Outsourcing

A friend who is a software developer told me he was concerned his company was going to start buying off the shelf solutions or outsourcing development. He was rightfully concerned about his job.
Outsourcing rarely occurs in a vacuum. There is usually something that causes a company to consider it. Occassionally a company decides to move IT to India or somewhere else but there is usually a reason behind it.
At my friend's company, the IT department has consistantly missed deadlines and has failed to deliver a service to the rest of the company. When software is completed, it has failed to meet the expectations of the customers. Although the IT department is part of the company, project overruns still occur and deadlines are missed.
As we talked, I realized that if my friend's IT department had a better customer service ethos, outsourcing might not looming. If the IT group could start to meet deadlines and deliver quality products, the rest of the company might be more willing to support them.