Migration from Powerhouse MPE

Edis, Robert REdis@Blistex.com
Fri, 19 Sep 2003 12:02:46 -0500 

G'day Rick

1. Who said I was American? ;)

2. OECD and other data sources track worker productivity in different countries around the world.  This is a function of the amount of work output per hour worked.  The USA has one of best, if not the best, productivity rates in the world.  Slightly better than Germany (average 35 hour week with 6 weeks annual vacation) and much higher than Japan (average 45+ hour week with 1 week annual vacation.

So what Rick says is correct; 1 hour of work input in the USA is not equal to 1 hour of work input in other countries.  Unfortunately India has a very low worker productivity score.  These are not biased opinions but published objective facts based on a standard formulae.

What this means is that even if you pay a worker in the USA a higher rate per hour the productive returns would probably outweigh the immediate cost savings of using a worker in another country.  I.e. a better cost/benefit ratio.

These are of course generalisations and look at a country as a whole.  It doesn't take into account specific types of work, individual work habits, regional location, etc.

Blue

-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Hill [mailto:rmhill@core.com]
Sent: Friday, September 19, 2003 10:25 AM
To: Powerh-L (E-mail)
Subject: RE: Migration from Powerhouse MPE


I agree that Americans work very hard, including even if they only work 
an 8 to 10 hour day.  I rarely work just an 8 hours day, to make sure 
things get done right, although in America people like Blue and myself 
might be more the exception than the norm -- in India it seems to be 
the norm!  For example, I have noticed that contractors that are here 
(US) from India are more likely to be working nights than the Americans 
are.

However, I have also found that just because somebody is working a 12 
hour day doesn't necessarily mean you are getting 12 total hours of 
good productivity from them, regardlesss of the culture.  You 
eventually run into diminishing returns -- the work produced from the 
extra 4 hours is not likely of the same quality and reliability as the 
work from the first 4 hours of the day.  People tend to drag more 
during the overtime hours, they don't really want to be there, managers 
aren't around, etc.  So the money paid for the last 4 hours of a 12 
hour day at a cheap rate might not be such a good deal!

> Does this mean you are in India Roshan?
> 
> In the last week I've worked 9, 10, 11 and 12 hour days plus I'll be 
working this weekend.  Do you think overworking is unique to India?  
Companies in the USA are pushing their workers to significantly longer 
hours rather than hiring additional staff as a result of the economic 
slowdown in this country.  I bet it's the same in other western 
countries too.
> 
> BTW, have you looked at Singapore as a source of PH resources?  There 
used to be quite a number of sites there.
> 
> How many programmers do you need and for how long?  Maybe if we on 
the list were more intimate with your needs we could come up with some 
useful ideas.
> 
> Regards,
> Blue
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Roshan Shah [mailto:roshan_shah@yahoo.com]
> Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2003 10:52 PM
> To: powerh-l@lists.swau.edu
> Subject: Re: Migration from Powerhouse MPE
> 
> 
> Well, Let me put it this way.. 
> 
> 1) They are rare in India at least at the moment. I
> know at least of 3 companies ( including mine) looking
> for them
> 
> 2) Yes - we do have training program.. But to train
> anyone and expect the person to know it all does not
> happen. Best learning is experience.
> 
> 3) US / UK / Australia rates could be cheap but can't
> be as cheap as that of Offshore Services Companies..
> and guys in India work for 10 to 12 hours almost daily
> .. not to mention that many a times they also work on
> weekends to meet the tight deliveries...
> 
> Now, while writing this, I have no intentions of
> convincing anyone on India's capabilities but that's
> the way it is here and I know it is not a fair
> practice to have anyone work so long..
> 
> Thanks 
> Roshan Shah
> 
> 
> --- stewm@canada.com wrote:
> > 
> > Roshan, by PowerHouse resources are scarce do you
> > mean
> > there is noone to do the work?  I know of about 7
> > guys
> > out there right now with decades of experience that
> > can't find work with PowerHouse and are looking. 
> > Through an ad out on one of the popular job search
> > engines, with a half decent rate, I'm sure you'll
> > still
> > find resources.
> > 
> > Mark Stewart
> > Consultants Club Corp.
> > 1-519-739-0297
> > 
> > Hello,
> > 
> > I wanted to have your inputs on strategy of doing
> > Powerhouse Migration to Sun Solaris.
> > 
> > a) Migrate Powerhouse Application to Solaris.
> > Powerhouse is available on Solaris
> > 
> > b) Rewrite Powerhouse to COBOL! (Licencing
> > Powerhouse
> > is very expensive)  - Should one at all have
> > Powerhouse even if it is an interim solution looking
> > into the fact that Powerhouse resources are scarce
> > and
> > fast depleting.
> > 
> > Also when in future if Powerhouse Resources are
> > needed, they will not only be very expensive but
> > very
> > rare!
> > 
> > 
> > Any other recommendations ?
> > 
> > Roshan Shah
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