Blaming outsourcing is simplistic but...
I've worked in IT for, 15+ years now, starting as an analyst programmer…moving onto Java, luckily coinciding with the dot com boom times, enjoying the 'wild-west' approach when JFDI was probably truly at it's height (e.g. bouncing the live app server not giving two hoots to any customers using the service at the time, copying .class files into the deployment directory etc..)
As the dot com boom imploded (btw is the f*ckedcompany.com website still going?) I was then present in the whole protracted move to 'outsourcing' where over a couple of years it went from highly productive 'in-house dev', i.e. the ability to turn things around in an afternoon…to the other end of the spectrum i.e. 'yes you can update the name on that button in the next governance cycle in 6 months time' (a real example).
I think it's simplistic to blame 'outsourcing' for everything, but anyone who's been involved in it will usually mention the additional overheads it incurs that seem to get over-looked (e.g. the need to document everything to the nth detail, otherwise you'll 'get what you asked for' and common-sense won't get a look in.)
I've also been in what could be referred to as the half-way house of outsourced hell..this is where I think the whole 'outsourcing' model starts to take the piss….this is where in-house people are tasked with defining solutions, but are reliant on the suppliers to provide the knowledge of the systems…as an analogy it's like trying to assemble an Ikea wardrobe with no instructions and half the bits missing. When suppliers have 21 days to even respond to a query you can imagine the level of productivity that ensues...
I live in hope that those IT people who have 'come up through the trenches' will one day be in positions of power, and you won't have to justify/explain everything endlessly, producing 1-pagers and ppt slides for IT directors to give their stamp of approval to. What's the quote I saw the other day "for those who know, no explanation is necessary…for those who don't know, no explanation is possible". Something like that anyway.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
