You're working late one night and your computer crashes, so you jump on the phone and call for technical support. You wind up talking with an incredibly knowledgeable technician who sounds as if he may be Indian. Although this doesn't seem unusual to you, what you might not realize is that he's actually talking to you from India.

According to a study done by Gartner Inc., a research and advisory firm based in Stamford, Conn., by the end of 2004, one out of every 10 jobs within U.S.-based IT vendors and IT service providers will move overseas. India and China are where U.S.-based companies are finding large pools of highly trained workers—cheap.

There are those who are concerned about the impact on the U.S. economy when high-tech jobs head overseas. But there are others who believe that this will drive growth and innovation—and better jobs—to replace those that are leaving.

We've been down this road before during the 1980s when auto and manufacturing jobs were leaving our country. And while we are not likely to see those jobs return, this latest exodus of technology and service industry jobs could lead to more high-skilled, higher-paying jobs.

The key will be encouraging an educated and highly trained workforce.

Work done right—and fast

We live and work in a 24/7 world. Tina Ferguson, president of the one80 group, a strategic marketing firm based in Plano, Texas, found that when she turned to India to outsource Web development, she received high quality work—fast.

She was working with a U.S.-based offshore development company that was outsourcing computer development to India for U.S. companies that required scalable, accelerated development solutions.

This company used the Microsoft model to accelerate development. During its heyday of development, Microsoft developers and engineers didn't miss a beat since, while they were asleep in Seattle, counterparts in India were working on the software.

"I work with start-up companies and established firms, but was seeking a more affordable Web development solution that also could be done in less time. My client had contacts in India that needed marketing help, so we started working together," she says.

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