Outsourcing to India: The Offshore Advantage [Hardcover]

From the reviews of the second edition: "This second edition has been completely revised the publisher claim, with up-to-date information on the latest state of development in the country. … this book still offers valuable information about the IT-enabled service industries in this continent. The current second edition is a useful text for anyone who is looking to the future for involvement with a country that is already making its mark in IT and offers potentially not only a flourishing market but also growing pool of IT workers." (W. R. Howard, Kybernetes, Vol. 37 (1), 2008) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the reviews of the second edition: "This second edition has been completely revised the publisher claim, with up-to-date information on the latest state of development in the country. ! this book still offers valuable information about the IT-enabled service industries in this continent. The current second edition is a useful text for anyone who is looking to the future for involvement with a country that is already making its mark in IT and offers potentially not only a flourishing market but also growing pool of IT workers." (W. R. Howard, Kybernetes, Vol. 37 (1), 2008) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

A day does not pass without a newspaper report about yet another company that has started outsourcing technology or other business processes to India. Managers across the world are beating a path to India because it is the global leader for offshore IT-enabled services. Many corporate leaders seek to reduce their costs. Many seek to improve service quality, but not many understand India on their first visit and some are confused by clashes of culture. This book aims to introduce India, the major players in the Indian service industry, the reasons why you should utilise India as an offshore outsourcing destination and the steps you need to take to find and work with a local partner. This book advises you on who is important, where they are and what they are doing in India. It will help you to avoid cultural clashes and smooth over the traumatic transition period once you decide outsourcing to India is the right strategic decision for your company.

A day does not pass without a newspaper report about yet another company that has started outsourcing technology or other business processes to India. Managers across the world are beating a path to India because it is the global leader for offshore IT-enabled services. Many corporate leaders seek to reduce their costs. Many seek to improve service quality, but not many understand India on their first visit and some are confused by clashes of culture.

This book aims to introduce India, the major players in the Indian service industry, the reasons why you should utilise India as an offshore outsourcing destination and the steps you need to take to find and work with a local partner. This book advises you on who is important,
where they are and what they are doing in India. It will help you to avoid cultural clashes and smooth over the traumatic transition period once you decide outsourcing to India is the right strategic decision for your company.

First Impressions - Indian History and Religion - Contemporary Indian Politics - Culture and Food - Domestic Travel - Security Concerns - The Outsourcing Drivers - The Major Industry Players in India - Ownership Models and
Partnership - The Major Outsourcing Locations - Industry Associations and Research Bodies - Outsourcing Objectives -
Destination India - Outsourcing Flavours - Success Criteria - Vendor Selection - Legal Contract Arrangement - Quality and the Service Level Agreement - Migration & Knowledge Transfer - Culture and Communication - Adapt the
Organisation - Employee Transition and Exit Management

Includes a foreword from India by Kiran Karnik, president of NASSCOM, and a foreword from Europe by Nigel Roxburgh, co-founder of the National Outsourcing Association.

When I first started working with Indian teams I looked in the bookstore for information. There were many guides to India, for backpackers or those interested in ancient history. There were some academic outsourcing guides, full of arcane charts and diagrams depicting the potential ROI of a transition programme. However there was nothing about the practical aspects of being a foreign manager trying to set up an offshore outsourcing contract in India.

This book is targeted at professional managers with a requirement to understand the offshoring process, with a focus on India for non-Indians. Offshore outsourcing is becoming one of the major areas of management where there is a huge shortage of skilled professionals and this book aims to address this issue through practical guidance.

I have found through experience that some knowledge of the history, culture and food of India can really help when doing business. Understanding the sourcing industry sector is also essential when first trying to ascertain who you should partner with (or whether you should just open shop yourself). All this information and a step-by-step guide to the common pitfalls at various stages of the outsourcing process are included in my book.

I wish that I could have bought this book at an airport bookstore the first time I travelled to India on business.

"I am pleasantly surprised at the depth and level of content in this book- my congratulations to you on having put together such an authoritative piece."
Rajeev Suri, European Marketing Manager, Infosys

"In Outsourcing to India: The Offshore Advantage, Mark Kobayashi-Hillary has offered a balanced view on the trend to outsource to India. He makes a compelling economic case for outsourcing to this region whilst acknowledging and discussing the emotive aspects of such a decision."

Kiran Karnik, President of NASSCOM

"Mark clearly demonstrates how India is taking up a key role in providing IT and Business Process Outsourcing using a remote delivery model. He shows that this can be very economically advantageous to European companies, but that such offshore outsourcing raises many challenges which – should you follow his advice – may nevertheless be pragmatically managed."
Nigel Roxburgh, Co-founder National Outsourcing Association

Mark Kobayashi-Hillary is a British writer and independent outsourcing consultant, based in London, UK.

Mark has worked at a senior level for several leading banking and technology groups in Asia, Europe and the US. During this time, he has been involved in managing outsourced relationships in the UK, Singapore and India. At present, Mark is a member of the British Computer Society Working Group studying the effect of offshore outsourcing on the British economy and IT industry.

Mark is a regular commentator on India and outsourcing in the European press with recent contributions to The Financial Times, The Observer, Computer Weekly and Computing.