Companies wishing to exercise discretion over consumer interactions may not be able to exercise quality control over the training of representatives servicing their valued customers, who are ill-prepared to deal with angry, confused, and technologically illiterate customers. The call center is the 'face' of the IT company and Microsoft in particular has lost customers because of its dependence upon call centers and unhelpful staff, in contrast to the people-friendly personalized 'real world' face of the Apple Store. Employing individuals abroad to construct the IT application itself can be equally problematic, especially when creating an interface for users who are not well-versed in technology. The offshore IT personnel may not have a clear sense of the culture of the foreign company, and the base of knowledge of the designated users. As a result, the technical manuals may be poorly suited to the needs of the user.

The macro, socially beneficial aspects of outsourcing are also controversial. On one hand,...

Prosperity, contact with the developed world, and exposure to new business practices and technology have all been enabled through the process of outsourcing, particularly between India and the United States. The downside of such outsourcing, however, is that nations with an astute technological workforce may be more apt to serve developed companies of more powerful nations than to create their own, new companies to become competitive in the global marketplace.
Works Cited

Davies, Mark. "Outsourcing software development: Offshore pros and cons."

The Street Directory. November 23, 2009.

http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/114408/programming/outsourcing_software_development_offshore_pros__cons.html

"Offshore vs. onshore." Trybo. November 23, 2009.

http://www.trybpo.com/offshore-vs.-onshore-outsourcing-pros-and-cons/