Ciber, a Denver-based service provider, opened up a "made in America" application development center today in Oklahoma City. The company says this is just the first of several it's planning.
According to the press release, these CIBERsites are "designed to tap into the underutilized technology talent pools of mid-sized American metropolitan areas." CIBER plans to create about 200 new jobs in Oklahoma City and upwards of 1,000 new jobs around the country over the next 18 months.
Here's an interesting quote: "Though CIBERsite employees will be paid less than the national average, they will still earn more than their overseas counterparts," said CIBERsites Division President Tim Boehm. "And, our CIBERsites clients will have another choice in avoiding the hidden costs of offshoring, such as language gaps, intellectual property protection, travel, time schedules, infrastructure vulnerability, political risks and increasingly high employee turnover." Sounds kind of ominous to me, though I think it's smart for service providers to set up tech centers in the US where wages aren't as hefty as they are on the coasts.
