Re: outsourcing
I think the offshore trend will be to use open-source tools simply because
of cost.
I'm dubious about that, at least as long as you're talking about purchasing costs.
When you say that open source tools are used "simply because of cost", it implies that the competing commercial tool is better, i.e., let's you be more productive. (Otherwise, the open soruce tool would be chosen on its merits, not on cost.)
Now let's make some conservative assumptions. Let's say that the commercial tool saves 10% of time, and the outsource tech writer is paid $10 per hour.
This means that in every 40 hour week, the commercial tool saves $40, or about $1000 every half year. A tool would need to be expensive indeed to be beaten on cost by an open source tool under these conditions.
(In many cases, the tool isn't chosen by the outsourcing provider anyway but by the customer: If you are contracted to do a manual in Word then that is what you will by god deliver.)
This is not to say that open source tools won't become more and more important, but IMHO this will be because of their merits as tools, not primarily because of purchasing costs.
Regards
Jan Henning
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Jan Henning
ROSEMANN & LAURIDSEN GMBH
Am Schlossberg 14, D-82547 Eurasburg, Germany
Phone: +49 700 0200 0700, Fax: +49 8179 9307-12
E-Mail: henning -at- r-l -dot- de, Web: www.r-l.de
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References:
RE: outsourcing: From: Bill Lawrence
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