I'm contracting for a company that is in the process of outsourcing a good chunk of its information technology (IT) backbone to Asia. It's core business is not IT so it makes perfect sense. I find the dynamic of day to day work rather complex. Everyone has multiple agendas that creep into every issue of business. It's an unnerving experience as you're always evaluating situations for its outsource potential and how that will effect the funding for a project, the future of the service you provide or, in the end, your job. Who's safe in an environment of outsourcing? What are the skills or the areas that will offer refuge from this constant state of outsource? How can I dodge the outsource bullet and build my career in this environment of uncertainty? What skills should I build and concentrate on to make sure I can advance my career as opposed to simply dancing around to avoiding being outsourced?