Outsourcing Technical Writing: A Primer

Outsourcing stirs strong emotions. Employees associate it with layoffs, reduced quality, and plummeting morale. Managers often don't understand the potential, thinking either that it will reduce their costs by large amounts or that it will make them obsolete, too.

The truth is that, when done correctly, outsourcing often does not lead to layoffs, can lead to increased quality, and can even boost morale.

Although the inflated savings that some managers have been led to believe are untrue (outsourcing can rarely, if ever, reduce content development costs by more than 60%), outsourcing can still be a win for both a company and its employees.

Outsourcing Technical Writing: A Primer provides a comprehensive introduction to outsourcing technical writing. Barry Saiff, who has had extensive experience with outsourced content development, provides a roadmap for outsourcing success along with cases studies, a sample outsourcing agreement, and a sample plan. He also connects the success of outsourcing with management excellence and process maturity.