Niyamath Parveez

India is one of the most preferred outsourcing destinations for US-based companies, and it has been like that for years now. Highly educated personnel, 24/7 support and rock-bottom prices – Indian outsourcing vendors provide the best of many worlds to their US-based clients, so much so, that many companies are in love with their offshore workforce than they are with their in-house teams. However, the situation is changing somewhat in recent times.

The advantages of outsourcing a service to India cannot be denied. However, US-based companies that outsource services to India also have to overcome some obstacles along the way, if they want their work done in a cost-effective manner. Some of the significant problems with India-based outsourcing vendors include:

1. Mainframe skills – When mainframe skills are needed, India-based providers will always remain one step back. Indian IT professionals just don’t get much opportunity to tinker around with mainframes, especially since IBM bid adieu to the country in the 70’s, under threat of getting nationalized.

1. Difference in time zones – Real time collaboration of Indian providers with their US based clients usually remains on the fringes of impossibility, especially if the clients want both the best in-house and vendor’s teams to co-ordinate with one another.

1. Cultural difference – Indian culture will always remain substantially different from that of their US clients. Few Indians know how to properly communicate with Americans (no, accent isn’t everything). Also, some Americans DO have prejudices against working with Indians.

That’s not all. Indian service providers have their own demons to deal with as well. High attrition among employees contributing to a high rate of employee turnover is of major concern, not just to the service providers but to their US-based clients as well.

All these reasons have led to gradual preference towards Mexico of some US-based companies in order to get their work done through an outsourcing vendor. Latin American outsourcing service providers are not less competent than their Asian counterparts in most cases. In fact, they have quite advantageous positions in the exact same fields where Indian outsourcing service providers have drawbacks. Their personnel are well-trained with mainframes. Many providers are capable enough to attain SEI CMM standards of service, while others are fast catching up.

The time zone of Mexico is almost the same as in US, with a difference of less than half an hour, at most. This makes co-ordination between lead teams of the vendor and the client a snap. Lastly, Mexicans are not that ignorant about American culture and politics. They do know the difference between the tactics employed by the Democrats and the Republicans in politics, and can talk circles around their clients about those if necessary.

The Spanish speaking, IT-savvy population of Mexico creates greater appeal towards American companies that have to deal with Spanish clients based in Europe. The Spanish of Asian professionals can seldom match that of people who have had it as their mother tongue.

The Government of Mexico has always been pretty supportive of the outsourcing service providers in the country, and it is even more so in these troubled times, plagued by recession. Besides, the excellent infrastructure laid out by the Mexican Government, consisting of well-constructed roads and telecommunication facilities. All these ensure smooth functioning of operations on both sides.

These reasons have put Mexico in the hot list for outsourcing providers among US-based companies. That does not mean India is out of the picture yet, though. Indian providers still charge rock bottom fees for their services, something that Mexican vendors simply cannot beat yet.

Outsourcing engineering processes to India has become a common trend among US-based engineering firms lately. Many US-based engineering firms are outsourcing their engineering processes to India these days. The outsourcing service providers in other countries in Asia and Europe that used to provide these services to US-based companies are steadily getting replaced by service providers located in the Indian cities of Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, etc. The processes include conversion services, cost estimations, structural drafting and detailing, only to name a few.

There are some definite advantages that American companies get by outsourcing their engineering services to India. These are as follows:

1. Skilled labor working 24/7 – Many Indian service providers hire employees who can work in shifts, thereby keeping the factory running 24/7. Thus it is possible for them to meet even tight deadlines that clients may put forward at times. Besides, India is the home of many talented and technically qualified engineers, who know how to get a job done efficiently. The labor force is mostly well-trained. So, for projects for which quality is an important factor, skilled labor force is automatically chosen over unskilled labor forces. Indian service providers are thus preferred over providers in many other Asian countries, where skilled workforce may be a tad harder to find.
2. Good communication – Indians learn English quite well in schools. As such, it is significantly easier for Indian engineers to communicate with their American clients. This is not the case with many other Asian countries, where the knowledge of English may not be so good among the general population. This is another important reason why outsourcers from US prefer Indian service providers over those from other Asian countries.
3. Cost-effective services – The service cost is quite less in India compared to many other Asian countries. In fact the difference in the values of US Dollar and Indian Rupee is what attracts many outsourcers to India in the first place. Besides, Indian service providers often provide value added services to outsourcers, which makes the arrangement all the more profitable for US-based companies. Thus, investing in the services of an Indian outsourcing service provider means big savings as well as high-quality service. What more can a client ask for?
4. Unit conversion services – Many Asian service providers work with the metric system, while US-based companies mostly use FPS system of units. While this is quite a big hurdle for most US-companies who outsource their engineering processes, Indian service providers take care of this problem by providing unit conversion services to their outsourcer clients at no additional cost. This means even greater value for money for the outsourcer. This factor also contributes to the popularity of Indian outsourcing service providers among US-based clients.

These are the reasons for which Indian service providers get chosen over providers from other Asian countries for engineering processes outsourced by American companies. In the coming years, these factors are supposed to increase the popularity of Indian service providers even more.