As you so rightly say the value is produced by proximity to users - and this is where outsourcing so often fails.
As you point out the obvious fall back is following the sun - to get low cost high standard IT support - but what we need to generate value is the close dialog with the business.

My teaser was - what will happen when the financial hubs are no longer NY and London - but rather exactly the centers that we are currently looking for low cost technical support - to quote your Blog “Brazil, India and China”

I think we would all acknowledge that these countries have every potential to become economic powerhouses of tomorrow - I wonder if we in the old world have the talent to become their IT outsourced centers of excellence.

I very much doubt it!

I admit I was writing this piece more from the point of view of London, i.e. where I am currently based. But it is a fact that London has long been the centre of IT excellence, where a lot of new IT initiatives for the large financial institutions are started in London.

But you can take the same point of view and it will stand true regardless of the geographic aspect. Or I think it is anyway

Interesting post.

But why are you assuming the business users are in the UK? I don’t think London is exactly forging ahead right now in sophisticated end users of financial applications..

Why cannot your argument be extended to a more global perspective on where true expertise lies? How does your argument play out for a Dubai based financial institution for example - or Beijing?

Nigel