Re:”As a side note, just how much knowledge do you think was transferred? By me, or any of the other 200+ IT guys? :-)”
ROFL
good on you !
Certainly, I didn't go out of my way to sabotage the project, though it would have been fairly easy. That would be unethical, sneaky, and underhanded.
After breaking my neck for these guys for 8 years - and REALLY breaking it on the last project I did - then getting rewarded with a knife in the back .... I knew there was no way I could out-sneaky, out-underhand, or out-unethical them. I tip my cap, I know when I've been beat.
However, IT guys are always running short on time and long on "The Little Things", and management didn't have a clue what we did, anyway (or else they'd never have considered outsourcing). I just made sure that I did the bare minimum that I was requested to do for turnover, and that was that. I'm positive that some things got lost in the translation - not intentionally, but hell, when you design a system, there's always a million tweaks and fixes and "When this happens....do that" -type things. And I'd put in 8 years worth, in offices all around the globe. That's just "institutional knowledge" that can't be imparted in a few days' time and is completely irreplaceable.
Funny story, the guy on my team who had the biggest, most widespread (300 sites, globally) and probably the most critical section, bailed at about the same time I did. In the ensuing interval between the outsourcing announcement, and his leaving, he trained three (3) "replacements". None of them could hack it, and all quit instead of working. He had just been assigned a 4th, on his last week there.
So, the biggest part and most profitable section of the company lost 100% of the critical institutional knowledge when he was shown the door. No wonder it cost them so much to get back to square one again. Amazing that they stayed in business.
Fools, all
Everytime I see a story on FR... "Disney outsources 100's of IT workers", "Carrier moves to Mexico" and so on...
I always check my portfolio to be sure that the company isn't in it, or at least has a small position (sometimes they're hard to avoid with index funds). As soon as management fumbles that particular ball, it's a certainty that the company is going to get whacked over the next 1 to 5 years, if not more.
It's worked pretty well, so far. Though, the company that outsourced me recovered pretty well. After dumping the idiots who made the outsourcing decision, they made some pretty smart moves globally and are up several hundred percent over the past 6-8 years. They were down in the dumps for a long, long time, though. Took years to recover.
It's fun, for me at least, to look at these things with hindsight. If for no other reason than to say "Yup, called that right." or "Nope, need to learn from that mistake." Might just be me though. :-)