http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010 ... gn-flavor/

First outsourcing move has foreign flavor
Some computer support may be based in India

By Craig Gustafson, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 12:28 a.m.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders touted job creation as one of his top priorities this week in his State of the City speech. He didn’t mention some of those jobs would be in India.

The city’s first foray into outsourcing — if approved next month by the City Council — would switch some of its computer support from Clairemont to India.

The mayor selected En Pointe Technologies from among nine bidders to take over the city’s desktop support services beginning July 1. Most of the work would be done at the company’s Gardena headquarters and by a local subcontractor, Mission Valley-based Gray Systems Inc.

But part of the service includes after-hours operators to help with computer problems from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. They’ll be stationed in India.

Naresh Lachmandas, the city’s information technology director, said the overseas component is a small part of the company’s $1.2 million bid.

Right now support services are provided by San Diego Data Processing Corp., a nonprofit city agency that has handled the job for 30 years. The after-hours duties now consist of an operator, based in the agency’s Clairemont office, taking the call and creating a ticket that is handled by a technician during the next business day.

Under the proposed contract with En Pointe, that service would expand with operators having expertise and the ability to call in technicians immediately for a computer emergency.

“It’s not a service we’re getting today, and it’s not displacing anybody,â€