A Not Really Fictitious Success Story of An India Software Consulting Firm

There are many examples of IT start ups that achieved multimillion market capitalization overnight, and while one can relatively rarely invest in an India software consulting firm listed on a Western stock exchange, smart foreign investors injected billions of dollars into India-based enterprises that are involved in IT-related businesses.

The story of a fictional software consulting company established in India, can be tracked to a couple of decades ago when a wave of well-educated professionals started providing outsourced services to foreign-based enterprises. The global economy was on the rise, Western corporations sat on bags of cash, and entrepreneurs realized that the future lies with a set of new technologies that include computing, mobile devices, and emerging online opportunities. Leading universities and research centers in the Western world set the stage for the outbreak of technologies that were destined to change the shape of entire markets, to wipe out old business practices and introduce a brave new world where technology is king.

So, an India-based company has been established in, say, New Delhi, to provide software consulting services to a growing number of local enterprises which rapidly realized that in order to survive in this new reality they have to invest first in knowledge-based economical endeavors and then to look for foreign investors and customers that are in need of high-tech services but cannot afford to spend heavily on their respective home market.

The problem is that IT consulting and software development services require beforehand investment as well as patience and continuous efforts to build and develop relevant infrastructure, gain knowledge, and sustain an acceptable quality to pricing ratio in the mean time. The solution was to compete for outsourced projects that initially did not require advanced skills but helped India-based software consultants in gaining the required experience and know-how that enabled those firms to further advance their service portfolio and start providing services to complex software consulting projects. In the course of a decade, India's software consultancies established themselves as a leading market maker in the region, gradually setting foot in foreign markets through a constant flow of research and development projects which, at the end, resulted in the establishing of R&D facilities and centers that are now amongst the world-leading.

Indirectly backed by government investment programs in the field of technology infrastructure and technologies as a whole, the India software consulting firm we follow gained local reputation and then moved on to seek cooperation with multinational corporations. At that time, the world economy was shrinking, and enterprises was eager to outsource costly services overseas to reduce the burden of investment in technology, software consulting services including. Thus, our India-based company was fortunate to gain access to technologies and IT projects that have been previously available mainly to Western software consultants.

Like it or not, but the above developments resulted in an India software consulting firm being able to compete on equal terms with foreign counterparts and provide world-class service in the field of IT consulting.

Factors Determining Success of a Software Consulting Firm in India

Some authors and industry analysts in the West tend to oversimplify the factors that determine a software consulting firms in India success, constructing their argumentation solely on the basis of advantageous pricing provided to foreign customers by local software consultants and IT service providers as a whole. While this statement has valid grounds, the price of a service is never the sole, nor the primary factor influencing a major business decision to entrust a foreign-based service provider with IT auditing or contract an India-based firm to consult the implementation of a business software solution that may cost millions of dollars.

Like it or not, but India's software consultancies have grown not only in numbers, which results in additional pressure to lower prices, but have gained the necessary business and technology know-how to compete on equal terms with rival IT consultants in the West. While the pricing of a service might be a decisive factor for small businesses seeking software consulting services abroad, medium sized and large corporations pursue a certain level of reliability, professional background, and in-depth knowledge. Therefore, a large multinational corporation would rarely pick a software consultant that is not well-prepared to perform the task whatever the price of its service might be.

Evidently, India's software consulting firms are in position to offer advantageous pricing due to the local labor market specifics; nonetheless, they have fought hard to attract business customers and have set foot in the world markets only following a period of knowledge gaining, where local companies provided service as contractors to foreign-based entities. Western-based business customers started outsourcing small software projects to India some two decades ago but since then the local IT industry, backed by heavy government investment in education and infrastructure, have gradually grow into a world leader in the field of software outsourcing, which gave a marked boost to related services like software consulting.

India's software consultants are now well-equipped to perform complex tasks and successfully complete sophisticated projects, and even started hiring foreign-educated professionals attracted by the career growth opportunities offered by local IT consultancies. This is even more remarkable bearing in mind that only a few years ago India experienced a brain drain of IT professionals.

One should also be aware that a software consulting firm in India is destined to perform in a highly competitive marketplace; therefore local companies cannot afford to lose customers due to poor service because one should not leave India to find another reliable service provider. Furthermore, working in the foreign markets, India-based software consulting firms have gained both technology and industry best practices knowledge that now allow those companies to meet the requirements of leading multinationals. 

Thus, a software consulting firm in India is no more only an advantageous source of affordable services in the field of software consulting but a major player when the matter in question is to find the right price to quality ratio.

IT Software Consulting and Effects of Globalization

A number of businesses, all of a sudden, found they have to compete in a global playground where the rules of the game are quite different from those market practices they have been used to, IT software consulting a good example of such an industry. Software consultants were forced to adapt to the challenges of a fast-paced industry where customers do not feel any obligation to get services on the local market nor there are any technical difficulties to get a reliable and more affordable service based abroad.

Unlike other businesses that are heavily influenced by effects of globalization, IT software consulting should bet on proper infrastructure and know-how rather than on mobility and country-specific offers that characterize other industries trying to adapt to a global economic system. In fact, it is quite likely that two corporate customers would require the same quality and affordability of service regardless of their location or annual turnover.

In the world of business corporations based in developed economies are not likely to be happy to pay more for a service that is based in their home country only to support local providers, instead numerous enterprises look for services abroad if they can get the same quality provided at more advantageous terms. Therefore, software consulting is in the forefront of a new phenomenon, software development and consulting outsourcing, which gradually gains strength along with the widening globalization of the world economy.

The not so unlikely winners of such outsourcing are countries in the regions of Asia/Pacific and Latin America, along with a few countries in Central and Eastern Europe, which have managed to invest in knowledge-based industries, with India leading the pack in terms of software development and consulting projects outsourced to local service providers and software developers. Market analysts have predicted such development ever since India emerged as a major player within the group of BRIC countries: Brazil, Russia, India, and China, whose pace of economic growth exceeds by far the pace of growth reported within the group of so called developed nations, including the United States, Canada, and leading European economies.

Thus, India have managed to create a vivid IT software consulting industry, backed by government investment in infrastructure and technological development, higher education including. Software consulting business is a rare mix of advanced technological knowledge and traditional pricing methods heavily influenced, however, by modern means of communication and other technologies that allow for successfully performing certain tasks remotely. India's high-tech centers in Mumbai, New Delhi, and Pune are considered among the world's leading, thus giving a boost not only to local software developers and projects in the field of software and hardware research, but also to reliable IT software consulting services that are able to compete on equal terms with industry market makers.

Obviously, globalization affects much more aspects of IT software consulting business, but India's success in the field is a good sample how an entire industry can be built from scratch but with eventual benefits that will be provided by globalization in mind.

Why It's Worth Looking Abroad for A Reliable Software Consulting Firm

Contracting a software consulting firm that is located round the corner is not the smartest business move one would make although good number enterprises do not pay enough attention to the process of selecting the best fit for their software projects. A popular fallacy is that local software consulting companies are best equipped to meet the requirements of enterprises that are situated in the same vicinity. In fact, modern-day technological solutions require a lot more than in-depth knowledge of regional specifics although it is an important factor to consider when looking for a reliable software consultant.

The world of technology has changed markedly in the past decade, with countries previously not considered technology leaders now enjoying strong positions in the markets for technology related services like hardware and software consulting. Nations in Latin America and Asia/Pacific have emerged as world leaders in the field of software consulting through outsourcing of technology projects, while India has established herself as world leader in terms of software consultancy projects outsourced to local firms.

India now has a long tradition in software development and software consulting, given that the widespread use of software solutions in business and households is a young market, and the country continues to invest in infrastructure required to boost development of local technological hubs. At present, such world class centers are located in New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, and other large cities across India, thus providing the basis for further rapid development of software-related services.

Business across the economically developed nations started moving their software research and development departments eastwards, while others outsourced software consultancy to foreign-based firms, looking not only for more affordable service cost but for quality those companies in Asia/Pacific now can provide. Slowly but steadily, world economy is recovering but those foreign businesses that benefited from software consultancy services provided by India-based companies are very unlikely to start looking to replace those service providers with local ones. Of course, no business in the this world would replace a beneficial service or product with a less affordable one that does not provide better service quality unless it is forced to do so by external factors like government regulations or regional hostilities.

Thus, most industry analysts agree that India is set to retain its world-leading position in the field of software outsourcing, software consulting services including. Whether the country will be able to widen further its market share is debatable and depends on a number of internal and external factors like continuous investment in proper infrastructure and sustainable development of local educational institutions in the sphere of technology. Nevertheless, there are no signs that foreign-based companies should be careful when hiring an Indian software consulting firm for long-term projects.

Government regulations in the United States and within the European Union may influence the future of outbound software outsourcing in these huge markets but adoption of strict regulations in this field is unlikely, market analysts agree. Both Washington and Brussels advocate free market economy which does not bode well with restrictive measures that can reshape an entire industry, therefore local enterprises will continue to look abroad in search of advantageous software consulting services.

In fact, a business in, say, Europe, might experience more difficulties selecting a software consultancy based in India due to the wide choice of reliable and experienced consultants in the region. How this came to happen is an interesting topic but undoubtedly one should bet that a software consulting firm in India can give good ride for the money to a software consultant based in the US or Europe which are traditionally considered strongholds where technological advancements are made.

How India Software Consulting Firm Can Help Reduce Costs

Most businesses need software consultancy assistance at some stage of their development, and hiring India software consulting firm can provide additional benefits, if the IT consultant is carefully selected.  Not so long ago India has been considered a developing nation that can hardly be ranked among leading world nations in terms of technological advancement and availability of well-educated and well-trained IT staff. Within the lifespan of a generation, however, India emerged as leading power in the field of software development and outsourcing of research and development activities, developing also a very competitive software consultancy sector.

As we have already mentioned, most successful businesses require software consultancy services to enhance their efficiency and implement the best software fit for their business operations. Obviously, one could hire a local consultant who is well-acquainted with local market conditions and specifics; nevertheless, such an approach is not mandatory in many scenarios. Enterprises in the West witness continuously growing charges for IT consultancy services, even in stagnating economy, while those services very often do not require any specific in-depth knowledge of the local market. For example, the implementation of a customer relationship management (CRM) system does not require such knowledge, while expertise in the field of custom-made software applications and reasonable pricing policy can be of advantage to the business customer.

In fact, India is the leading world exporter of software products, mainly software applications whose development have been outsourced to Indian software developers, and local software experts have gained invaluable knowledge in the field of software development, implementation and adoption. Furthermore, local software industry enjoys lower payroll costs which can translate into lower costs for end-customers who look for consultancy services in India. In a supply and demand driven economy India-based software consultancies have the advantage of providing cheaper yet reliable service in business environment where demand is continuously growing.

The price of a service is not the most important single factor to assess, though. Access to technology, staff preparedness to cope with complex tasks and projects, ability to innovate are essential factors in the world of software consulting services, and the price for such qualities is high in the West. In contrast, India now possesses both the human and the technological resource to provide world class IT software consultancy services at the price of a regular service, affordable to anyone who is running a business. And since distance is no longer a factor that has negative effect on a business project, remote software consultancy projects are growing in numbers.

On the other hand, India software consulting firms are under constant pressure to deliver because rival companies in Latin America and Eastern Europe are similarly well-equipped to provide reliable and reasonably priced IT consultancy services. Which in turn results in better service and even lower costs for business customers who have decided to hire India-based IT consultant. A good number of market-leading multinationals now rely on India's software consulting companies for taking both strategic and everyday decisions in the field of IT, an approach that allows corporations to save markedly on IT personnel and get reliable advice in the same time.

A growing number of enterprises located in Europe, the US and elsewhere have realized that hiring an India-based software consultant pays back, and, to surprise for many, can result in access to know-how inaccessible through other businesses channels. This is because India's software developers and vendors work on projects that increasingly involve cutting edge technologies, thus gaining knowledge previously available only to researchers and software developers in the West. And since knowledge has always been the most precious commodity, hiring a reputable India software consulting firm can prove to be a very wise decision from strategic point of view.

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.

Why IT Software Consulting is Flourishing?

By any account, IT software consulting is a flourishing business even in times when other industries are shrinking and many sectors are losing jobs. What are the drivers behind such a continuous growth in hard times for the global economy?

First, a growing number of enterprises worldwide need to focus of their core business and cannot afford to maintain on their payroll IT consultants who are usually amongst the most highly paid experts. In time when corporations are obsessed with cost savings and cost reduction, only large multinationals can afford to retain expensive IT consultants as full-time employers, while a growing number of mid-sized and small-sized businesses prefer to hire third party IT and software consultants should a need arise.

Even small family businesses are actually forced to rely on external IT software consulting for good reasons; reputable technology blogs can offer valuable free advice but one would need expert assistance when solving issues that occur during implementation and use of business software. Thus, IT and software consultants can rely on a broad, and growing, customer base worldwide, fuelled by the rising adoption rates of various business software.

On the other hand, the growing demand for IT and software consulting services has resulted in the emergence of myriads of IT consultants, independent and corporate, who offer on-premise or online consultancy services. This in turn has made the IT consulting services more affordable to both large and small-scale businesses.

The process of corporate restructuring and organizational optimization that is taking place globally aims to improve corporations’ efficiency also through access to knowledge and intellectual property provided by IT and software consultants. Hiring third party consultants or outsourcing an entire service to external consultants is no more considered an extravagant, and to some extent unsecure step but is regarded as a necessary move in the wider context of transition to a knowledge-based economy where intellectual property plays an important competitive role. Thus, the World Wide Web is now flooded with technology blogs offering advice how to cope with the challenges of ever-developing information technology, while IT consultants enjoy steady growth of their business.

Obviously, the shift to more technology oriented business practices can be a painful process, while many common mistakes can be avoided through hiring a reputable IT consultant. One would find useful readings regarding the adoption, configuration, and support of particular software on the Internet but only a reputable IT consultant can provide the required expertise to perform the software implementation in the best possible fashion, for example. Therefore, the demand for IT consultancy services is growing while the service price is going down on average.

Today’s risk management practices often require the use of IT consultancy services as well. As a rule, an IT or software consultant is better prepared to manage and successfully complete a procedure of business software implementation or upgrade to a more advanced solution. One should also bear in mind that the specific knowledge on the best practices regarding the implementation, support, and upgrade of business software is among the well-kept industry secrets and rarely an IT consultant is going to make it public and available online.

The expanding sector of IT and software consulting now provides more than consulting services, with IT consultants offering outsourcing, restructuring and optimization services, as well as services in the field of software development previously provided by software vendors only. The evolution of the IT consultancy can result in the emergence of brand new products and services based on cutting-edge technologies, while other IT consultants would prefer to stick to traditional software implementation and optimization services. In both scenarios, IT software consulting is going to play a crucial role in the knowledge-based economies that create more wealth.

Benefits of Outsourcing to Software Consulting Firm in India

Software consulting has many faces, making it hard to provide a universal suggestion whether a particular project should be outsourced, but a consulting firm in India can offer to benefits that rivals based in the United States and Western Europe can hardly afford to provide to their customers. Service price is a fundamental factor in evaluation of all and every service, and India’s IT consultants are well known for their very competitive pricing and first class service based on first hand experience with both large scale and niche projects in the field of software development, customization, and implementation.

Traditionally, India’s software developers and vendors have been a major force in the region of Asia/Pacific, which in turn resulted in a flourishing software consultancy industry that provides advisory services domestically and abroad. According to various reports, local market for software consulting services is set to grow markedly within the next decade, while a steadily increasing number of foreign companies outsource projects and services requiring software consulting coverage to India-based consultants. In fact, India is the leading world power in the field of software outsourcing service, mainly offshore software development and research and development services, but also software consulting covering all and every aspect of the multifaceted software development and implementation process.

The country competes with behemoths like China and Canada to attract foreign-based companies, but virtually all reports by market analysts position India as a leading world power in the sphere of offshore software consulting, along with the Philippines. The two countries jointly hold over 50 percent of the world market for outsourced software development and consultancy services, with India leading the pack by a marked margin.

This development is result of wisely planned government policy of investing into knowledge-based services and industries like software and hardware research and development, with cities like Mumbai, New Delhi, and Pune cited as world-leading destinations for software outsourcing and software consultancy services thanks to global connectivity, developed infrastructure, and availability of well-trained software professionals. Thus a software consulting firm in India, especially one positioned in the above mentioned R&D centers, can rely on underlying infrastructure similar to those in the West while enjoying significantly lower payroll expenditures, for example.

Software consultancies based in Europe and the United States have to deal with highly regulated domestic labor markets, strict legislation in the field of human resource protection, and traditionally higher remuneration packages within the IT industry, and all those factors combined result in loss of competitive advantage compared with India-based software consultants. In contrast, India’s software consultancies enjoy a liberal market, where a combination of relatively low wages in the IT sector and availability of highly educated professionals in the field creates unparalleled market growth potential. Even the brain drain of domestically educated IT professionals to companies and universities abroad does not harm noticeably India’s ability to provide unrivalled software consulting services in terms of quality to price ratio, which signals further steady development of those services in India.

Software development and consulting outsourcing is mutually advantageous process, in which the service provider gains access to technology and particular know-how it would not be allowed to access otherwise. Thus, India-based software consultants gradually gained experience in fields that were previously restricted to U.S.- and Europe-based companies only, which in turn gave a marked boost to their competitiveness in terms of possession and access to cutting edge technologies.

Finally, a software consulting firm in India can benefit from the country’s unique location in the very heart of Asia/Pacific region, making India a preferred place for hiring a software consultancy firm to deal with regional software and hardware developers and vendors.

The Economic Crisis and India’s IT, Software Consulting Growth

Looming economic crisis and continuous recession disillusioned many customers looking for affordable yet reliable services related to IT and software consulting. Numerous business customers left their former service providers in search of a reliable service that is better adapted to meet the challenges of ongoing economic troubles on a global scale, creating gainful opportunities for entrepreneurial-minded IT and software consulting based in developing markets.

Thus, a number of countries in Asia/Pacific region emerged as serious contenders in the race for consumers of IT and software consulting services worldwide, setting foot in new markets, and replacing established market players. The map of the IT consultants that are considered reliable and are in high demand among business customers changed dramatically in the past decade or so. Of course, each country and region has its own leading players in the local market; nevertheless, a global shift toward IT and software consulting services based in India is more than evident, with India boasting some 50 percent of the global market for offshore software consultancy.

Such a development was not unexpected, really, yet it did not happen overnight. It took years to educate a generation of highly skilled professionals in the field of IT, while it took even longer to overcome prejudices related to the reliability of local consultants and the quality of their service. Well-established Western corporations are slow when the matter in question is to choose a new service provider or IT consultant, but when the economic crisis hit Europe and North America cash stripped enterprises were fast to realize they should adjust their budgets to a new reality.

In fact, India’s software consultants have been ready to face the challenge, with numerous IT consultancies already providing services to a broad customer base in Europe and the United States, competing on equal terms with IT advisories based in Canada, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Moreover, the country is now having trouble to fill the gap in the demand for outsourced services and the number of IT professionals its educational institutions are able to produce within a short period.

Naturally, North American and European governments are experiencing growing pressure from local business communities to adopt measures restricting the outflow of IT related jobs abroad, including IT consulting, software development, . On the other hand, regulatory measures are destined to be unsuccessful in a market environment where corporations compete in a liberal market in which fundamentals like productivity, efficiency, costs, etc., matter. Those are largely populist measures intended to preserve local jobs but they rarely succeed in doing so for good reasons: labor costs in the West are very high, productivity is not among the world’s highest, social benefits of workers burden corporate budgets, to name a few.

Thus, India’s software consultants are the big winners amidst an ongoing, and heated, debate whether outsourcing of services, mainly in the field of IT, is good or bad for Western economies. Demand for such services is growing rapidly worldwide, Western consultants, however, are not able to supply affordable service to an increasing number of mid-sized corporations on a tight budget.

Therefore, the whole debate is heading in a wrong direction, blaming corporations for looking eastward for affordable and reliable IT services, while not realizing that underlying issues of productivity and payroll costs undermine the very competitiveness of the West. In any case, India’s IT and software consulting sector is now in position to gain even greater share of the world market for software consulting services.