Outsource Software

According to ZDNet: 

India is creating a regulatory body to improve the level of security in companies providing offshore IT services and business process outsourcing.

The initiative has been spearheaded by the National Association of Software and Service Companies, or Nasscom, to assuage fears about Indian data security in the wake of incidents of call center data theft. The technology trade association also aims to promote the region as the safest place for IT and BPO amid rising competition from other offshoring locations.

“The key objective of creating the SRO (self-regulatory organization) is to raise the floor in security and safety standards in Indian outsourcing across the IT industry,” Sunil Mehta, a vice president of Nasscom, told Silicon.com.

Brazilian IT services vendor Politec has won a contract with US-based staffing and engineering firm CDI Corp, in a deal that highlights the emergence of Brazil as a key source of low-cost offshore skills.

Politec is Brazil’s largest privately owned IT services provider with full-year 2005 sales of BRR 478m ($226m) and some 6,000 employees. The company provides a broad range of applications and infrastructure services, and has operations in China, Japan, Europe, and the US.

Furthermore, there is more evidence of the emergence of Brazil in offshore outsourcing:

IBM Global Services supports all of its Latin American outsourcing clients from its data center in Sao Paulo, and Indian giant Tata Consultancy Services Ltd expects to recruit between 600 to 800 new employees in Brazil to support its contract with ABN AMRO. The vendor said that around 50% of the ABN AMRO work is being delivered from Brazil. TCS currently has 600 staff in the country working on projects for clients including Gillette, AIG, and Brasil Telecom, and plans to increase this to 2,000 people by March 2007.

Full Computer Business Review article…

If you are trying to grow your network of qualified offshore outsourcing providers and buyers, an outsource marketplace can help develop contacts that lead to mutually beneficial relationships.  However, when using a site such as RentACoder, direct communication between offshore outsourcing providers and buyers is prohibited. 

Without direct communication, you are unable to grow your network without a middleman (RentACoder, etc.).  This makes it nearly impossible to integrate development process and project management with existing collaboration tools, version control software, bug tracking software, instant messaging, automated builds, CMM/CMMi level, etc.  In addition, if you are a service provider, you pay the offshore outsource marketplace fees for each project.  This situation seems to be an opportunity for improvement.

On this site, we are creating offshore software provider reviews.  With a community based review site, the objective is to provide free research assistance for finding potential partnerships and/or outsource marketplaces.   If you are an offshore software development provider who would like to be listed, use the suggest a site feature or contact me directly.  Or, if you have direct experience with one of the listed marketplaces or providers, please post a review to let people know what you think. 

In addition to reviews, I would like to create a list of pre-qualified software development providers to aid in researching offshore outsourcing partnership opportunities.  To be considered for pre-qualified list, please contact me directly or post an entry in Flat World Software Development Services Forum, so we can learn more about your areas of expertise and development process.

By growing your network of offshore outsourcing providers and buyers outside of outsource marketplaces, you are free to communicate and integrate in any way possible.  And, of course, this provides the opportunity to develop mutually beneficial, long-term partnerships.

According to ChinaDaily

US software giant Microsoft is planning to pour US$3.7 billion into China over the next five years, it announced yesterday.

Under a deal signed with China’s top economic planning body, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Microsoft has vowed to increase its investment and commitment which it says will aid the development of the Chinese software sector.

the US firm will also invest US$100 million during the same period to collaborate with Chinese software firms or their offshore subsidiaries. This will be done in the form of setting up joint ventures or co-operation, a move the software company says is designed to help the growth of Chinese software firms.

In addition, Microsoft will, in the same timeframe, place a US$100 million order with Chinese software companies for software technical support, development and testing services.

The software giant is also planning to train 10,000 software professionals for China in the next five years.