Publishing Outsourcing Research Questionnaire
Ictect, Inc. and Deanta Global are conducting a survey on Publishing Outsourcing.
This is a simple, multiple-choice questionnaire about publishing outsourcing (offshore).
Please simply check one item under each question. Please note that questions 14,
15, and 16 require that you rank each item from 1-5. Please respond to each question
since partial responses cannot be correctly tabulated for the research. If you would
like to have the results of this research study sent to you, please fill out your
email address at the bottom of this survey. This study will not be used for marketing
or soliciting to you personally. The final results will be available before March
1, 2015.
What type of publishing best describes your current company?
What is the estimated percent (%) of publishing services outsourced by your organization currently?
Does your company plan to increase or decrease outsourcing in
the next two years, and if the plans are to increase, what is the best percent
estimate?
If you are currently not outsourcing, or do not plan to outsource
more work in the next two years, what reason best explains that decision?
If you are currently outsourcing, what would you estimate the ROI (return on investment) with your service providers? In other words, what is the estimated amount of money you save per year by outsourcing?
When reviewing a new service provider, how important is the providers'
website to your decision-making process?
When reviewing service providers' marketing materials and websites, how important is it to you that this material be very well written
and free of grammatical errors?
If it were individually your choice, and not the company that
you work for, you would not outsource because of the following key reason:
What geographical region best represents your location:
Are the cost savings noted in offshore providers' marketing material
and websites realistic?
Is employee turnover with offshore service providers a major challenge
with quality and turnaround times?
When working with an offshore service provider, do you find that
the provider over promises and then under delivers?
How important is onshore project management (in your own country)
when using an offshore service provider?
The three following questions require that you rank each item with 1-5. Please do
not leave any box unchecked.
If you are currently outsourcing, what would you say is the service
area with the worst levels of quality? Please rank #1 for worst quality, #2 for bad quality, #3 for moderate quality, #4 for good quality and #5 for best quality.
Editorial services
Page makeup and design (InDesign, Quark Express, Advanced Arbor Text, LaTex
etc.)
Technical services such as XML, programming, or conversion services
Illustration and art work
Soft skills such as customer service, problem solving, communication, either
written or verbal, turnaround time, etc.
When you need to find a new offshore service provider, what is the most
convincing criteria to help you decide which company to work with? Please rank #1 for most important, #2 for moderately important, #3 for somewhat important, #4 for not very important and #5 for least important.
Service providers' marketing materials, including their websites
Samples of work, including trials and demos
Testimonials and case studies provided by the service provider
Word of mouth and references from other publishers that you know
In-person meetings at conferences and conventions
If you are currently outsourcing and are looking to change service
providers, what would be the most critical issue for you with a new provider? Please rank #1 for very important, #2 for moderately important, #3 for somewhat important, #4 for not very important and #5 for least important.
If you are currently outsourcing publishing services, which of the services below are of most interest to you in 2015-2016 that you are not currently utilizing. Please rank #1 for very important, #2 for moderately important, #3 for somewhat important, #4 for not very important and #5 for least important.