It’s day 1 here at OutsourceWorld, and everyone wants to talk about quality.

Over and over again, panelists emphasized a shift in priority from cost to quality.

Vendors who have not improved quality are starting to lose big, regardless of how low their costs are.

But, I wish they would be more clear. I’ll say this once.

In 9 out of 10 cases, corporations offshore to save money.

Unless you are dealing with a severe onshore talent deficiency (i.e. Symbian development for mobile phones), this is the sole motivational factor. Don’t tell me that there is another reason that drives the move to offshore IT work.

The recent shift in priorities does not change the underlying motivation. If a company only cared about quality, it would hire talent in-house or outsource locally, where work can be managed more directly. The only exception to this is when the talent pool doesn’t yet exist domestically.