Outsourcing the prevalent trend of 2003

2003 changed the face of IT like never before. It was a different kind of year for the Indian information technology (IT) services industry. Multinational IT enterprises suddenly scrambled to expand their Indian operations.

A huge backlash against the outsourcing of jobs from the US and other western nations to countries like India developed. And the US cut the number of H1B visas it offers foreign workers. Some Indian IT companies have responded by trying to move more work offshore faster to reduce the dependency on visas and by seeking local recruits for on-site positions.

With outsourcing becoming the talk of the town, Indian IT companies started bagging large orders worth $50 million to $100 million, up from $10-25 million earlier. Foreign companies started working with multiple partners to spread their risks. The potential outsourcing alternative to India -China which continues to be debated every other day in corporate boardrooms.

With companies like Accenture, IBM Global services making an entry, it has made the Indian IT services industry sit up and acknowledge that they need to do a lot to compete in this ever changing competitive landscape and have to keep improving day after day.

When these companies announced their offshoring plan, most Indian IT companies said complacently that these MNCs could not scale up fast, that this is a people's business, a process-oriented business and that most Indian global companies were at CMM Level 5.

The backlash against outsourcing and the New Jersey bill against outsourcing state government jobs to India have clearly demonstrated the importance of IT professional and trade bodies making an impact in the US and Europe, of developing a good image for the industry.

India's IT companies may have arrived on the world stage, but they won't be content at being just global companies. They want to secure a position among the Global 10 in the years to come.