India's IT-BPO industry in forefront compared to China & Philippines: Report

Globally, India continues to be the forerunner in the IT-BPO industry, according to a recent report by Cushman & Wakefield. However, a number of other South and South-east Asian countries are increasingly gaining share in the global IT-BPO Industry.

India continues to outperform its counterparts - Philippines, China, Malaysia and other South Asian countries in the IT-BPO industry due to abundant availability of English speaking and qualified talent pool, good network infrastructure, higher cost arbitrage, rapidly growing domestic market, high quality of services delivered, reliable power network, stable political system, positive business environment that fosters Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the IT-BPO sector and global expansion of Indian IT firms. India’s advantage also lies in its strong domestic demand, the geographical diversity and the growth potential in Tier II and Tier III cities.

While India is at the forefront in the IT industry, Philippines is emerging as India's competitor in voice-based operations. The Philippines' IT industry contributes around 5% to the country's GDP and has emerged closest competition to India especially in the call centre business.

The major growth of voice-based operations in the country is primarily because of the educated and English-speaking talent pool. Though it seems to be an attractive destination due to cheaper availability of talent and Government support, there are still some concerns with the market especially with regards to the higher level managerial positions and capability in software development. 

China's inherent capabilities in low cost manufacturing and research are helping the growth of its IT industry apart from its increasing foothold in the BPO and data center segments. But the country is finding it difficult to make it big into the global BPO services due to language constraints. Its strengths are in R&D, high-end analytics and development of advanced IT and electronic technologies which differ from India's core prowess, thus making possible to both the countries to exploit and develop their key expertise areas.

Sanjay Dutt, executive managing director South Asia, Cushman & Wakefield said, ''India, China and Philippines are expected to continue building their strengths and keep pace with the technological advancements in the industry to maintain an edge over other emerging competitors in their core areas. However, India will continue to maintain its status as the ‘IT powerhouse of the region' in the coming years due to its advancement in the sector and value for money delivery.''

''The strength of the Indian IT industry lies in its stronghold over the outsourcing industry worldwide and the rapidly growing domestic market. The Indian domestic market registered a growth of 14.1% year on year while the exports grew by 10.2% year on year. Apart from the key cities, in India Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India such as Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kochi are amongst others offer significant growth potential and provides a sizeable domestic market and are the new emerging centers for IT businesses.''

Courtesy: www.myiris.com