customer to let you know how he or she wants to be treated. CRM is a mechanism to make the supplier more aware of customers' buying habits and frequency at which he/she buys. CRM solutions can improve efficiency of sales, marketing and services by making the supplier more attuned to the needs of the customer. Some features to be recognized while achieving the customer satisfaction are: 1) Customers own their own information 2) Customers need total accuracy and at times won't understand the viewpoint of the supplier Advantages of CRM Solutions. CRM solutions provide a technology to enable your customer services, sales and marketing efforts by allowing a 1st-time visitor to visit the site again, repeating the visitor to subscribe to a newswire so that we can tell him/her what we're doing to the site, subscribers and commentators to submit contributions so that we broaden and deepen the content we provide and subscribed members of the site to purchase product and services and provide us with funds. Typical CRM functionality includes the following: 1)Visitor login and account maintenance 2)User profiling and user agendas 3) Customer tracking and unique customer record 4) User reporting 5) User feedback and suggestions 6) Site relevance and content optimization For more information log on to www.a1technology.com , an offshore outsourcing company

HR Outsourcing Perils

2005-05-31T02:43:00.000-07:00

The past: HRO has long been the leading unit of BPO and is by far the most outsourced business process. Gartner Dataquest believes 85% of US enterprises will outsource at least one component of their HR functions. The present: The demonstrated growth is the core payroll and benefits business. But the strongest growth sector is in recruiting, the integrated front end to the employee life cycle. HRO is experiencing the greatest margin pressure. These include three types of companies: Telecommunications firms dealing with pricing pressure from competition and heavy debt loads from past infrastructure investments. Retail companies with reduced sales and increased price competition for their products. Government organizations with declining tax revenues that are now forced to do more with less rather than increase taxes. Three Types of HRO Suppliers Suppliers can be divided into three types. · First, there are the suppliers that specialize in discrete sub processes of HR like payroll, benefits, hiring and recruiting, and training and education. · Then there are the one-stop-shop suppliers that aggregate multiple HR functions like payroll and benefits into one HRO offering. · Overlapping with the second type is a new breed of super-suppliers that offer full service at lower cost. These companies will take advantage of economies of scale because they already have significant processing facilities worldwide they can use for HRO. It's a relatively simple transformation process to take their existing service offerings and add an HR dimension to them. A Better Alternative: Offshore Outsourcing Offshore outsourcing is a major trend driving HRO. Offshore HRO concentrates on processing services that involve manual operations with little added value such as generation of employment contracts. India, the Philippines, China, South America, and Eastern Europe as the leading regions for offshore HRO. Tougher to outsource offshore, processes like benefits where workers have to understand employment issues unique to individual countries. For instance, a US buyer may want to outsource benefits to a supplier with offshore facilities in China, but the average Chinese worker may not understand what the plan is. Advanced expertise and multinational scope are where the super-suppliers enjoy a distinct advantage. They have multipurpose processing centers around the world that can offer these services to multiple nationalities and partner with local suppliers where they don't have a presence. The supplier retains a client account management team geographically close to the buyer -- these people interface with the buyer, while the supplier farms out the work to its offshore operations. The author of the article is John Parker, A-1 Technology, Inc, an offshore outsourcing company

Tools required in order to run the Web Site

2005-05-30T03:29:00.000-07:00

Following are the tools requires in order to run the Web site are 1. Web Browser2. Internet Connection3. Telnet4. FTP Web browser and Internet Connection : I assume that you already have a web browser and connection software to get you onto the Internet. Telnet : If you are creating a Web site on a remote machine, you will need telnet to login to your account. Telnet typically runs on top of a PPP or SLIP connection. You have to specify your server's telnet IP address, and telnet will connect you to the server. The server will ask you for your user name and password, and then you will be logged into your account. From there you can create directories for your web site files, and that's usually enough to get you started. Eventually, you will want to monitor accesses to your Web site, and you usually need to login to do that as well. FTP : If you are creating a Web site on a remote machine, you will need ftp to transfer your files to the server. I use ws_ftp, and it works great. Like telnet, ftp programs run on top of a PPP or SLIP connection. You have to specify your server's ftp IP address, your user name, and your password (usually a different IP address, but the same user name and password as you used with telnet). Once ftp is connected, you can transfer files from your personal computer to your web server. At that point, your pages are accessible to the whole world!
Source : http://www.unplug.com/great/tips/tip18.htm

Why Outsource to India?

2005-05-27T01:46:00.000-07:00

Why Outsource Data processing and Offshore Software development to India? The reason is that India's natural resource lie in its abundant technically skilled manpower. India is the world's second largest exporter of software (after the U.S.), and is the source of management and technical talent in Silicon Valley. Thanks to its low costs of software talent, India has more software companies with ISO 9000 certification than any other country in the world. The impact of India's success abroad is also being felt. The stars of the Indian Internet industry are the Web solutions and Web ware companies who have made transition to e-commerce service providers and offshore outsourcing services. Benefits of Offshore Outsourcing in India • India offers many advantages that make it the favorite of 82 percent of US software export market. • Increasing number of computer literate and English speaking professionals • Well recognized Information technology skills • India exports software to more than 95 countries. • India has a stable political environment and pro-IT government. • Reliable satellite and submarine communication links facilitate good broadband connectivity with the rest of the world. According to the National Association of Software & Service Companies, the Indian software industry, almost half the Fortune 500 companies now use Indian Software services. With over 4 million highly trained English speaking technical personnel the figures are second only to the USA and leading world class software companies, India is set to become the software giant of the new Millennium. To add a feather to the cap, a World Bank funded study in the United States confirmed that vendors rated India as their number one choice for offshore outsourcing. India offers several advantages such as: Cost savings factor. Costs for Offshore Outsourcing work in India are 30-50 percent lower than those in the U.S. after factoring in increased expenses for telecommunication, and infrastructure. Many ISVs have captured sizeable savings in offshore software development for mature products and executing custom software projects. Time to market: Indian offshore software development allows companies to reduce the time required for conceptualization through marketing of the product. High quality. Most IT services companies in India have a successfully tested methodology and have in-built quality standards for their development processes. Large number of professional/technical talent: India has the largest English speaking IT talent pool in the world. Over 120,000 trained IT professionals are being added to the Indian talent pool yearly compared to 25,000 in the US. 62 percent of this Indian technical workforce has more than four years of experience and over 70 percent has an engineering degree. IT ---- major thrust area for the Government of India • IT occupies an important place in the Indian Government’s opinion and is one of the Government of India's top five priorities. • The National IT Task Force (ITTF) submitted its 108 point Action Plan to promote IT in the country. The Government of India has approved the plan and is in the process of implementing it. • A separate Ministry of Information Technology was set up for the implementation of IT projects and to streamline the regulatory process. • Information Technology Act 2000: The Information Technology Bill that was passed in the Indian Parliament in May 2000, has now been notified as the IT Act 2000. The IT Bill brings E-commerce within the purview of law and accords stringent punishments to cyber criminals.

Offshore Outsourcing ---- Types & Hidden Benefits

2005-05-26T01:32:00.000-07:00

Offshore outsourcing is falling into 4 major categories: 1.Software development and support 2.Call Centres 3.Data entry/cleansing 4.BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) The basic principal is that any work, can be easily transferred and can deliver benefits or cost savings very quickly. However there are many pitfalls. Let us look at each category of activity in a detailed mannerl.SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT AND SUPPORT: This works best when you have strong and structured methodologies. However it becomes vital that your chosen partner understands your industry sector.Some of the major threats that were faced by retail business is that the programmers /developers do not understand the processes such as range planning or category management, which led to real problems in getting good designs for user interfaces or getting teams to generate test data. With experience, many of those limitations are disappearing. Their programming skills are excellent, they know the technologies and they have good project management. Some of the companies also provide an invaluable service at low cost. CALL CENTRE OPERATIONS: Call Centres have been one of the fastest growth sectors in offshore outsourcing recently. This is one activity, which can impact the brand or image of a company. The quality of communication skill and accents can matter .Good quality and integrity of the product become important values.Call Centres work well where outcomes are very predictable. The area becomes problematic where operators need to have knowledge, expertise, or need to apply judgement. It takes a lot of investment and time management to bring call centre staff up to speed on product knowledge. ACTIVITIES WE KNOW CAN BE OUTSOURCED VERY EFFECTIVELY: Incoming callsCustomer order capture Customer complaints recording- Taking appointments- Taking reservations on fixed assets (theatres or airplanes) Outgoing calls- Ringing customers to book delivery slots- Calling hotels to check availability, etc.DATA ENTRY: With the advent of cheap scanners and the internet, why any data entry is done onshore. Provided you have browser based data entry systems, you can send it electronically and have somebody key it into your format offshore.It is easy: particularly for coding of data, that require a modicum of knowledge, with large volumes and repetition, operators become experienced very quickly. BPO (BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING): This technique is the mother of all processes. It is also the hardest to get right.You have to have very structured and well defined processes: data interfaces have to be excellent; quality of data going into the process has to be excellent, clearly articulated organizational roles and skills are needed at each step of the process. The biggest problem for companies is to decide which processes should be outsourced and to make sure that they are clearly documented. CONCLUSION: One of the hidden benefits of offshore outsourcing is that your outsourcing partner ends up investing the capital expenditure. It's not just that labor rates are lower; you are leveraging other people's capital. It's a form of capital financing. Thus, in a world where markets are rewarding those companies that are efficient capital users, it is no surprise we are seeing such a high growth in offshore outsourcing.

The author of the article is John Parker, A-1 Technology, Inc, an offshore outsourcing company.

Web Design Tips

2005-05-25T22:26:00.000-07:00

When designing your website's main page, instead of trying to cram all of your information into one page, consider creating sections. These sections can contain highlights of your information with a link to further information. You can set your sections up in tables with colored heading sections for information such as news, articles, products or whatever you'd like. It's much better to keep your main page down to the most essential elements. You can then use links to additional pages to provide the detailed information. A good rule of thumb is "less is more." In other words, keep your main page as small as possible, while at the same time, include your most important elements.To enhance your page, you can format your text using bold headlines, colored table cells, and graphic bullets and/or arrows. If you use the same graphic bullets and arrows throughout your page, you can enhance your page's appearance, but you won't add any additional time to your site's load time. When you reuse an image, your image only has to load once. When the image has loaded, it will instantly be displayed in all of the other locations.

Common Web Design Mistakes

2005-05-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

Some of the most common webdesign mistakes are 1. Poor overall appearance 2. Poor load time 3. Absence of contact information 4. Spelling/Grammar mistakes 5. Poor content 6. Poor navigation 7. Broken links and graphics 8. Poor browser compatibility 9. Large slow loading graphics 10. Too many graphics 11. Pages scrolling to oblivion 12. Multiple use of animated graphics 13. Too many graphic and/or line dividers 14. Busy, distracting backgrounds 15. Multiple banners and buttons 16. Poor use of frames 17. Large fonts 18. Pop up messages 19. Over use of Java 20. Poor use of tables 21. Different backgrounds on each page 22. Too much advertising 23. Large Welcome banners 24. Multiple colored text 25. Text difficult to read 26. No Meta tags 27. Multiple use of different fonts 28. Scrolling text in the status bar 29. Large scrolling text across the page 30. Poor use of mouse over effects

The economics of Offshore Outsourcing

2005-05-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

From : outsource2india.com The offshore outsourcing industry has exploded in the last few years. According to Forbes, it is the most significant business practice in the past year. Cost reduction and the availability of talented resources have made several global companies flock to offshore locations like India. There has been an evolution in offshore outsourcing as back office processes are no longer the only kind of work outsourced. Now, more core processes and specialized services are being outsourced to India as recognition of the expertise and skills available is growing. McKinsey finds that outsourcing creates additional net value for the US economy that did not exist before. When $1 of labor cost is outsourced from the US, the total value created globally is $1.45 to $1.47. Out of this, the receiving country, India in this case, captures just 33 cents. The remaining $1.12 to $1.14 is captured by the US in terms of new revenues (the receiving country buys goods and services from the US), repatriated earnings, and redeployed labor. The study simply quantifies what companies have known years - that outsourcing delivers tangible and significant benefits in the following ways: Reduced capital costs Increased efficiency Reduced labor costs Quicker project starts Focus on your core business Level playing field Reduced risk From the above mentioned reports we can easily judge that offshore outsourcing can be fruitful for your business, the only thing to take under consideration is selecting the right supplier and that too after thorough investigation

Importance of HTML Standerds in Webdesign

2005-05-20T23:50:00.000-07:00

While Coding a website you should make sure that you should follow all the HTML standards. Sometimes it seems like the extra work is an exercise in redundancy, but remember that not everyone has the same browser as you do, and different browsers might interpret things differently...the more exactly you spell out the content, the better the browser will be able to display it. Some common HTML omissions which occure are: 1. HEAD tag and HTML tags 2. HEIGHT and WIDTH attributes for Img tags 3. ALT attributes with alternate text for Img tags 4. ending tags for HEAD, BODY, P, and CENTER tags There are also some technical reasons why you should try to be fully HTML-compliant, as some browsers are more efficient when the proper HTML code is used. As an example, newer releases of Netscape and Microsoft browsers will insert placeholders for images if you have specified the HEIGHT and WIDTH tags (as the HTML standard specifies). This allows the browser to display the rest of the page even if the images have not fully loaded. Many people also browse without loading images (because of the faster download times)...this will allow you to reach those people as well.

Outsourcing Web Site Testing

2005-05-20T04:18:00.000-07:00

Offshore Outsourcing must be considered for several reasons: The company may be launching a new site, or a redesigned version of an older site, and may feel that most testing tasks can be delegated to the third party. The available company resources may not be enough -- people, skills, software, hardware or time -- to perform the testing themselves. The average life span of the project may be of short-term and the company doesn't need any long-term investment in testing processes for the project. The company may be outsourcing the development and coding for the site, making the offshore outsourcing of the testing a reasonable decision. Make certain assumptions about how will businesses be done. Quality control is a system for testing all output against a standard of quality; this is an ongoing process, because in a proper quality control environment all output has to be tested. Issues to Consider When Outsourcing Testing Some of the points below are important to address when making the decision to outsource testing for a commerce site. Understand the scope of services/products to be outsourced. Learn about the importance of concepts like testing, quality control and quality assurance for your business success. You can manage the tasks well when you understand the scope of the task Look beyond the buzzwords and learn what testing, quality control and quality assurance really mean and involve. Testing and quality assurance are different aspects Testing is a methodology used within the quality assurance process, and if it is correctly managed, offshore outsourcing some testing tasks makes some sense. Make a point to test every change The process of quality control measures the success of all products to verify they meet a standard of quality; If a company outsourced testing, then plans must be made considering long term decisions on how to handle all published output. Processes form the basis of quality assurance Because QA focuses on processes, the company requires constant and deep involvement in the planning, design, and development phases of a major project. Getting QA involved up front will save money. Audience identification Quality assurance is deeply involved in the definition of the site's audience, including identification of the target browsers and platforms used by the audience. Who will set and maintain the standards? When outsourcing a process or elements of a process that is by its nature ongoing, all parties involved must be clear on who sets the standards and who maintains the standards. The management of quality assurance shouldn't be outsourced. When a company outsources any part of the testing process, the company should create a full-time position in the company for somebody to manage quality assurance; this person should liaise with and set the direction for any testing contractors. A wide range of tasks fall under the umbrella of quality assurance, including testing -- usability, compatibility, integration, regression, etc. – as well as requirements management, design reviews, and reviewing customer complaints. Advantages of Outsourcing Testing Outsourcing testing can have definite advantages. Getting the work done Even the best team/company runs out of the time to get certain tests accomplished. If hiring a test firm to perform certain tests takes care of some test goals, then offshore outsourcing is a great idea. Expertise hiring Some tests are best performed by experienced professionals, either because the necessary knowledge requires specialize education or backgrounds. As some tests require a specialized understanding in order to interpret and analyze the results Authority hiring Some kinds of test firm -- have an authority that an in-house test team may not be able to compete with. Thus it becomes relatively important that the official executives hire third party professionals for the work. Maintain a central point-of-view Sometimes having an independent team perform testing tasks can provide an objective point-of-view about quality issues like usability or compatibility. Outsourcing some testing may provide the company with more data. Hiring fresher Involve a new team in testing so as to expose the code to new test tools and methods; a test firm may find defects the tools were unable to find.

The author of this article is John Parker A-1 Technology, Inc, an offshore outsourcing company

Importance of Total Page size in website Performance

2005-05-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

One of the most frustrating things to a person browsing the web is waiting for a site to load...make sure that your site is relatively quick to load, no matter what you put on it. There are obviously a number of factors that can affect how quickly a web site loads, but try to make sure that excessive file sizes isn't one of them. As a rule of thumb, a main page shouldn't be a whole lot more than 50K or so. This, under normal conditions, will load the page in a few seconds, but still allow some fairly good use of graphics. If you have significantly more text than that, consider separating it onto separate pages. Also, remember that most browsers keep images stored in a cache, so if you use the same images on different pages in your site, the browser will likely use the file from the cache, and it won't need to download it again. One way of keeping the file sizes down, but retaining the freedom to use graphics to create a good design, is to be aware of the different kinds of graphic formats, and knowing how to use that to your advantage.

Outsourcing innovation: The engine of growth

2005-05-15T20:10:00.000-07:00

To be successful in innovation a company needs the complex knowledge that only a broad network of specialist can offer. To hire so many high qualified persons could be even to expensive for very big companies. That is why many companies are starting to outsource innovation.

Four forces are enabling this change: Demand is doubling every 15 years; the supply of knowledge workers is skyrocketing; interaction capabilities have grown; and new incentives have emerged. The most effective companies, however, keep core-competence activities in-house, outsourcing the rest to best-in-world suppliers.

But to outsource successfully the company needs a good process management. One needs to keep the innovation processes moving along; open and interactive software; shared stretch goals, or "figures of merit"; and a way to share gains achieved by exceeding the targets and to reward those who make alliances work. Moreover, once a company evaluates suppliers' past practices, it needs to give them freedom, concentrating on what needs to be accomplished and not dictating the how. "Managed chaos" used to describe successful innovation processes within companies.

Taking everything into consideration the formula for successful outsourcing remains the same, whether it’s about innovations or other activities: Concentrate on your core business and outsource the rest.

Offshore Outsourcing services-India

2005-05-11T20:26:00.000-07:00

The most crucial contemporary issue of information management is whether to outsource all or some of the information technologies to specialized-services firms. The issue is not a transient phenomenon; the shift from company-management computing to outsourcing is accelerating. The decision where to outsource is likely to be one of the few information-management issues that will be coming up for review at board meetings. Many firms in India provide diversified outsourcing services that include everything from low end services to diverse high end services. Most Indian companies offering diversified outsourcing services are quality certified by international certifying companies like the ISO. The IT outsourcing and software and market in India is also developing at a faster pace with more and more it consulting firms outsourcing. Offshore outsourcing consultant openings of call center and other software related jobs are on the rise. These jobs have helped improve the Indian economy in a major way. The it outsourcing stats clearly indicate that India is the undisputed leader when it comes to outsourcing business process outsourcing services

FSA approves outsourcing in India

2005-05-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has given offshore outsourcing in India a clean bill of health after investigating concerns about the safety of customer data. The UK’s main City regulator visited 10 outsourcing operations in India to study their operations. Most of these provided services to UK retail banks and insurance companies. After investigating the governance and data control systems in place for the operations visited, the FSA said offshore outsourcing posed no greater risk to customer data than in-house operations. The main risk identified was the complexity of achieving suitable management and control from a distance. However, appropriate governance frameworks, risk management systems and controls can identify and mitigate operational risks from offshore outsourcing, said the FSA. A recent report from Datamonitor said firms were set to increasingly offshore mortgage processing, insurance underwriting, and claims processing to countries such as India, in addition to established functions such as call centres and application processing. Source: http://www.computerweekly.com

Dell to expand India outsourcing, says report

2005-05-09T20:31:00.000-07:00

MANHASSET, N.Y. — Dell Computer plans to add 2,000 people in India by the year's end as the PC maker seeks to make the country a hub for software development and back-office work, an Associated Press report said Friday (April 29). Dell (Round Rock, Texas) now employs 8,000 in India, the report quoted Cell chief executive Kevin Rollin as saying. The expansion means that almost 20 percent of the company's 53,000-person global workforce would be employed in India. Although Dell reportedly moved some call-center jobs back to the U.S. from Bangalore in November 2003, Rollins said the decision was attributed to internal management issues. Dell runs three call centers in India, a product testing center for corporate customers, and a global software development center, according to the report. An increasing number of electronics companies have set up design and sales hubs in India, and the city of Bangalore has become an offshore outsourcing center for software development. Rollins was quoted as saying Dell plans to open more offices in India to shift technology work and tap India's growing computer market.

Source: http://www.eet.com/news/

Offshore outsourcing Statistics

2005-05-08T20:29:00.000-07:00

Here is the summary of detailed analysis of various publications about offshoring market over the last two years: By 2015, Forrester Research estimates that as many as 3.3 million U.S. jobs and $136 billion in wages could be moved to such countries as India, China, and Russia. International Data Corporation (IDC) has predicted that the global IT-enabled services market will account for revenues of $1.2 trillion by 2006. Meta Group predicts that offshore outsourcing will grow by more than 20% annually, pushing it from a $7 billion market in 2003 to a $10 billion market in 2005. The group also foresees all application outsourcing services, including the offshore component, reaching $15 billion by 2007. A McKinsey and National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) study estimates that the information technology and enterprise solutions (ITES) market in India is likely to reach $142 billion in 2009. This estimate contrasts with the current price tag of $532 billion to provide these services in the United States. The difference of $390 billion would be the net savings for the U.S. economy due to offshoring. The ITES sector has the potential to generate job opportunities for more than 1.1 million Indians by 2008. India's software exports were estimated to be worth $9.5 billion in 2003, and the United States accounted for 60% of that total (almost $6 billion). According to the financial services firm WR Hambrecht, offshore service represents a large market opportunity. The offshore BPO market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 79% through 2008 to a size of $24.2 billion. The offshore IT service market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 43% to $56 billion. Conclusion: By every estimate the offshore outsourcing trend is huge. India expects to gorw fast in offshore market in coimg years , So why not just give it a thought "What benefits you will be availaing to be a part of offshore outsourcing deal"

Looking for "Outsourcing" ?

2005-05-06T20:50:00.000-07:00

Are you looking towards the option of Outsourcing? Outsourcing to India enables you to saves hugely as the cost is reduced to almost 30% of what you spend in US or in UK. Outsourcing to India offers following benefits: On Time Deliveries With outsourcing to India you can avail the benefit of On-time delivery because you can leverage the ready infrastructure; this therefore shortens delivery times for project completion. Significant Cost AdvantageOutsourcing to India provides cost savings of 30-40% as compared to an in-house execution. Leverage Strong Project Management Expertise Project Management expertise with a highly experienced team of experienced project managers will also be available for handling your projects Leverage Highest Quality StandardsOutsourcing to India provides quality processes operating at the highest possible software development quality. This ensures minimum error rate and rework. Access To Diversified Pool of Skilled Professionals Outsourcing to India will offer straight access to a pool of software engineers with diverse programming skill sets and expertise. The advantages of Outsourcing to India are too much to be listed here. So if you are looking for outsourcing your project , you have the best option to “Outsource to India”

India vs. China in the race of offshore outsourcing

2005-05-04T20:55:00.000-07:00

It is predicted that India is better offshore Service provider than china. China isn't going to replace India anytime soon as the world's hottest IT outsourcing market. China still has some drawbacks. English is not widely spoken throughout the country, it has a suspect reputation when it comes to protecting intellectual property and, as a Communist country that restricts human rights, its relationship with the U.S. government ebbs and flows and trade sanctions often loom. Relatively there are number of benefits of outsourcing to India. Outsourcing in India has increased by leaps and bounds in the recent years. More and more big as well as small corporations are outsourcing their low end as well as high end services to India owing to the relative benefits involved in terms of cheap labor, better infrastructure and stable government. India offers significant strengths in the areas of remote development of software and IT outsourcing. There are number of factors that make India a stand out of the rest as one of the best destinations to outsource services: Large Human Recourses Investor Friendly Atmosphere Economy Quality IT Enabled Services Competitiveness and Remote development India Availability of cheap and efficient workforce Computer savvy and English speaking workforce Better infrastructure in terms of communications Quality certified software firms Relatively stable government. Excellent English Language Skills.

Building Community Websites - Success Online

2005-05-04T05:08:00.000-07:00

If you are serious about making money online without having to spend too much of your budget, create a 'community online'. It is in our nature as human beings to want to belong, or to be involved within a community setting. Communities come in all shapes & sizes and are not limited to gender, race, nationality, or religion. A community can cater to whatever topic you wish and welcome whomever you desire. Same concept applies to your website! Building a community within your website is the key to increasing your business, keeping visitors coming back, and keeping your advertising budget in the bank. Show your visitors that you aren't just here on the internet to sell them something. More resources online also increases competition. There are literally millions of websites out there and many of them might possibly be your competitors. Without building a community, people won't remember who you are, or what it is that you do. Infact, if you are spending all of your money on banner ads, pay per click advertising, affiliates, and other marketing areas online, and at the same time you aren't paying attention to increasing your home base, when your advertising budget runs out so too will the bulk of your traffic.If you stop advertising, your traffic won't grow. Growing your website is all part of the whole plan.What do we need to create a community website? You always want to add extras to your site that interest you. By doing so, you will also attract people with similar interests and help to bridge the credibility gap online. The internet allows us to take in more information than we could ever imagine. There is always someone out there who wants to learn about your industry. The key is to add on a little at a time. Talk to your web designer. Try and find unique little ways to build a community website online. After time, you will know what it takes to keep creating more for your company online.

Did You Build Your Web Site For Customers Or Search Engines

2005-05-03T01:38:00.000-07:00

Search Engines have a penalization process for web sites not in compliance with their dictates. And, with the exception of the benefit of keeping a lot of people employed less Search Engine dictate as fair and reasonable. Countries world wide fought against the Microsoft monopoly. Citizens in this country do not often tolerate anyone controlling their conduct in any way. But, world wide it seems as though everyone is jumping to follow Search Engine Dictatorships. And do so without concern for the fact that these dictatorships may be responsible for negative impact upon income and/or business success.Do you realize that the Search Engines dictate how many links, what the content is supposed to be, and how many times you can say certain words? Search Engines regulate how soon your site will be listed, the quantity and quality of your linkage, and who can even link to your site. Even more disturbing than all of the preceding is the way that Search Engines determine the relevance of a web site and ranks your web site listing by their criteria. Do you really think a company's product or customer service quality has any relation to its Google page Rank? If you plan to rank high with Search Engines, you have to follow their dictate on what code is used for your site. This is because; high ranking requires Search Engine friendly code. Thus, all the cool scripts, animations, and newest technology are a no-no because the Search Engines aren't trying to keep up with technology to be able to read the code and index its message. Are you aware that unless you place a robot.txt file in the root of your web site advising the Search Engines where they can index, that they have their robots invade every nook and cranny of your web site collecting information. There would be no 'sandbox,' no 'penalties,' and 'no dictates on site construction, content, or any other variable that restricts anyone in any way.' A few years back, web sites were indexed and added to directories based upon their 'KEYWORDS' and 'DESCRIPTION' META TAGS. That is as it should be still. And, if anyone is going to apply a rating or ranking to a web site it would most certainly not be the Search Engine that the web site is listed on.

These rules will help you raise funds for web site online

2005-04-29T03:54:00.000-07:00

Collecting money online is not the same as fundraising online. Fundraising online may result in a gift being mailed or forwarded to the organization. Design a web site for the user, not the organization. Be concerned about download times. Shorter is better. Choose information paths - likely thought processes leading to information destinations. Have several paths, each designed for a particular group of constituents. Clients, advocates, prospects, donors and researchers etc. Test your path. Never place information deeper than three levels if possible. It may be good for counting the number of page views, but it is frustrating for visitors Always provide a menu to key pages. Write copy to be search engine friendly and learn what terms are likely associated with your organization. Always provide easy and direct contact information. Provide a map if people are likely to come to your offices. Put your IRS form 990 on your web site or a link to where your 990 can be accessed. Also add your annual report. Be transparent in order to build trust. If you use a PDF file, place a link to download a free document viewer. Collect email addresses online and through any other communications you have with constituents. Try a message like, "We can be a better steward of your donations by communicating with you electronically, saving both printing and postage costs." Also, be aware of laws concerning email use. Have a privacy policy for the information you collect. Don't share it as a rule. Be aware that your web site is available in every state and around the world and therefore can be subject to charity registration requirements involving the solicitation of donations.

Steps to build a Trustworthy Website design

2005-04-24T22:44:00.000-07:00

Have you ever visited a web site and been attacked by screaming pop-up ads, gotten lost in a clutter of banner ads, had things flash and go boom. And have you ever visited a site that was informative, easy to navigate and generally pleasant to peruse. Which site gained your trust? Which site would you revisit? The more user-friendly building tools you use on your site, the more trust will be developed with your viewers. With this in mind, here are expert tips for making your online store trustworthy... Use domain name email addresses when searching for a host for your site, look for packages that include POP3 accounts (preferred) and alias accounts (second in line). This will enable you to send email from your site (you@yourbusiness.com) which looks much more professional than you@freeemailaccount.com It is easier to trust someone who has evidently made an investment in their business. Include contact information Provide phone numbers, hours of operation (including time zone), a business mailing address and an email address. Add contact links Place at least one way for your visitors to contact you on each page and place your Webmaster's contact information on at least the bottom of the front page. This way your visitors can request information from you, and if there is a problem with your site, they can write to the Webmaster. Even if you and the Webmaster are the same person, place the Webmaster's email address on the site. Keep your content updated to be current; the content of your site must be no more than 6 months old. Include an "About Me/Us" page. Avoid enter pages and splash screens Do you have an "Enter page" or splash screen on the front of your site. Link it Make sure that links within your site work. Spell it right If you want your site to be as professional as it could be, put each page though a spell checker or hire an excellent proofreader. Don't underestimate the value of a properly spelled site.
Source: http://developers.evrsoft.com/

The Top 4 Strategies for Acquiring Links to Your Web Site

2005-04-22T22:45:00.000-07:00

Below are the four critical steps for achieving high rankings by acquiring text links to your web site. 1) Get a higher Google PageRank score than your competition For any given keyword. There is a minimum PageRank required to rank at Google. In order to see what this minimum PageRank number is, search Google for your keyword and look at the PageRank of your competition's web sites that are ranked in the top 10 of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). An easy way to view the PageRank scores of your competition is to use Google Toolbar or the SEOChat PageRank Search tool. 2) Get more relevant links than your competition. All links are not created equal. The best links are "relevant" links from web pages related to your keyword. 3) Get more links on more different web sites than your competition. Getting links on a variety of different web sites on different networks is crucial for high rankings. 4) Use the keywords you want to rank high in the search engines as the anchor text of your in-bound links. "Anchor text" is the visible text within a hyperlink. Text links and anchor text are the two most important criteria for how Google and other top Search Engines rank web sites.

Get Used to Offshore Outsourcing

2005-04-21T03:13:00.000-07:00

When asked to pick the most significant trend of last year, the one that will still resound in 50 years, the white-collar readers of Forbes overwhelmingly selected "white-collar outsourcing. With 44 percent of the vote, white-collar outsourcing dwarfed the No. 2 choice, failure of corporate governance"(14 percent), as well as cost of conflict" (8 percent), "open-source software lawsuits" (8 percent), "return of protectionism" (7 percent), "global epidemics" (4 percent) and other macro-issues of the day. No white-collar profession is more vulnerable to the outsourcing trend, especially offshore outsourcing, than IT. By year's end, one of every 10 jobs at U.S.-based IT vendors and service providers and one of every 20 jobs at enterprise IT shops will be transplanted to emerging markets such as India and China, according to Gartner. As with any trend that threatens people's livelihoods, offshore outsourcing has become emotionally charged, with critics calling for laws and regulations to stem the tide. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry is the latest populist to get hot under the white collar, saying he'd pull certain tax breaks from U.S. companies that move jobs overseas. There are rumblings among IT professionals about forming unions or even initiating class-action suits for unlawful termination. Groups representing displaced IT workers have organized protests. Source: http://www.nwc.com/showitem.jhtml?docid=1501colpreston

Offshore outsourcing Trends

2005-04-19T21:59:00.000-07:00

From humble beginning as a mere cost-cutting concept, offshore outsourcing has gradually moved ahead and established itself as a successful business model by rendering not only cost-effective but also sophisticated and highly efficient quality services. The offshore outsourcing trend has crossed all the barriers of political turmoil, language and culture difference and has proved that no matter in which part of the world your service provider resides, what really matters is industry-standard, high-quality service together with decisive cost-advantage. A few of them are: Onsite Offsite Offshore Onsite/Offshore Offsite/Offshore Global Delivery Model The distribution of activities across the various delivery models may vary from one project to another. This may be attributed to factors such as effort involved, level of interaction, cultural and time-zone differences. Some offshore outsourcing projects like migration and re-engineering can be executed totally on the offshore location, but others like enterprise application integration-related projects and demand almost a cent per cent execution on onsite location. Source: http://www.offshoring-digest.com/item/144327.html

Website design Tips

2005-04-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

Include a way to get back to the home page, on every page. When users get lost they like to start over from Home page. Make it easy for them to do so. If you're including a clickable logo on the top of every page, make sure to also include text that says something like "Back to Home Page", because some users don't realize that logos take you back to the home page. Also remember that users might not be able to hit the "Back" button to go back to your home page, because they might have entered the middle of your site after clicking a link to it from a search engine or from some other site. Include navigation tools bar on every page. While you should provide a way for users to get back to your home page quickly, you shouldn't force them to go home before they can go somewhere else. Either include a navigation bar on the left or the top, or include navigation links at the top Don't put navigation links only at the bottom of pages, because then users will have to scroll down to the bottom to get to Explain what you're linking to. In your Links section, include a short description of each site you link to, say 1-5 sentences. That way visitors have an idea of what's on those sites, which will help them make their decision on whether to visit those sites, and help them find what they're looking for, while avoiding what they're not looking for. Make links blue or underlined, or both. Users expect links to be blue and underlined, because that's the way they appear on 99% of other websites. If you use a different color then at least the underline is a clue that a link is a link. Likewise, if you remove the underline but keep the link blue, then the color is the clue that a link is a link. So it's best to use both blue and underlined, but using at least one or the other is acceptable.

How to Develop User-Centered Web Sites

2005-04-11T02:43:00.000-07:00

1. Involve users from the beginning It is critical to discover how your particular users interact with this particular site. Involve users from the beginning by: Discovering their mental models and expectations Including them as an integral part of the website design and development process and team Observing them at their workplace; validating your assumptions about them; analyzing their tasks, workflow, and goals Eliciting feedback via walk-throughs, card sorting, paper prototypes, think-aloud sessions, and other methods 2. Know your users Ask questions such as the following and use the answers to guide website development and design decisions: How much experience do the users have with: Computers? The Web? Domain (subject matter)? What are the users’ working/web-surfing environments? What hardware, software, and browsers do the users have? What are the users’ preferred learning styles? What language(s) do the users speak? How fluent are they? What cultural issues might there be? How much training (if any) will the users receive? What relevant knowledge/skills do the users already posses? What do the users need and expect from this web site? 3. Analyze user tasks and goals Observe and interact with users (preferably at their workspace) as you attempt to answer questions such as: What are the tasks users need to perform; how do they currently perform these tasks? What is the workflow? Why do the users currently perform their tasks the way they do? What are the users’ information needs? How do users discover and correct errors? What are the users’ ultimate goals? 4. Don’t settle on a final direction too soon Explore different designs and approaches and get user feedback before making final direction, development, and design decisions. 5. Test for usability—repeatedly! Usability testing is an iterative process; it is important to conduct usability testing throughout the development cycle. Usability testing can be conducted using elaborate labs and equipment or using relatively simple and inexpensive means. But usability testing is the only way you can know if this particular site meets these users’ needs.

The latest trends in Web design fail to help surfers find what they want

2005-04-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of years there is a disturbing trend in Web design. Web pages especially home pages are getting bigger as designers pack increasing quantities of information into each page. Previously, a home page might contain a logo and tag line, an attractive graphic, some site navigation buttons, and a welcome message. Now, it's common to see all of that and much more, including: Headlines and text for multiple news items Separate headers and quick links for several site features An assortment of graphics for promotions and advertisements Logos for various affiliates, memberships, and awards Copyright notices and other legal disclaimers. Usability improvementsOddly enough, part of the blame for the usability problems of large, cluttered Web pages is an overzealous effort to improve usability. Many designers are reacting to complaints about the excessive number of clicks required to reach specific pages. They're also hearing criticism of pages that are devoid of content and simply present a series of links, which makes them function like full-page menus. Designers respond by flattening the navigation structure of their Web sites and using fewer, but larger, pages. To reduce the number of clicks necessary to reach certain content, designers often place quick links to that content on the site's home page. Visitors can click a single link instead of drilling down through the navigation tree. It's a good idea -- provided the quick link is easy for the visitor to find and identify. However, it's counterproductive if the number of quick links and other elements competing for visitors' attention create a visual clutter that makes it hard for visitors to pick out the item they want. The ultimate in click reduction is zero-click content -- news items and other content that are on the home page rather than being on separate pages that visitors access via navigation links. This is another good idea that can help ensure that as many visitors as possible can see important content. However, it's easy to place too much content on a single page especially a site's home page.

Article sponsored by the a1websitedesign.com an Web design and development company

Offshore Software Outsourcing------Legal Issues

2005-04-07T20:40:00.000-07:00

Legal issues are the foundation stone for any Organization. They are the basis for any kind of deal between two parties involved in trade with each other. Following are the legal issues to be taken care of, for successfully striking a deal for offshore outsourcing. Contract Time Frame Time frame for the contract forms an important basis for the trading parties who decide the duration of the outsourcing contract, and more importantly time of commencement. To reduce the confusion the service provider must give the documents relating to service specification to the client. Time duration of the contract varies as discussed between the parties. It depends on the kind of service outsourced and various specifications from the client and the time frame for the targets to be achieved. Performance is of utmost consideration while renewing the contract for the offshore outsourcing contract. Licensing issues Licensing issues play a lead role in all the offshore software-outsourcing contracts. They become all the very more important when there are more then two parties involved in the business. For example, the service provider might further delegate the work to a third party. In this case a license would prove to be of great help as it would even mention the resources/services the third party plans to use, in order to accomplish the task. The licenses should be flexible. Information Rights Both the businesses parties should decide on the ownership rights of data & information mutually. Issues---Third party involvement Third party involvement is quite common when it comes to the business of offshore outsourcing. The outsourcer and the service provider should discuss the terms like as to who would administer control over the third party. The maintenance contract is generally taken care by the outsourcer. Request for information/Request for proposal Such things come under RIF (request for information) & RFP (request for proposal) stage. Some issues could be relating to system specification, which need to be defined in the initial stages. Security and system access issues This is a crucial issue which must be dealt with when signing a contract. Degree of access to be given to the service provider must be determined carefully. Access to the system resources must be given in a way that it maintains the confidentiality. Ownership of Assets The service provider may use the resources of the outsourcer, thus, ownership of assets must be defined. The outsourcer could buy the resources/assets, or rent them. Human Resources of the Company Due steps should be taken to ensure that continuity is maintained by retaining the present employee resources. Service providers should have the knowledge of HR practices/approach followed by the outsourcer to recruit the staffing management. Sometimes the desired targets are not achieved; in that case the contract must contain the provisions as to what if the desired output is not achieved.
Article sponsored by the a1technology.com an offshore outsourcing company

Marketing your Website

2005-04-07T20:29:00.000-07:00

Marketing your website require finding ways to drive more traffic to your site. That traffic can then be turned into sales of products, services, ideas or information. The first step in increasing traffic is to optimize your site for the search engines, then list the site with search engines and directories. But more is needed because...registering Your Site with the Search Engines is NOT ENOUGH! Although being indexed well on the major search engines is the most important thing you can do to promote your Site inexpensively, you must find other effective ways to promote your site. Offer something for free: This one is used all over the Internet and can work well if you can offer a free product or service related to the product you are selling. This could be getting people to register for a drawing to be held periodically for some specific item or service. This registration process also gives you a targeted email list for people who will likely be interested in your product and can create an effective basis for a banner ad. Put your Website address (URL) on everything you send out. Letterhead, cards, invoices, email, product labels, shipping labels, anything you can think of. Get a stamp with your URL and stamp it on everything that leaves your office or home, until you have your letterhead, cards, etc. reprinted; and when you do have it reprinted, be sure to include your Website URL. Cross-linking: Find sites which attract the type of customers you're looking for on your own site. If you're not a direct competitor, you could e-mail the Webmaster of those related sites and ask them if trade a link or banner ad with your site. Larger sites may want a fee for doing this. However, successfully negotiating a link from another site can do wonders for improving quality traffic to your own site. Banner ads: They can be cost effective if you use an eye catching design and slogan and you target your message, especially if you are giving away something for free or advertising your drawing. Try to advertise on sites that are related to your target audience. Newsgroups: Visit newsgroups that your target audience would participate in. Leave helpful messages and sign your message with a tag line describing your website, product or services. Be careful to observe the rules and protocols of the newsgroups and not sound like a transparent sales pitch. E-mail: E-mail can be a powerful sales tool but you should avoid sending unsolicited and untargeted e-mails. Use e-mail for follow up to your give away registration process or where individuals asked to be on a list or to receive certain types of information Newsletters: If you have good writing skills, write a free newsletter about the subject area you are targeting and send it by e-mail to subscribers

Article sponsored by the a1websitedesign.com an Web design and development company

The boom period of Offshore Outsourcing

2005-04-07T03:03:00.000-07:00

Offshore Outsourcing is enjoying the “golden period of growth”. A study published by Data monitor indicates that the major outsourcing providers---including India and Philippines are cashing on Offshore Outsourcing projects. Spending on outsourced services grew 3.1 per cent in western Europe last year. As per the stats UK has embraced the concept, with more than one-third of European outsourcing deals taking place in this country. The most sensitive aspect of offshore outsourcing is dealing with the human resources of an Organization. Rather than traditional technical or staff management abilities, stress is laid on skills and experience in managing internal/external relationships when companies are recruiting IT workforce. It has been estimated that upto 25,000 jobs in UK related to software and services will be lost in the coming five years as a result of work moving to offshore. Last year, the offshore sector boomed by 27% in UK. Standard Chartered indicated that by providing locating facilities and recruiting more than 2,000 staff in India for its global helpdesk, software support resulted in significant business results. Online travel provider Ebookers claimed that since last few months they have saved £1m every three months by moving back-office operations to Delhi, where 350 employees provide telesales, billing and customer services. The Ovum Holway report has identified the Baltics, Philippines, Vietnam, South Africa, eastern Europe, China and Russia as countries growing their offshore outsourcing revenue. But some companies remain adamant by stating that they will never outsource their software products and services because they are too central to their business.

The inevitable "Offshore outsourcing"

2005-04-06T03:49:00.000-07:00

More and more companies transfer programming, web site designing and software outsourcing jobs offshore, the topic of offshore outsourcing is raging throughout the information technology industry. All most all the big IT companies do much of their business overseas. Globalization of the IT industry is inevitable. The possible reasons for the above may be following: Lower wages in some countries also serves as a major incentive to move business operations overseas. Increased productivity also plays a key role in the new IT job scene. Global Insight study states, from 1998 through 2003 offshore outsourcing services spending increased from $2.5 billion to $10 billion, the figure is stated to increase by $31 billion in the year 2008. According to Global Insight report that rather than reducing the number of jobs in the U.S., offshoring is lowering costs for everyone and actually creating jobs. It says that about 194,000 new jobs—both IT and non-IT—were created in 2003 thanks to offshore outsourcing. A study conducted by Gartner states that by 2010, 30% IT related jobs will be moved offshore in developing countries. The biggest transformation taking place is in the field of programming. More important, programming has gotten much easier. Although a limited number of people can program in C, a lot more people can program in JavaScript, Perl, or Visual Basic. The nature of programming is on the verge of change. With the emergence of reusable objects, object-oriented programming concepts and Web services, programming is often a matter of linking things and services together. The underlying need still emphasizes on need of experts to build the components and the basic infrastructure.

A website is not one-dimensional

2005-04-04T21:46:00.000-07:00

A website is not just something you stare at on a glowing screen. These days, a website is a multi-dimensional beast, a complex character that deserves thought and attention. Great website development involves so much more than just design and color scheme. Creating a great website is a careful, step by step process that begins with domain name selection and ends when visiting customers convert to sales. Domain Name Registration: Your domain name is what you type into the address bar of your browser (it is your URL). It is what your visitors will be typing into their browser, so selecting an easy to type and understand domain name is important. It is your home on the Internet. Make it easy to get to. Some examples of domain names include directoryone.com, google.com, and NBC.com. You know exactly where you are headed when you type those into your browser. However, with millions of domain names already registered, it may feel like all the good ones are taken. But be creative and patient and the right name will come along. Web Hosting: If your web page is like a paper flyer, than your server is like the bulletin board you stick it on. You will need to sign on with a web hosting service so you can store your files on their server. Your host is who makes your site available to the public, not just to you. When choosing a web hosting company, you should take into account how much space you’ll need, how much bandwidth, access, and so on. There are numerous web-hosting terms that may be new and confusing for you. For example, you may come across will be “Secure Server” which you will need if you plan on doing any sort of eCommerce. Another strange term you might see is “FTP Solutions.” FTP is short for File Transfer Protocol. FTP is what is used to “upload,” or move your site from you computer to the host computer “bulletin board.” Layout: Your layout is an aspect of design so important we gave it its own category. Layout, navigation, and usability are the active components of your design. The color is important to the eye, but how your site is navigated is important to its utility and efficacy. “Navigation” refers to how your visitor moves about your site. What do they read? What links do they click on? How is information organized? If you have lots of information, do not dump dozens of pages of links into one section; break them up under various categories to make them easier to look through. A carefully planned website can make it easier for your customer and for yourself. Also allow for growth, since your business will develop over the months and years, and you need your website to grow along with it. Marketing: You want other people to see this website you put so much hard work into, so you need to find marketing solutions to get it out there. These days one of the best ways to reach your customers is via Search Engines, because that is where customers are looking for you. A search engine is a site such as Google or Yahoo where one can go and type in any sort of keyword and be led to sites that feature whatever they are looking for, be it “mouse ears” to “oven racks.” In order to ensure that YOUR website is among the top of the list of results, you need to practice what is called “search engine optimization.” You see, search engines rank the results they find, and if you sell staplers in Butte, you will want to be sure your site will rank well when someone types “Butte staplers” in the search box. Search engines rank their results based on very specific information from the copy and underlying code of your website. There are millions upon millions of websites that search engines have to sift through for each search, so“optimizing” your website will make is easier for a search engine to recognize that your site is relevant. If you have the time and the inclination to learn, you can optimize your website yourself. However, optimization is something many companies choose to outsource. Remember your website is not like a printed document. It is not a one-dimensional, non-interactive page. Your website is a completely new kind of marketing medium and must be approached as such. From choosing the right domain name to converting visitors into buyers, through the creation and implementation of your navigation, copy and design, from choosing your host to search engine optimization and marketing, every aspect must be carefully considered. Source:

http://www.nrjdesign.com

Things to take care in software outsourcing

2005-04-04T01:51:00.000-07:00

When a company considers outsourcing, there are many discussions regarding the benefits of contracting out specific functions or processes, but it's equally important to discuss what your company should not outsource. Never outsource responsibility for the effectiveness and overall success of a function. Here are some other functions you shouldn't outsource.

• Strategic planning. You have to establish your own strategy, plan and architecture. Companies often hire outside specialists to assist with this process, but having your staff participate also builds buy-in and gets commitment to the plan's implementation.

• Activities subject to massive business change. Every contract needs to be developed with enough flexibility to protect your business interests when change occurs. In times of dramatic business change, it's nearly impossible to anticipate and provide emergency for every possible outcome. Moreover, if you try to provide for too many contingencies in the contract, the outsourcer will have to charge you for its flexibility, and the costs may become prohibitive.

• Poorly run systems or processes. In general, outsourcing a broken process or system means it will still be broken. Fix it before you outsource it. One exception is when you are able to adopt the outsourcer's process or system unchanged in order to solve a problem. For example, one company had multiple payroll systems in its business units. Adopting an outsourcer's payroll system allowed the company to get around the political infighting and standardize the payroll process across the enterprise.

Professional and high quality website

2005-04-01T03:38:00.000-08:00

Neat and Easy Navigation: Navigation of links on your site plays a big role in determining the stickiness of your site (how long your visitor stays and explores your site). Ask yourself this, what do visitors do as soon as they open your site? They would probably read the content of the present page and then look around to find any other page that interests them. Read our article on Web site Navigation Tips. Clean Layout Design: A clean layout that uses a lot of white space enhances a site's looks. Try to keep the focus on your content, use a template for this. Use fonts that will be available on all computers to prevent your site looking messed up. Optimum Load Time: Make sure your load time is low. For this you must: Minimize Graphics, Flash and scripts: They hugely increase your file size. Optimize your HTML & script code: Make sure that your site doesn't have any unwanted tags or unused scripts.Use Server Side Include (SSI) files where ever possible. SSI files once called from the web server reside in its cache so on subsequent requests they load faster. Source: http://www.smartwebby.com/web_site_design/

Keep Your Readers on Your Web Site

2005-03-31T03:05:00.000-08:00

It's really easy for someone surfing the Web to surf away from your site. That's why you want to make it "sticky". Making a site sticky means that you are giving your readers what they want, and giving them a reason to stay on the site. There are several techniques you can use to make your site stickier. Listen to your readers : Find out what they want, and then give it to them. Build community : When your readers feel like they are a part of something, they'll stay longer. Create content : Content is the reason that people come to your site, and why they'll stay. Expecting your readers to click and click and click to get the information they are looking for won't happen. But if you create pages that are too long, your readers won't read through the whole thing. If your pages have enough content to fill a full 640x480 window, plus a little more, then you can create a link to a new page Source: http://webdesign.about.com

Building Web Sites from Start to Finish

2005-03-29T03:36:00.000-08:00

Planning can start the minute a client contacts a Web site designer for a meeting to discuss a site. The first step can be done in advance of the meeting finding a suitable domain name. This can be frustrating because most companies will find that their options are limited, at least in the .com and .net markets, either by the company name or domain name availability. Because of other companies with similar names or initials and because of squatters, it is increasingly more difficult to get the domain name the client may want. You also run into strange things from time to time. It is good to have 3-4 options available, thus enabling the client to be presented with reasonable choices. If you are not an ISP, it is a good idea to have a few in minds, along with their latest prices, to present to the client. That can save your beginner clients some anxious times. Further, if you know the ISP to be reliable with a good down-time record, you can save some angry phone calls from your client to you. Never forget that content is king. If the site is little more than a business card itself, there is nothing to lure the customer. That is why it is so important to discuss content and plan its presentation. Gather from the client all logos, pre-determined and created content, photos, and other items for the site before actually planning the site. Sometimes, clients can throw a designer a curve with things they want that the designer might not expect. Another issue is whether or not the site will require daily, weekly, or monthly maintenance. If it does, is the client able and interested in taking care of those changes, or are you expected to provide those services? You may have to design the site differently to account for the differences in ability. That will become important later when you tally up the bill.

Source:

http://wdvl.internet.com

Offshore outsourcing to grow at 20% a year

2005-03-28T03:23:00.000-08:00

The offshore outsourcing market will continue to grow nearly 20% annually through 2008, despite the less-than-favorable light in which it is held in some political quarters, acc to a study. By 2005 to 2006, most I.T. organizations will have an offshore strategy. And by 2009, the average enterprise will outsource 60% of application work offshore. A study found that application development and maintenance constitutes approximately 30% of spending for the average I.T. organization. Sending work offshore reduces that expense by 30%.

Source: http://www.itfacts.biz/index.php?id=C0_29_1

Advanced web design principles

2005-03-23T03:49:00.000-08:00

Regardless of our connection speed, Internet users expect information to be readily obtainable, pages to download quickly and solutions at the click of the mouse. Note that on the first page, you should try to pre-sell your potential customers on the benefits of your product or service. If you are offering many products or services, place only the most attractive on the first page. Do not overload your first page. People might get confused if you provide too much information on one page. That is one of the reasons why not to use flash intros on their first page or at the very lease, allow them to skip through it. Today, internet users have less patience to wait and will move on quickly if pages take too long too load or if they have to wait through fancy openers that are all flash and no substance. Site structure: Structure of your site should be dedicated to one goal only. Leading the visitor from your home page to different pages on your site.Structure of your site should be as simple as 1 – 2 – 3. The 1 should be your home page, where you provide the basic information (read benefits) about your product or service.The 2 should be a “more details” page where you will list and elaborate on benefits and prices of your product And 3 should be your “add to cart” or “contact us” page.Navigation structure: If you are serious about having your business on the Internet, do not experiment with the navigation of the site. Keep it simple and easy to use. If your pages are long, place a menu on the bottom of the page to save your users from scrolling to the top of the page to reach the menu.Text: Do you believe that people read everything written on your page? They don’t. What they do is SCAN. They are scanning your page, looking for specific information regarding your company, what you have to offer, pricing and how to contact you. What you say and how you say it can mean the difference between a visitor and a sale.Graphics: Graphics should emphasize the benefits of your products or service. Don’t use graphics unrelated to your product or service. Placing the graphic on the site just because you like the graphic, and you think that your site looks better with it is simply wrong. Use that space to explain to your visitors why they should buy from you and not from someone else.Graphics should emphasize quality of your product or service. If you can’t find or create such a graphic, use text. It’s that simple. Speed: Faster is better. There are still millions of people still using dial up for their connection. So try to make the download time for your site as short as possible. Remember, time is money and the longer it takes to download your website, the faster potential customers will go elsewhere for their business. Source:

http://www.topdesignfirms.com/articles.php?view=82

How to handle the Outsourcing contracts

2005-03-21T20:43:00.000-08:00

The key to success in working with subcontractors and outsourcers is to treat them as extensions of your own organization. This means that you must communicate as effectively with them as you do with your in-house teams, and ensure that they comply with the same policies you set for your own organization. It doesn't matter if you are working with a large outsourcing operation offshore or a small subcontractor on the other side of town: If they're not following your standard policies and/or you misunderstand each other, the project is unlikely to succeed. For starters, the outsourcer or subcontractor should implement your organization's standard policies before it begins performing any work for you. This means that they should adopt the designated organizationwide source-control system, build procedure, testing practices, testing technologies, code commenting requirements and style, and so forth. This might seem trivial or oppressive, but failure to standardize on these basic items has caused the downfall of many outsourcing projects. For instance, if the outsourcer or subcontractor uses a source-control system that is incompatible with your own, significant amounts of information could be lost in code transfers. If it doesn't have the same build procedure, you won't know if a build failed because code was implemented incorrectly or because the build process itself was flawed. The next big hurdle is to communicate effectively regarding requirements. Considering that misunderstandings are common even in conversations about simple, everyday topics, it's no surprise that the situation is even worse for communication about requirements -- detailed technical descriptions of how code is supposed to operate. Chances are, you won't be satisfied with the code provided unless you closely monitor the requirements process: Ensure that clear requirements are provided to the outsourcer/subcontractor, ensure that the requirements are understood (for instance, by having the outsourcer/subcontractor express its understanding of the requirements), and then verify that the code actually operates according to the specification. Granted, this process can be complicated to configure and difficult to operate. It requires a lot of code review, a lot of prototyping and a lot of close attention so that problems can be identified and corrected as they emerge -- before they have the opportunity to cause large setbacks. Many organizations have found that weekly code reviews of prototyped or actual code are vital for identifying and correcting misunderstandings as early as possible. Though it may require a significant amount of patience and vigilance upfront, an effective system for communicating and working with outsourcers and subcontractors will provide long-term benefits to both parties involved.

Solutions of Four Most Common Web Design Mistakes

2005-03-20T21:03:00.000-08:00

Below are the solutions of four of the most common mistakes. 1. Too Many Graphics: having too many graphics (particularly large graphics), can cause your site to load entirely too slow. Visitors will get impatient and often times click out of your site -- never to return. SOLUTION: When possible save your graphics as GIF files (gif.htm) rather than JPEG (jpg.htm). Also, reduce your graphic in actual size as much as you can without distorting the graphic or picture. 2. Counters: A visitor counter or hits counter should not be seen on your site unless you have tremendous traffic. The reason for this is visitors really don't want to know which visitor they are, especially if they're visitor number four. There's no benefit to your visitor, nor is there any benefit to you. SOLUTION: Most web hosts offer web statistics that reveal daily visitors, hits, referrers, etc. This feature will let you know how many people are visiting your site without the whole world seeing the information. If you're just starting out, make sure your web host offers this free service. 3. Banners: Limit your banners to the bare necessities. Why? Because banners are graphics that can slow loading time and are a turn-off for many surfers on the internet. SOLUTION: If you do have a banner or two, place the banner at the very top or bottom of your page. Or you could place a small banner in your sidebar. 4. Scattered Web Site: When designing your site, make sure it has a pattern that leads your visitor. Get several people to visit your site and watch them as they navigate. Notice the places where they stop and also links that they click on. Organizing your site to lead visitors is very important whether you're leading them to buy something or just to click and go to another place in your site. SOLUTION: Take a look at the flow of your site. Design it in a fashion that always continues like this...Make sure that graphics don't get in the way of your lead. If the visitor stops in the middle of the home page to click on a graphic or banner before getting to your sales page, they may never return. You've got one chance to get the visitor's attention and keep it. Make the most of it. Thanks, Neha Source: http://www.felicitywebdesign.com/

The Latest Pop-Window Trend in Web Designing

2005-03-18T21:45:00.000-08:00

Although there has been a great deal of controversy over the use of pop-up windows, the fact remains; pop-up windows are highly effective. The latest pop-window trend to hit the Internet is the pop-under window. Pop-under windows are less intrusive than the pop-up windows and are believed to be even more effective. If you spend any time surfing the Internet, then you've probably encountered several examples of pop-under windows. A prime example is X10.com's pop-under ads for their wireless video cameras. X10's pop-under ads were popping up on prime media sites like MSN, the N.Y. Times and Alta Vista. Their main advertising objective was to increase their website traffic. And, they have done so with a high rate of success. Unlike pop-up windows that load over your web page, pop-under windows quietly load under your web page. Your visitors probably won't even see the pop-under window until they're finished at your site and close the window. The effectiveness of pop-under windows most likely stems from the timing. When your visitor first enters your site, their mind is on what lead them to your site to begin with. Pop-up windows will most likely cause a higher percentage of your visitors to instantly close your window before viewing its content. That's what makes pop-under windows more effective -- your visitor is through visiting your site and their mind is clearer. They will be much more likely to take the time to look at your offer when they don't have another objective on their mind. Pop-windows provide Internet marketers with an effective alternative to the declining effectiveness of banner ads. However, studies have shown that most Internet users find these windows very intrusive. How can you effectively use these windows without losing your visitors? Below are a few guidelines to assist you.1) Make sure that you don't use more than one pop-window per page. If you've ever visited a website that bombards you with pop-windows, then you know how irritating that is. Sometimes it seems like each window you close launches two new windows. This is a prime example of how NOT to use pop-windows. Nothing will cause your visitor to leave more quickly.2) Try to use a script that utilizes cookies. This will enable you to decide how often your window should appear instead of it continually launching each time the page is entered.3) Make sure you always provide your visitors with an easy way to close your window. Consider adding a button or link to the bottom of your window to enable your visitors to instantly close it when they're finished.4) Make sure your window is large enough to view your information. If your window is too small and you have disabled the scrollbars, part of your message will not be visible to your visitors. Here are a few tips to help you increase your offer's response rate:

• Use a powerful headline that demands attention

• Enlarge your headline's font size

• Include your offer's most important benefits within your headline

• Use incentives to increase your offer's response rate

• Keep your message short and to the point

• Ask your visitors to take actionIf you would be interested in adding a pop-under window to your site, I highly recommend the "Pop-Window Generator" at Willmaster.com. This powerful online utility will enable you to fill out a simple form and instantly generate the pop-window code for your pages. Source:

http://www.web-source.net/popunder.htm

What Remains in Web Design

2005-03-17T23:49:00.000-08:00

Even as websites become more similar and appearance design becomes more simplified, there will be a large number of design decisions that still need to be made in order to optimize the usability of each individual site. Most important, each Internet service needs to be based on a task analysis of its specific users and their needs. You can combine standardized user interface elements in many ways, and the better sites will support the way users want to approach the problems. For example, even if you always call search "Search" and you always have the same way of distinguishing between simple search and advanced search, the question will remain whether advanced search makes sense for any specific site. Content design will also remain. Each product description is different. Each opinion piece is different. There will always be a need to determine the best approach to describing each unit of information. Information architecture will partly become standardized. An example that has already happened is about the company area of most corporate websites. All users expect this area to contain subsites about the management, the company history, financial information and investor information, PR and press releases, and employment opportunities. But the way these subsites are structured might differ depending on the characteristics of the specific company. Similarly, there would be many other areas that were related to individual products or services and that would be structured differently on different sites.

Source:

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000723.html

A Great Web Design, The Latest Technology, But No Sales

2005-03-16T23:49:00.000-08:00

Most of us know that a great design won't hold most visitors long and certainly won't bring many visitors back. There are just too many great website designs available. Even innovative designs attracting many visitors are failures if all the visitors are web designers taking a quick peek to grab some code, get some ideas or just marvel at the cool innovation if the site is meant to sell design services to large law firms. With simply a great design, chances are most of your market will never see your designs until your competitor figures out how to market the same type of designs to the audience you failed to reach. We also know a bad design kills businesses pretty quick because no one gets to the sale of product or service if they can't figure out how to navigate through the site, or if the design merely demonstrates you chose a designer have no design talent. A well designed site won't reveal your client's tight budget.

Offshore Outsourcing to Bulgaria

2005-03-16T03:01:00.000-08:00

This website is designed for IT companies and business parties, considering to outsource their web and software development to Bulgaria. Here we explain the benefits and the serious opportunities which such decision gives. Bulgaria is an East European country, in the recent few years gaining popularity as a growing IT center with excellent business perspectives, a perfect solution for IT outsourcing. Bulgarian developers are known for their talent, excellent professional skills and expertise in web and software development. The high-level IT education by experienced lecturers in the Universities and the fact many Bulgarian developers work for USA and EU companies create great number of skilled specialists in Internet technologies and software development. At the same time the labour costs are considerably low - the best companies work at $12-$15 /hour (for a comparison - the most popular Indian developers have like $20-$25, and the Chinese being known as the cheapest charge about $12). Another condition which makes Bulgaria a choice by many foreign companies is the suitable location and excellent transport connections to the EU countries. Most Bulgarians speak at least one foreign language, and good English is must for any IT developer or manager. The most important thing about outsourcing to Bulgaria is that besides lowering costs, you get high quality work, experienced management and innovative ideas. A decision for outsourcing your software or web development to Bulgaria is definitely an excellent choice you can make for your business. Source: http://www.outsourcing-to-bulgaria.com/

Getting your web presence and reaching the global market

2005-03-14T20:48:00.000-08:00

Advertising with your own web siteif you are serious about web marketing the first think you can do in the web is an advertisement which would be really cost effective. If you want to put your advertisements then banner advertisement is a good choice. But from the banner advertisement now you need to give a hyper link to your web site where you tell about your business. Developing and operating a Web site can cost less than you think and the possibilities are very high. From a complete market research to product selling, from customer services to business promotions and purchases, having your own Web site establishes a dynamic presence for your organization. Moreover you can tell the detailed visual description about your products and services with full text, images, video and animations.Finding targeted AudienceThere are millions of Internet users, searching on the web for something. Among them you need to find your potential visitors. So the site should be very focused on your customers and not all the casual surfers. If you are focusing only on customers from Europe means you need to put maximum information about your operations on Europe. If you are selling Hydraulic drilling machines means you can give many resources regarding drilling machines. This resource can help you to target your audiences through search engines.Content of a web siteAny Details about your business, products and services should target the international audience. As there is no space and location limitation for web pages, you can thrive varieties of customers with your focused content. You can give technical support and customer service. You can add Interactive forms, guest books, purchase inquiries and Web-based Emails. Moreover you can collect information from the users and save it in a database for future retrieval. To build good text you can approach professional technical writers who can help you in building your site content.Building or OutsourcingYou can design a simple web site with some graphics easily. But if you want to build interactive and professional web sites you need to know some internet technologies and tools. If you have good design ideas and time then you can learn some tools like Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Fireworks and Flash you can come up with a professional design. Moreover if you have knowledge in developing databases with MS-Access or MS SQL server you can design your own back-end databases to collect data from your web site. If you are strong in programming, with PHP, ASP, CGI or Java technologies you can build dynamic and complex web sites with back-end database functionality. Otherwise, If you need professional web site that is going to help you to build your company's Image globally then you need to approach a Professional web developer and outsource it. A professional developer understands how to design a Web site that will most effectively present you, your business or organization, and your products and services. A professionally designed and implemented Web site is worth what you pay for it if you are serious about attracting business with your Web site.Web site maintenanceYou may either outsource the job to someone and they will make changes for you on an as needed basis, or you may make those changes yourself if you have the necessary equipment and expertise. Professional web service firms are able to install web-based administration features that will allow you to make changes to certain areas of your site from your browser. Some typical areas include news releases, articles, FAQ’s, and more. Read our maintenance services and learn how we do maintenance.

Offshore outsourcing helps economy

2005-03-14T20:47:00.000-08:00

Offshore outsourcing of software and information technology services tasks not only is boosting the U.S. gross domestic product but also helping to generate U.S. jobs, including positions in the IT sector, according to the report. Released Tuesday, it was prepared by research firm Global Insight and sponsored by the Information Technology Association of America trade group. Companies are locating operations in lower-wage countries such as India. While offshore IT software and services outsourcing has displaced and will continue to displace workers in IT software and services occupations, increased economic activity creates a wide range of new jobs--both IT and non-IT. As the benefits compound over time, the U.S. economy operates more efficiently, achieves a higher level of output, creates more than twice the number of jobs than are displaced, and increases the average real wage. The cost savings and use of offshore resources lower inflation, increase productivity, and lower interest rates. This boosts business and consumer spending and increases economic activity. The study says the benefits of offshore IT outsourcing added $33.6 billion to real gross domestic product in the United States last year. By 2008, real GDP is expected to be $124.2 billion higher than it would be in an environment in which offshore IT software and services outsourcing does not happen.

Why consider offshore outsourcing to India

2005-03-14T20:46:00.000-08:00

Offshore outsourcing has been popular for several years. Countries like India are popular offshore outsourcing locations which offer cost effective solutions. However, offshore outsourcing has come under attack recently. There is an outcry against outsourcing by parties in the US and UK because of the loss of jobs to people in these countries. Many have pointed out actual costs and poor quality of service as the hidden truths behind the attractive packaging. Offshore Outsourcing is not just about cost. One should understand the need for offshore outsourcing better before making a decision. Cost is definitely one of the main reasons for offshore outsourcing to India, but one should realize that this cost advantage may not be seen immediately. Initial investment in infrastructure, training, and other such preliminaries may make one believe that the cost advantage promised is just the illusion of the nice rainbow coming up. However, this cost advantage is seen over a period of time in a outsourcing venture which involves a committed relationship and understanding between both parties involved. So the aspect of saving money does exist, but one has to realize that initial investment may make the promise of cost reduction seem false. There will be savings and along with these savings there is great value addition. Most who outsource only realize the quality and value addition after the offshore outsourcing relationship begins. This is not usually the primary goal when deciding to outsource, and the creativity and talent in India comes as a surprise to many

How To Use Outsourcing To Beat Your Competition

2005-02-24T23:17:00.000-08:00

Outsourcing is when you hire outside professionals or services to take on part of your business workload. You may want to outsource part of your work because you don't have the room, you need an expert, you have periodic busy periods, or you need more production to get orders out on time etc. You could outsource accounting, secretarial tasks, factory help, computer training, web design etc. Below are ways to use outsourcing to beat your competition. By outsourcing part of your workload you can save time and spend more time concentrating on beating your competition. you won't have to take time training new employees you won't have to do time consuming tasks like adding on new equipment you won't have to learn a new software program or other equipment you won't have to interview employee candidates you won't have to fill out all the complicated employee paper work like tax forms, scheduling, retirement plans etc.By outsourcing part of your workload you can save money and spend more money on marketing or advertising to beat your competition. you won't have to buy extra office and other equipment you won't have to buy extra office or work space you won't have spend money on employee costs like; taxes, medical, vacation time, holidays, workers comp., unemployment costs etc. (these may vary by which country you do business) There are many other ways outsourcing can help you beat your competition. Here are a few more: the extra help can help you complete and deliver orders faster you could expand your market share by becoming the middleman and offering your subcontractors services or products you could end up getting orders from your subcontractors

Making Web Application Development a Success: Things to be considered

2005-02-23T21:17:00.000-08:00

Creating Software for Personal Computers and making it available for a single user or a small group of user is becoming outdated. In this Global village if anyone creates an application, it should be web based so that the user can, just not only run the application from his office PC, but also while he is away on vacation from his home. To attain this application should be web based. These applications are called as web applications. But many of the Web Application Development projects fail to meet the user's requirements or to be implemented within budget. In this article let us briefly discuss some of the success factors that can make a development effort standard and significantly success.

Finding the scope

Before starting the development of a web application project, the development team should understand and document, the scope of the application. Particularly, who are the users, does they have Internet access in their home and what are the advantages does the user get if the software application becomes a web based application.

Compare with some sample Applications

Before starting the application designing review as much as applications possible and list out their features and drawbacks. They can give you the dos and don'ts and that can lead you to make your application to overtake your competitors. Moreover you can think about various aspects that you can add in your application. For example you competitor's applications may be in MS Access as a back-end database.

Meeting the agreed modules

Before winding up each module there should be a verification that ensures that all the agreed things in the planning meeting and the commitments given to the customer are present in the module. For example if the application needs load balancing should provide the necessary load balancing mechanisms.

Pushing your schedule up

Unless you have a reasonable justification, do not propone your development time. Just for marketing reasons, changing the schedule may lead to lots of bugs and that may cost even more than the estimated. Urging your programmer to finish the modules before the time estimated for that, can not help the application development a success. If you are managing the project keep the original estimated time and the development plan.

Managing the configurations

When you build web or software application, there happen always some changes. So that, we need have control over that. Configuration management is a set of activities that are designed to control change by identifying the work products that are likely to change, establishing relationships among them, defining mechanisms for managing different versions of these work products, controlling changes that are imposed, and auditing and reporting on the changes that are made. If you are working as a team with same source code you need to have a proper configuration management system established for your firm to have good control over the changes. Find one like Clearcase or WinCVS

Outsource web design

2005-02-22T03:21:00.000-08:00

The benefits of advertising for developers and designers globally are many. By building up a network of professional contractors, you not only decrease your running costs as each contractor is responsible for his own work environment and insurances etc, you also greatly expand your companies portfolio of skills that can be offered to clients. By outsourcing project components you aren't efficient in, it will leave you with more time to focus on your core skills and further develop those. In advertising project components globally, you will also probably secure the best price possible for the work. India and Eastern Europe have many thousands of quality freelance programmers looking for work, and their rates are incredibly low in comparison to their Western counterparts. Challenges of outsourcing: One of the major temptations of outsourcing is to approve the lowest bid in order to maximize profits. This is definitely not a good practice, especially when dealing with freelance developers and designers from other countries. If problems should arise it may be more difficult in having them rectified. Remember that your business reputation is on the line and if the designer or developer doesn't deliver, your could lose the client, and worse still, your business. This is not to say that all low bids will translate into poor quality work, but you need to research these bids carefully. How long has the company/freelance been around for? Do they have a portfolio? Do they have referees? What are their qualifications? If you are using an online collaboration service, read the comments left behind by other companies - these will give you some indication as to the competency and integrity of the freelance or company. In any outsourcing arrangement, if you get "bad vibes" it's best to heed your instincts and not continue with negotiations - too much is at risk. Communication can also be a bit of a challenge. If you receive a bid from someone in very poor English (if that is your primary language), it's best to keep away. I'm not just referring to foreign developers - the literacy skills of the modern Western world are quite appalling.

Outsourcing web design & development

2005-02-21T05:53:00.000-08:00

Most small web design and development companies naturally achieve great expertise in specific areas - these project areas are the ones that they are not only particularly good at, but also the fastest in generating. We all build up our selection of "tricks of the trade" over time, and these are the elements of any contract that it makes the most sense to keep. Where are the bottlenecks in your development processes? If developing graphical elements for web sites is one of your challenges, then of course it only makes sense to outsource that work. You may feel that paying $80 an hour to an expert graphic artist is too steep considering your standard rate is only $50 an hour, but consider this example: A client wants a Flash element created and Flash isn't one of your stronger areas, so the length of time it will take you to create that element is a bit of an unknown - and you have already set the entire project price, which the client has agreed on. You end up spending 6 hours on designing the Flash animation to the client’s satisfaction. At a rate of $50 an hour, that element has cost you $300 to create. If the Flash component had been outsourced to an expert, although they may have charged you $80 per hour, it only took them 2 hours to create. Add on one hour for the time you spent consulting with the Flash expert and the total cost of this element is down to $210! Even if you spend two hours on consulting, you are still well and truly ahead, lessened your stress and freed up time to spend on other projects or elements. If you are a web designer and you are also responsible for keeping your financials up to date, then you are probably losing money. A contract bookkeepers services cost a lot less, generally speaking, per hour than a web designer. It makes financial sense to maintain this aspect of your business yourself if you don't have a lot of work on the boards -or does it? If you don't have sufficient development work to keep you busy, then the hours you are spending on maintaining your books would be better spent in submitting tenders and marketing!

Source :

http://developers.evrsoft.com

Designing your Web Site for ALL Browsers

2005-02-18T03:18:00.000-08:00

Use Tables to Control Width Tables are great things when trying to control the way text and images go together. In order to achieve a nice looking design, using tables is the first technique to consider.Tables can be assigned a fixed width in pixels or a fixed percentage of the window width. There are advantages to both approaches. If you are not concerned about the relative vertical arrangement of objects in a table cell, using the fixed percentage allows for more fluid layouts Compromise your Font Use

Supposing you select a fixed width table and have a cell that is 300 pixels wide. You write a headline in this cell, pick a font, and size it to look just right. Good for you. Too bad that headline will come up different on different systems. Check Your Final on Multiple Platforms

Commit to my web design clients that their site will be look good to ALL visitors. To make sure this is the case, I have an Intel computer as well as my Macintosh. I have the Intel computer configured to boot into Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Linux. I test all the pages I design in these environments. I test in both Netscape and Internet Explorer on the Windows systems and the Mac. I enlist a partner to test with Lotus Notes and AOL.

Source: http://www.webmaster-reseller-supercenter.com/articles-009.htm

Web Designing Tips

2005-02-17T04:23:00.000-08:00

Optimize Your Web Graphics Easily: Despite the cable Internet connections and high-speed modems, Web graphics are still limited speed-wise. The sites that load fastest and work most efficient have well-optimized graphics .GIF images are generally good for line drawings and illustrations while JPG ones are best suited for photographs. Besides file format, there are various factor that affect the optimized image like the ‘lousiness’-the amount of data in the image that you’re willing to sacrifice for smaller file size-the number of colors you need minimum, whether you can have dithering or not, so on . In Photoshop, to try out different optimization settings, click Save for Web . A window opens up showing the current image along with various options and menus on the right . in the image window itself, you can see two tabs: 2-up tab to see two versions-the original and the optimized-for comparison along with time needed to load the image according to various modem speeds . The 4-upshows you 3 versions against the original. These previews are useful and convenient, rather than having to manually save the image repeatedly in different ways and comparing each of them. Making A Banner Ad: We’re all familiar with banner ads that we see all over the Web: a strip with an image and text that changes into another and another conveying some information. Clicking on this ad takes you to the site that the company is advertising for. You don’t have to use GIF Builder or any other graphics software to animate such an ad. You can make it easily using Front Page. Select Insert-Web component-banner ad manger. In the window that opens, specify the size of the ad, the transition effect, the number of seconds to display each image, the URL to link the ad to and add the images you’ve prepared. That’s it. This feature could also be used you want to share a few photographs coiled also be used when you want to share a few photographs or images but don’t want the images to be save-able on the cline’s side; right-click will not work on these images. Although the images may be found in the cache, at least they won’t be able to be copied directly.

Designing successful web site

2005-02-16T06:26:00.000-08:00

Page design 1) Aim for page loads of less than five to six seconds. The most popular sites load twice as fast. Web users rank slow download as their greatest annoyance. 2) Keep your page download sizes to 32KB or less. That includes unique graphics. Research indicates that pages under 32KB have a bail-out rate of 7% to 10% and over 40KB, 25% to 30%. 3) Make your page sizes consistent. If some are small/fast and others large/slow, your visitors will lose confidence in the site. They won't know what to expect and they want to be in control. 4) If you use graphics, make them small but decipherable. Try to re-use the same graphics from page to page. Once downloaded into the visitor's browser, they won't need to be downloaded for subsequent use. 5) Be aware of screen real estate. The visitor's browser and operating system consume a significant percentage of the available screen area, so make effective use of what's available. Pages should be dense though easily scanable. The page is for your visitor's benefit. The visitor wants information and isn't interested in your artwork. Keep your links visible at the top of the screen. Content design 1) Be succinct. Write your page copy then reduce the number of words by 50%. Focus on what's really important to your visitors. People read via computer monitors at least 25% more slowly than paper. 2) Create visual clarity. Use headlines, bolded words (but not underlined), bulleted lists, tables, and other visual structures to make it easy for the visitor to quickly understand the key points of a page. 3) Expose agency personality. You don't need to write in a dry, academic, or gray business-speak manner. On the other hand, don't be too cute. 4) Edit your copy. Spell check. Grammar check. Fact check. Have multiple people proof your copy before posting it. Have a professional writer clean and tighten your copy. Errors on your site reduce credibility. 5) Use plain language that your audience can understand. Your Web site visitors are not insurance experts. They may not understand technical insurance language. Use metaphors sparingly. People may misinterpret them.

Instant Answers from MSN

2005-02-15T07:42:00.000-08:00

MSN Search now features Instant Answers from MSN Encarta. MSN Search informs about geographical locations, historical figures and everyday facts. For example if we want to know about the height of the himalayas, just write "what is the height of the himalaya ? " in the search bar of the MSN and then press enter. It will display the answer as the "Answer: Himalayas, Asia: elevation, max: 29,035 ft" .

Web designing facts and features

2005-02-14T04:20:00.000-08:00

Don’t use too many colors on your pages. Select a clear background and with 2-3 colors for the font. Don’t make your visitors dizzy with dark background and contrast font.
Don’t keep 'Under Construction' signs. Don’t make them to think that you are a newbie.
Check all links and images before you upload the pages to web.
Don’t put huge pages. If it is necessary then warn your visitor about the time. So he will minimize the screen and do something else.
Don’t link yourself to too many websites. This drives away your visitor from your site.
Check the spelling errors and grammar mistakes before publishing.
Don’t put too many pop-ups.If you want to put them then make them appear at one corner of the screen as small screen (300x200 pixels) or minimized.
Put different types of product ordering systems.
Let your visitors come again and again. This is done by offering free stuff or email course. If you want to keep a form let it be short.
Don’t use frames. Older browsers don't support frames. Also search engines don't index them properly. And pages with frames don't bookmark properly. Source: http://www.advertising-domain.com/ezinearticles/turnaway.shtml

Web designing needs web hosting

2005-02-12T03:34:00.000-08:00

You can't have a website without a webhost. A webhost generally stores your files i.e. your graphics, pages with coding and content etc. It also provides bandwidth (data transfer) for your site.When finding and choosing hosts, you should take into account how big your site is, i.e. how much all your files' filesizes total to as well as how much bandwidth your site may consume. Bandwidth is related to the number of times your site or things hosted on your site i.e. images are loaded, the more they are viewed, the more bandwidth will be used. A lot of people host their sites on the petpages provided by Neopets. However, Neopets only provides 1 page and no uploading and therefore, is not the ideal host if you want to make a large site with many links. Alternative image hosts such as photobucket are required to host images to be displayed on Neopets.Popular free website hosts which people currently use are Freewebs, Geocities and Angelfire. Another very good host which people don't really know about is 1asphost. Yet another resource most people don't know about is Pick Me. Pick Me is basically a directory of a lot of people who own domains and have paid hosting who are offering to share part of their storage and bandwidth with hostees for free. For example, I myself have 7 hostees which are allotted between 25 - 50MB storage and 1 - 2GB bandwidth per month.

Fundamentals of Good Web Design

2005-02-11T06:49:00.000-08:00

Much of good web site design depends on an understanding of how people like to digest information. For instance, researchers have noted that people who read documents online tend to SCAN documents rather than read them WORD BY WORD. You may recognize this in your own web surfing habits. I myself tend to jump from web page to web page, searching for relevant information--it's so easy to point and click that there's no need to stay in one place too long unless there's something to hold your interest. Keeping this in mind, it's a good idea to keep web pages below a maximum length. Although you could put a 100-page document on a single web page, there are several factors at work that make doing this a bad idea: The longer the web page, the more time it takes to download; Having to scroll through a long document makes it easy to get "lost" on the page; Users are often forced to use more paper than necessary if they decide to print the page. Give your readers a break, and limit the length of individual web pages. Depending on the content you are presenting, a good rule of thumb is to have a maximum length of 3 screens for each page. If it takes more than 3 screens, then start thinking about ways to split up the document.