Outsourcing is an attractive option for companies seeking to reduce the cost of development work, access specialist skills that are not available in-house or turn large jobs around to tight deadlines.

In particular, the prospect of large development teams with lower overheads persuades many companies to consider outsourcing work overseas, where skilled labour is plentiful but staff costs are significantly lower.

But what are the particular challenges of project managing across corporate, geographical and cultural borders? Are there any hidden costs to consider, or problems that are likely to arise?

This evening seminar examines the pros and cons of outsourcing work to other companies, including overseas developers, and offers advice on managing relationships with partner organisations more effectively.

Topics include:

• Outsourcing from a small company perspective.
• Legal and contractual issues to consider.
• Project management across cultures and timezones.
• Managing partner relationships.

Speaker Biographies

David King, Managing Director, Digital @ JWT Europe, Middle East & Africa
David King is MD, Europe, Middle East and Africa of Digital @ JWT, a subsidiary of the J. Walter Thompson Company. David joined the WPP-owned company in January 2000 and oversees growing operations throughout Europe and in Jeddah and Tel Aviv. Working with clients like Nestlé, Kraft Foods, Shell, BMW, Siemens, Sun Microsystems, Heineken, Diageo/UDV, Kellogg’s and Telefonica, the Digital @ JWT team has in just two years moved from number 48 to number 11 on the Adweek Interactive Agency rankings. Prior to joining JWT, he served as MD/CEO of Icon Medialab UK, part of the largest European-based global digital communications consultancy. David joined the London office in November 1997, growing the company from four staff and no clients to 90 dedicated professionals providing Internet, intranet, extranet and e-commerce solutions. Before joining Icon Medialab, David King served as founder and Managing Partner of DDB Interactive, the new-media division of DDB Needham Worldwide Communications Group. David also spent 21 years in the production, development and marketing of broadcast television programming on an international basis, and, since 1986, has been heavily involved in the design and creation of computer-based applications.

Surja Bose
Surja Bose was born in Germany of Indian descent. He studied in Calcutta and Berlin before graduating in Computing and Communications from the London Guildhall University. After 4 years of experience in the IT Industry as a developer, project manager and strategist, he set up Bosenet LTD. He has worked on projects for Associated Newspapers, Department of Health, ABN AMRO, Quester plc, jobsworth.com and others. Bosenet is a London based company providing offshore development services to organizations in the UK and Germany. The company's vision is to significantly reduce IT development costs by outsourcing coding to its development centres in India. Bosenet's success lies in its ability to be near the client - in the UK - to understand requirements, and manage and implement projects, while ensuring the highest level of quality, providing a wide range of skills and achieving huge cost and time-savings. www.bosenet.com

Andy Buist, Director, n1media (www.n1media.com)
Andy Buist is a Director at online advertising and marketing specialists n1media. n1 works for a number of clients in the Home Entertainment industry, including Twentieth Century Fox and the BBC. Andy's role at n1 is a combination of Project and Account Management, which involves developing new and existing accounts and managing key projects for n1.

Hilary Kelsh
Hilary Kelsh obtained a BA(Hons) degree in Graphic Design at Central St Martin's College of Art and Design as a mature student, and then freelanced as a designer and animator in film and television for six years. She began her career in digital communications as an account executive with The Brilliant Agency, and went on to to become Business Development Director at American communications agency Modem Media Poppe Tyson, and then Director of Marketing with Swedish based multi-national communications consultancy Icon Medialab. In these roles her responsibilities included developing new business strategy, managing relationships with new and existing clients, and generating new business opportunities. Now working as an independent consultant for clients including n1media, and helping to develop the NMK programme, Hilary is a regular contributor to industry events and conferences.