This is a great point, one that has no simple solution. In your =
situation,
there is nothing that can be done to 100% guarantee the IPR, security, =
etc.
is maintained. Even big companies like IBM, Cisco, etc. are not immune =
from
this, and they still face years of wrangling and millions in legal =
expenses.
Re: Cisco two years back had big problems with a Chinese company that
allegedly stole source code for routers, passed on by former Cisco =
engineers
that the Chinese company hired. They conducted a fairly sophisticated =
sting
operation and got all the usual players involved (FBI, etc.) because it
meant a big threat to Cisco's business. I did not follow that through, =
so I
don't know how that turned out, but it seemed pretty cut and dry in =
Cisco's
favor. =20
>From our own experience, [a micro-enterprise, not even a "small" =
company] we
have had some basic problems when an Indian company started promoting =
itself
and marketing itself using our corporate name and brand, coincidentally
enough after I had visited their offices and discussed with them some
strategic business plans, etc. When I discussed this with our legal
counsel, the attorney basically said it would be a BIG distraction from =
the
core business with uncertain results and a long, long process, not to
mention the expenses involved. I opted to try and forget out it and =
sent,
instead, an email to the CEO of the Indian company, explaining my =
disdain
and concerns, and never heard back. I don't know if they changed =
anything
but they seem to have not made any impact on the Indian market using our
name, but I still have a nagging question whether they did any "damage" =
by
associating our name with unprofessional or other unsavory practices. =20
The software security issue [backdoors, viruses, etc.] is certainly a =
worthy
concern, and not being a bits n bytes person, I'll defer to the pros, =
but I
would imagine that anyone commissioning software offshore would have
appropriate internal QA/QC processes that would address this, including
using tools like Rational Rose, etc. Any offshore software house worth =
it's
salt is not going to fool around with corporate skullduggery, it would =
have
immediate and permanent affects on their business: they would collapse.
Satyam, Wipro, TCS, etc. have all done really excellent work for many
clients. There is no substitute for corporate due diligence, even more
critical when working overseas. If the risks are too great, then, =
prudent
people would do it in-house or at least onshore.
Lastly, the timeframe to keep confidential business practices =
confidential
is essentially zero after product/service launch. How many "versions" =
of
Hotmail-like internet services are available now ? Hotmail was =
revolutionary
when it came out [created by a smart Indian] and it took less than a =
year to
have half a dozen copy-cat services available. These competing services
didn't re-invent the wheel, they used the same model [business =
practices,
processes, etc.] and started up their own. The barrier to entry was =
almost
non-existent. The same situation exists in in dozens of different =
industry
segments, including GIS. Case in point, a few years ago, an industry =
exec
told me that it was an inside joke for Autodesk that they had 1,000 =
seats
sold, 1,000,000 in use [in Asia]. They related this "joke" knowing that
there was nothing they could do about it. Imagine the real and =
perceived
loss of IPR in this one, relatively small, example. When we started to =
push
the Application Service Provider (ASP) business model just prior to the
bubble burst [incredibly bad timing], this was one of our major value
propositions, because it essentially reduced to zero the loss of IPR.
Cheers and happy holidays to anyone working today..
Anthony
-----Original Message-----
From: gislist-bounces@lists.geocomm.com
[mailto:gislist-bounces@lists.geocomm.com] On Behalf Of Mike
Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2003 8:04 AM
To: gislist@lists.thinkburst.com
Subject: RE: [gislist] Outsourcing GIS
If IBM or some other large corporation has a contract problem while
outsourcing to a different country, I am sure they have enough weight to
protect themselves, but how does a small company in the mid-western U.S.
with limited resources enforce a contract with a company in India or =
Viet
Nam or other location? Also, how does a company with limited IT =
resources
know that someone isn't coding back doors and other underhanded stuff =
into
the software? How does a company know that its very important and =
propriety
business methods isn't being sold by these software developers, and if =
they
are, what recourse does the company have?=20
A few years back, I read about a firm in California that would handle =
all of
a small companies IT needs. They reasoned that why hire that expensive =
geek
to sit in the back room and fix st
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