Where in the World Leading IT Software Consulting Firms Reside?

Traditionally, Silicon Valley is considered the place where everything newsworthy in the world of information technologies, subsequently in the field of IT software consulting, happens. Myths aside, California is still the area where numerous leading technology firms are headquartered but, like it or not, an evident trend is that an increasing number of world-leading software consultancies are located not only outside California, but outside the United States and Europe, thus re-shaping the world software industry map.

In the course of only couple of decades, Asia/Pacific region emerged as an alternative hub for software research and development, giving birth to numerous reputable companies involved in software design and development, software implementation, and IT consulting. India is the leader of the pack in the region, thanks to years of smart investment in knowledge-based economy and development of locally-grown hardware and software experts who, despite the brain drain, are well equipped to provide reliable software consultancy service to both mid-sized businesses and leading world multinationals.

In fact, North America is no longer a world leader in the sphere of IT consulting, following several decades of massive software development outsourcing to countries like India and the Philippines, as well as regions like Eastern Europe and, to a lesser extent, Latin America. This massive and lasting wave of software development off shoring helped create several generations of well-prepared software experts at every level in those countries, professionals who are able to produce results and give valuable advice even to world-leading software vendors. For example, India's metropolitan areas like New Delhi are topping the list of the world's best places to outsource software development and research, as well as to take advantage of affordable yet world-class software consulting services.

Evidently, other world regions like Central and Eastern Europe also offer less expensive skilled labor force in the sphere of information technology; nevertheless, India cannot be beaten when the matter in question is to get competitive pricing on high quality software consulting. The only indicator that casts shadow on India's reputation as the new world center of reliable IT and software consulting services is the relatively low number of hardware and software specialists holding master's degrees, although a recent trend shows that Indian students who have graduated abroad return home more often than a few years ago, thanks to better overall work conditions and career growth opportunities provided by local IT companies and IT consultancies. Thus, the country is now experiencing an inflow of foreign educated specialists that are able to boost further India's positions as the newly emerged leader in the field of outsourced software research and development.

Local software experts, gaining valuable knowledge through taking part in projects led by world-leading software vendors, now have the expertise to provide consultancy services that previously have been available only through Western software consultants. In addition, India-based consultancies are able to offer price to quality ratio that is practically unachievable to their US- and Europe-based counterparts, due to significantly lower payroll costs coupled with access to cutting edge technologies and advanced infrastructure.

Some authors in the United States and Europe claim that their respective governments should take Draconian measures to prevent local businesses from outsourcing software development and IT consulting to countries like India, in order to encourage local growth and help create jobs. Obviously, it is a highly politicized issue and common sense hints that businesses will always seek to minimize expenditures, including through outsourcing activities like IT software consulting to third-parties that are better prepared to complete the job with acceptable quality and are able to offer a price that is lower than the one to perform the task in-house. That said, unbiased observers tend to agree that the world center of IT software consulting moved eastwards for good reasons, and there are no signs this will change in the years to come.