There is another key point that is often overlooked. When we outsource our IT, we let people in a bunch of other countries have access to the code upon which our corporations depend. It is very easy once the source code is outsourced for all kinds of little "back doors" and time bombs to be inserted. That doesn't happen much here because once they are found, it is possible to track back to the employee who inserted them. And then they can be prosecuted. But when the whole system is outsourced, there is no one who can really be held accountable. And no one remaining who is qualified to look.
People have made the argument that IT is just a job like any other, and is subject to the cheapest vendor. But there is a serious security issue related to IT. Sabotage in the code can: cause orders to be routed to the wrong customers, cause prescriptions to be changed to something deadly, cause inventories to be too high or too low, can cause machinery to run too hot and burn out...the list is endless. Let me ask you - if you needed an operation, would you just look for the cheapest "surgeon" who could wave a certificate and say they are qualified? With no trusted agency to validate that certification? NO! Of course not. But that is exactly what we have done by outsourcing our IT.
Any terrorists who want to strike at our economy can now just go get jobs at those IT shops in 3rd world countries and do their damage. Quietly. And with much less personal risk to themselves. That way thousands of islamofacists can cause damage to "the great Satan" while getting paid to do it. Over the next decade we will see more and more of this. Too bad, so sad. Move along folks, nothing to see here.
My husband was asked to help an elderly man with a problem on some money he was due. The older man said every time he called, he couldn't understand the people - they didn't speak good English. My husband made 3 calls, talked with 3 different foreign sounding people and got 3 different reasons why he was not due the money - including he had gotten it and cashed the check. My husband asked for a copy of the check and was told it was lost. Now finally my husband got the money.
What was their plan? Had they already cashed the check and how many others? It just made me think how much damage could be done to an American company by just a few people.
Now this was not standard procedure for this company. Strange?