Just in case you thought AS/400 spots were safe from offshoring

[frankgw@adelphia.net]

Hi Dave - Thanks for the post. It's always a good idea to know what's going on out there. Actually Edward Yourdon predicted the off shore movement in his book "Decline & Fall of the American Programmer" back in 1992.

[David Abramowitz]

Just in case you thought AS/400 spots were safe from offshoring

Good point. I read exerpts from Yourdon's diatribe. He predicted a lot of things, and many of them were downright weird. He missed the boat on the timing of offshoring. It was supposed to have happenned ten years ago, and it still has not reached the extent that the book talks about. Dave

[J.Pluta]

Just in case you thought AS/400 spots were safe from offshoring

I still suggest using places like http://www.numbersusa.com/faxcenter and faxing your representatives once a week or so. Remember, while they may be getting cash from the pro-outsourcing lobby, they know all that cashflow disappears if they lose their job. And the knuckleheads who tell them what to do (the pollsters) go strictly by the numbers. If they get enough faxes and letters, they're going to tell their bosses to vote on our side. Joe

[David Abramowitz]

Just in case you thought AS/400 spots were safe from offshoring

I think that once a week may be too often. The staffers may get numb to the constant beating, and ignore the missives. OTOH, the concept is a good one. A semi-regular contact (which should be slightly different each time, or filled with new information) is a very good idea. BTW, the sense I'm getting from my contacts, is that there is a groundswell of opposition to offshoring. Unlike the visa situation where something concrete might be done, there is a dearth of ideas of what can be done to prevent offshoring. This shoulder shrugging occurs on both sides of the aisle, yet all agree that it is a problem. Dave

[J.Pluta]

Just in case you thought AS/400 spots were safe from offshoring

You may be right, David, once a week may be too often. At the same time, human nature being what it is, people tend to forget about doing things they dont do regularly. If you're an organized person with decent scheduling software, once every 2 or 3 weeks or even once a month might well be enough. The point is: this is an election year, and the more people that do this, the better. As to countering offshoring, the best way to do that is to start finding case studies. Given how much work has been outsourced, if it were working you'd have heard about it. So, the opposite must be true: it ain't workin', but nobody's talkin'. We need to find the truth - somebody has to have worked for the companies that outsourced and still know people at the company. What happened? My guess is that a lot of the projects will be overbudget, late and poorly done if even finished at all. Joe

[David Abramowitz]

Just in case you thought AS/400 spots were safe from offshoring

Then there was this: http://www.offshore-400.com/offshore-400/index.htm Dave

[jquinlan]

Just in case you thought AS/400 spots were safe from offshoring

Offshoring .... When I had a y2k website for AS/400 in 98, I received at least one email a day from various companies in India telling me about how cheap they could do the y2k work for us. I finally placed a big banner on my website contact section saying "Email from India is not welcome here!" For interesting information how all this is beginning to get people's attention (FINALLY !!!) in this election year, visit RescueAmericanJobs.com and subscribe to their newsletter.