IBM Seeks Patent on Outsourcing Jobs Overseas

[mandy]

United States Patent Application  20070162321
Kind Code A1
Behrmann; Bryan L. ;  et al. July 12, 2007

Outsourcing of services

Abstract

A method for identifying human-resource work content to outsource offshore of an organization. The method is provided on a computer readable medium and includes the steps of identifying at least one task being performed by an organization; associating each identified task with a functional group within a plurality of functional groups related to the organization; determining information about individual human resources spent on each task; determining task information about human resources spent on the plurality of tasks, the task information based on the determined information about individual human resources spent on each task; using the determined task information to determine a value of each task; and outsourcing tasks having a value lower than a predefined limit to at least one of offshore and to a low cost supplier.

full patent application: http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220070162321%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20070162321&RS=DN/20070162321

[bargainbloodhound]

IBM Seeks Patent on Outsourcing Jobs Overseas

I can't imagine why anyone thinks the patent system needs to be overhauled. arcasm1:

[mandy]

IBM VP Bob Sutor announced on his personal blog that the patent was now in the public domain, and he admitted that it didn't seem to square with some of IBM's commitments to patent reform, such as reducing the use of "business method" patents.

"Here's why we are withdrawing it," he wrote. "IBM adopted a new policy a year ago to sharply reduce business method patent filings and instead stress significant technical content in its patents. Even though the patent application in question was filed eight months before the policy took effect in September 2006, had the policy been in place at the time, IBM would not have filed the application. We're glad the community pointed this application out so IBM could take swift action." ...

full article: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/200...tware.html