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.

Client Server Application Development Is Prospering Business in India

Development of client server applications witnessed highs and lows during the years, and while it has been of the competence of software vendors based mainly in the West, a growing number of such applications are now developed in locations in Asia/Pacific region, mainly in India. India has emerged as world leader in the field of software outsourcing, or software off-shoring, including in the field of client server application development, which requires in-depth knowledge in the field of developing technologically advanced applications.

In the course of a few decades, India managed to develop highly effective educational institutions where future India's software developers are graduating and built impressive infrastructure to support the growth of the local IT industry. Thus, India's software developers are now able to provide world-class service, competing on equal terms with reputable software vendors in the West, which, however, are less competitive in terms of pricing, labor costs, and even preparedness to deal with large complex projects.

Client server applications are not necessarily programs that feature millions rows of software code; nevertheless software vendors outside the United States and Europe rarely took part in development of more advanced applications of this kind only a decade ago. The times have changed, however, and growing number of business customers outsource software applicationdevelopment to India-based companies, looking for a reliable yet affordable service. Local firms, in turn, gained invaluable knowledge in the process, allowing India's software vendors to claim contracts that previously have been won mostly by multinational software developers, mainly US-based.

In fact, India-based experts are behind some of the most technologically advanced R&D projects, enabling local software industry to gain first-hand experience in collaboration with world-leading universities, private and public organizations. In a continuous process of labor skill enhancement, local software developers and consultants reached a new stage in their business development, competing on equal terms with, or providing assistance to software behemoths that are behind some major operating systems or business software suites. Thus, India's software developing industry is not seeking recognition by the outside world, but is looking to set foot in new markets that now span the entire world.

India's strategic geographic location aside, the country successfully educated more than one generation of well-trained software specialists and concurrently developed the respective infrastructure to support their efforts to gain world dominance in the field of software outsourcing. Numerous start-ups grew into well-established enterprises in the course of a decade or so, creating the backbone of a flourishing software development and software consulting industry that is now able to produce viable results in virtually every niche, including client server application development.

India's major software development centers are located in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune, but smaller local IT hubs are developed across the country to support development of diversified software industry in other parts of India. The results of such a policy are easily visible, with growing number of foreign companies outsourcing software development or other IT activities to India-based firms, while the local market software market is also considered as underdeveloped, thus bearing huge growth potential. That said, the market for client server application development in India, both outsourced projects and applications intended for the booming local market, is to witness marked growth in the foreseeable future.

Benefits of Outsourcing Software Consulting Service and Software Development to India

Outsourcing computer software development services, and related software consulting service, is a recent phenomenon that provoked heated debates in the United States and member states of the European Union. Nevertheless, contracting a reputable software consulting firm in India to conduct less expensive research and development or provide consultancy services is now a widespread practice in the West, with a growing number of enterprises realizing that they can only benefit from lower costs and acceptable quality offered by Indian software developers and consultants.

Traditionally, a large number of well-qualified software specialists graduated in India find a job abroad and relocate soon after graduation. Even so, local universities are able to fill the gap and produce well-trained software experts, hired by local software consultants, which in turn are able to provide extremely competitive services due to the markedly lower labor costs. India-based software development companies now account for over 30 percent of the global market of outsourced software services, with cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune creating and maintaining the necessary infrastructure to encourage the growth of the local software consultancy and development services industry.

As a result, the country has enjoyed an annual 30 percent growth of its software exports in the past few years, signaling that the exported products are able to compete on equal terms with software solutions provided by leading world software vendors. The low prices are just one side of the coin; demanding Western customers are looking not only for a less expensive consulting service but also for a quality one, while specifics of India’s labor market allow local enterprises to hire well-educated and trained experts and nonetheless offer competitive prices. Thus, computer software development services obtainable in India allow for marked cost savings through off-shoring of this otherwise expensive process.

Evidently, a software consulting firm in India is able to provide competitive prices but access to intellectual property and IT knowledge and expertise is a new driving force behind Western companies’ desire to outsource to India. Local universities and research centers enjoy good reputation in the field of information technologies while both academic and non-academic research centers compete for orders in the sphere of software development services. Such a healthy competition additionally lowers prices, without lowering the overall quality of services provided, and gives the West an opportunity to hire local talents without paying the high price for getting similar services at home.

The use of worth-hiring software consulting service usually requires a significant financial effort in the Western world, while Asia/Pacific software consultants have developed and apply wide-accepted best practices and possess operational expertise that can hardly be developed in-house by the vast majority of small and medium sized Western enterprises. Thus, contacting a software developer or consultant based in India looks like a reasonable move for business owners that have trouble sustaining their competitive advantage or abilities in the field of IT.

Computer software development is a relatively expensive service as well as customization of existing software solutions. Implementation of new business software like customer relationship management (CRM) or enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems requires significant investment and can be extremely time consuming, resulting in even higher implementation costs. Therefore, outsourcing the whole or part of the process to external consultants is a wise move whatever the case may be. Getting software consulting service provided by an India-based company can prove to be the best fit for both large corporations and small and medium sized businesses that want to get access to IT expertise at affordable prices.

India-based Software Consulting Services Gain Popularity Worldwide

With a domestic IT services market worth $9.5 billion in 2011, India ranks third in Asia/Pacific region while India-based software consulting services are gaining momentum thanks to growing local market and increasing demand for outsourced IT consulting. IT software consulting, especially outsourcing of those services to reputable consultants based in India and other fast developing markets, is becoming a widespread business practice worldwide, with a growing number of large multinational corporations looking for ways to reduce costs related to IT services and infrastructure.

While India’s domestic market for IT services is highly fragmented, according to a recent report by Gartner. Inc., finding a reputable India software consulting firm is relatively easy thanks to the widespread use of industry specific best practices and growing number of well educated local IT experts. Local companies are now considered able to provide worthwhile software consulting services covering all aspects of the IT service, from software applications, to infrastructure, to core business processes. As a result, a rapidly growing number of enterprises look for IT software consulting provided by India-based consultants, which can also offer extremely competitive prices.

Evolving standards of local tertiary education led to a situation where enterprises look for India-based IT software consulting even if they do not plan to enter the local market but want to reduce their costs through off-shoring and outsourcing. The wage gap between India and the West is still quite wide and local companies are able to provide high quality consultations carried out by well-educated IT professionals. Therefore, the so-called labor arbitrage is working definitely in favor of India-based consultants.

Access to talent plays an important role in the global shift to outsourcing of consulting services of all kinds, and Indian software specialists have a proven record of accomplishment in providing quality software consulting services. Furthermore, local software vendors and consultants are already able to compete on equal terms with leading global companies when the matter in hand is to provide knowledge based approach toward development, implementation, and customization of business software and related processes.

In fact, IT software consulting is one of the fastest developing IT industry segments because of the growing role that software applications play in a wide range of business processes and procedures. On the other hand, the narrowing gap in the sphere of knowledge skills required for software development, assessment, and implementation makes it easier to hire a reliable third party software consultant. In addition, external consultants can provide consultations remotely thanks to standardization of software development and implementation practices across the world. Thus, a medium sized enterprise based in the United States can obtain valuable consultancy service, provided by an India software consulting firm, on implementation of new software that is developed by a Western software vendor, for example.

Globalization has led to a situation where organizations are no longer required to use local software consulting services in implementing new software solutions or configuring and customizing existing applications. In addition, organizations involved in all sectors of the economy are forced to reduce costs, including IT related costs; thus outsourcing software consulting services to providers in India is a wise move for managers looking to reduce costs while not sacrificing the quality of service they get.

India IT Market Set to Grow, Software Development Is Gaining Momentum

India is the third largest domestic market for IT services in Asia/Pacific region with local market forecast to reach $15 billion by end-2014, including software development, ranking it amongst the major emerging markets for IT services worldwide. India IT services market posted revenue of $8 billion in 2010 with industry analysts forecasting market growth of 18 percent, year-on-year, to $9.5 billion in 2011. Software development in India is gaining momentum partly due to the competitive costs offered by local software vendors and the country is rapidly transforming into a regional software development center, where numerous software developers compete on a highly fragmented market. In addition, India offers great competitive advantages to companies that want to outsource their services there or hire local software developers.

The domestic market for IT services is driven by high GDP growth in the past decade as well as government-backed infrastructure projects that fuel development of advanced IT services and software applications deployed by manufacturers, while the financial services sector, which traditionally relies on sophisticated technologies, is also booming. Telecommunications is another sector of the local economy that boosts software development market in India, demanding high-quality products and forcing local software vendors and service providers to compete with large multinationals on equal terms.

India offers tremendous growth opportunities both in terms of domestic market and as an outsourcing destination because of the evident trend to lower the cost of IT services. Organisations worldwide seek alternatives to high IT usage costs, looking for ways to reduce costs and outsource services, while a growing number of enterprises realise that developing customised business solutions in software development centers like India can prove to be less expensive in the long run, compared to the purchase of high-priced enterprise software offered by multinational software vendors.

Actually, India software development market currently stands where the Silicon Valley stood in the early 1980s; namely, numerous small and mid-sized software vendors offer highly competitive services while a few of those companies are destined to witness their products and business models become worldwide industry standards. Local software vendors and developers are strategically positioned within the region while modern infrastructure allows service providers to offer competitive prices for outsourced services to enterprises headquartered at all continents. To some extent, fragmentation of local IT services market can be regarded as a competitive advantage, stimulating new market entrants and players to offer more competitive services and high-quality products at a reasonable price.

Software development in India can boast traditions and achievements a few markets in the region have with local software developers working under projects commissioned by leading world software vendors. The country’s strategic position in the region and the fast-paced economic development that earned the country a place in the BRIC group (Brazil, Russia, India, China) of the fastest developing emerging markets will inevitably result in marked growth of India’s market for IT services in the near future. Furthermore, local software development is maturing and now can offer solutions designed to compete on equal terms with products developed by leading world software vendors.