Re: Is India’s outsourcing honeymoon over?
“China. We’re not India.”
An insider perspective on the three key reasons software vendors consider China an offshore destination.
David Scott Lewis [IT E-Strategies, Inc.] | POSTED: 02.16.06 @07:00
Since the publication of my last column, I have been in a temp exec position with a leading Beijing-based IT outsourcing firm, arguably the second largest in China focused on the North American market. Being on the “inside” has provided me with a lot of fodder for my AO column, e-newsletter, blog, and Sand Hill Group weekly blog (forthcoming), although it’s important to differentiate what is unique to a particular company versus what can be generalized across the board.
http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=13960_0_4_0_C
For my first insider column, I’m going to take a look at the three key reasons software vendors consider China an offshore destination. But there’s something implicit in this last sentence: Few end users in North America or Europe are willing to consider China unless the China-based firm has a significant footprint in the States. Some do, such as Worksoft, Achievo, Augmentum, Symbio and Freeborders. Most, however, do not. Bleum and I.T. United have bridged this gap with little more than a sales office in the States, but they also have Western founders and top management; Bleum also has been assessed CMM Level 5 (as has Bamboo, another Western-focused firm), a rarity in China. Even the largest IT outsourcing firms in China have had very little success in the States, the notable exception (and the only exception) being Neusoft. However, in Neusoft’s case, the head of its U.S.-facing operations spent over 20 years at IBM in North America, and it’s been the smartest of the bunch at leveraging its capabilities for penetration into the North American market.