This page provides links to offshore outsourcing news articles published in August 2004. Please note that over time some links may become broken as the various web sites are updated. We endevour to keep the links up-to-date, but inevitably some broken links will occur.

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You can also read August's News Reviews and Press Releases.

News Archive

16 August 2004 ICRM vendors look for new pastures

India Express group

...the total ICRM market in India in the year 2000 was worth $12.7 million. With this small base, it isn't surprising that the market recorded growth rates of 135.9 percent and 86 percent in 2001 and 2002 respectively. The 38.2 percent and 37.3 (estimated) growth in 2003 and 2004 respectively marked the beginning of a period of stabilisation. After growing at an estimated rate of 32.8 percent in 2005, the Y-O-Y growth is expected to taper off reaching single digit levels of 8.9 percent in 2009 and 5.1 percent in 2010. The revenue forecast by 2010 is $267.9 million...

16 August 2004 Indian outsourcer journeys to China

VNUNet

...Indian offshore outsourcing giant Wipro is setting up its first Chinese development centre. The move could prove popular with businesses wanting to spread the risk of IT outsourcing by using multiple locations...

...locations in Europe were also being evaluated, including the possibility of using sites in Eastern Europe for German companies...

...Many pundits have suggested that a shortage of labour and consequential rising salaries would drive offshoring out of India...

...UK firms will increasingly send work to the Czech Republic, Poland and Morocco, the report suggests...

16 August 2004 Up or down... The `Why' matters

The Hindu Business Line

...highlights: At revenues of $1.06 billion, Infosys had a sales growth of 41 per cent, Wipro, at $1.35 billion had 49 per cent growth, while HCL Tech and Satyam Computers, at $509 million and $556 million, had growth rates of 35 per cent and 21 per cent. Cognizant, at $409 million, showed a growth of 61 per cent. Interestingly, Perot Systems, which has only slightly higher revenues than Wipro, at $1.55 billion, showed 16 per cent growth while Sapient, with $200 million, showed a 13 per cent growth rate...

16 August 2004 Outsourcing trend worries U.S. workers

Courier Journal

...Some 66 percent of 2,814 workers polled by Hudson Global Resources, a global staffing and consulting company, said offshore outsourcing is bad for the economy. At the same time, 84 percent believe their jobs will not be affected...

15 August 2004 Two sides of outsourcing issue

The Arizona Republic

...The national software association reported that the proportion of specialists in the U.S. IT workforce grew from 38 percent in 1983 to 74 percent last year. All of the evidence points to the conclusion that in order to compete in today's more creative and complex economy, education will be a critical need for workers at all levels...

13 August 2004 IT expert unsure on outsourcing after US polls

Business Standard

IT experts in both the US and India are still not sure if the cry against outsourcing of jobs would abate after the American presidential polls, a leading author and expert said here...

13 August 2004 U.S. Election 2004: The Offshoring Factor

News Factor

"Seventy percent of the companies we surveyed are offshore outsourcing now. We expect that to climb to 90 percent in 2005,"...

...But not everyone agrees that government is powerless to intervene. "Politicians could take the savings back by taxing and red-taping offshore outsourcing to death,"...

13 August 2004 New book says training can counter offshoring

InfoWorld

...However, the business decision to outsource offshore is predicated not only on the comparatively lower cost of workers in offshore locations, but also on their relative productivity and quality as well. The productivity argument can be used effectively to justify keeping some knowledge-based work in the U.S...

...Although India has emerged as the archetypical example of an offshore outsourcing location, because of its cheap, well-educated and English-speaking workforce, China may not be far behind, according to Yourdon. The country can offer cheaper staff than India, and as well-educated...

11 August 2004 Secova Acquires US-based EmpactEBS, To Ramp Up Ops

The Financial Express

...Chennai-based Secova eServices (Secova), a human resource BPO firm has acquired the US-based EmpactEBS, a benefits processing company...

11 August 2004 Our evolution to outsourcing?

NetworkWorldFusion

...In 2004, the world seems to be in a different place. Outsourcing to service providers doesn't seem to hold nearly the risk that it seemed to have a few years ago. Perhaps we've just gotten used to the idea, even though outsourcing has really been around for decades (they were called service bureaus in the old days).

It is interesting to me to see the evolution within our own organization with respect to IT and outsourcing...

9 August 2004 The best is yet to come

The Hindu Business Line

...eWorld caught up with Dr Arun Maheshwari, Managing Director, CSC India, for his take on the IT scene and his company's plans. Excerpts from the chat:...

8 August 2004 Group seeks support for info security and privacy measure

inq7

A GROUP pushing for stricter cybercrime laws in the Philippines is seeking support for a measure protecting confidential information handled by offshore outsourcing firms in the Philippines...

..."If the Philippines wants to get more offshore outsourcing jobs from the US, lawmakers would have to consider passing measures protecting privacy and confidentiality of information," Averia said.

7 August 2004 Amazing Grace

CIO (Australia)

The biggest shock to the system around process has occurred for companies and government agencies that have undertaken offshore outsourcing projects. Far from the common view that we know more than the Indians, local IT departments are stunned at the precision required on their part. One CIO manager said that he had investigated the offshoring option and had backed out. "This is nothing to be proud of," he said, "but my IT team and business colleagues just do not have the discipline to work with the Indians...

..."If you cannot get the business requirements right, then the 20 to 40 percent saving achieved by giving the job to an Indian company flies straight out of the window...

5 August 2004 Microsoft not sending jobs to India

Rediff

...The Seattle-based labour union, Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech), had claimed that it was in possession of internal company documents that showed that Microsoft now employs nearly 2,000 workers in India, double the 970 number it previously acknowledged...

4 August 2004 IBM prefers South Africa as back up for outsourcing

Computer Weekly

IBM said South Africa is establishing itself as a preferred outsourcing destination, and is rapidly becoming a back-up site for India, the world's number one outsourcing provider...

...One of the major challenges facing South Africa, according to IBM, lies in convincing Europe and the US that the country can provide consistent quality, although the lack of an adequate communication infrastructure is another stumbling block on the country's path to becoming a preferred offshore provider...

3 August 2004 Tech Job Rebound - Smoke and Mirrors

Newsfactor

Everyone on the national leadership front, from Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan to President George W. Bush, claims that the economy is getting better and the job market is growing -- particularly in tech jobs. But are the claims true or just smoke and mirrors?...

...Seventy percent of companies Meta Group surveyed are offshore outsourcing Latest News about Outsourcing technical jobs now; that percentage is expected to climb to 90 percent by 2005, according to Rubin. "Outsourcing to (US) consultants still creates jobs; it's offshore outsourcing that's taking jobs away," he says....

2 August 2004 The Death Of American IT Has Been Greatly Exaggerated

Information Week

...confidence is up, but so is insecurity about jobs; some folks feel that offshore outsourcing is sweeping the country and turning us into a nation of brainless, futureless twits, but outsourcing also "is a little bit of a myth," according to the author of a recently released report on IT staffing and compensation...

...the excessive hand wringing over The Death of IT needs to stop. Have a lot of people left the field? No doubt. Has there been enormous pain and difficulty among many whose skills didn't match up or whose employers sought lower labor costs? Definitely...

2 August 2004 BIS warns banks of offshoring risks

Finextra

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is urging financial institutions that outsource business to offshore centres to closely monitor risk and compliance procedures...

...The organisation says firms can mitigate risks by taking steps to draw up clear outsourcing policies, establish effective risk management programmes and analyse the financial and infrastructure resources of the service provider

1 August 2004 Open Ear Policy

CIO

While the offshore outsourcing of IT work may dominate the news in this presidential election year, savvy CIOs know that the success of their companies continues to depend on top-flight, in-house IT talent. In fact, there is a general consensus among CIOs that finding and keeping motivated and talented IT professionals these days requires as much attention as it did during the height of the technology boom in the late '90s...

...Now, IT management has to deal with the fear and uncertainty that many IT professionals are feeling as a result of the stampede toward offshore outsourcing. Even employees who have not lost their jobs thus far are worried about the future...

1 August 2004 Kerry vows to remove incentives for US job exports to Asia

Khaleej Times

...Kerry told cheering delegates he would "close the tax loopholes that reward companies for shipping jobs overseas" and instead "reward companies that create and keep good paying jobs right where they belong...

...the United States Chamber of Commerce, which is leading the effort to stop laws that seek to punish firms for shipping jobs overseas, said offshoring was part of free trade. Restricting US firms from sourcing globally would invite reprisals from trading partners, undermine competitiveness and threaten American global leadership...

16 August 2004 Exigen Group and Dati Join Forces to Create Largest Baltic It Resource

Scotsman.com

...Exigen Group, a global provider of business process software and services, has announced a strategic partnership with Latvian IT services provider, A/S DATI...

...DATI will provide outsourcing services to the two companies' extensive client base, which includes European organizations such as Software AG and Latvia SRS, and North American firms such as AIG, IBM and Wachovia Securities...

5 August 2004 iGATE Reports Second Quarter Revenue Growth of 8.7% Over Same Quarter a Year Ago

Yahoo Finance

iGATE Corporation (Nasdaq: IGTE - News), a global provider of IT and BPO services, today announced consolidated revenues of $65.9 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2004, an 8.7% increase from $60.6 million reported in the same quarter a year ago and a 2.8% sequential increase from $64.1 million in the first quarter 2004. For the first six months of 2004, revenues were $129.9 million compared with revenues of $118.5 million for the first 6 months of 2003. Current and prior period results reflect iGATE's divestiture of its international staffing businesses in Australia and Scotland (previously announced in June) which are reported as discontinued operations.

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News Reviews

Offshore Outsourcing News Review - August 2004

While in America the election campaigns against outsourcing continue, companies in the Philippines, sensing India working to increase its lead in BPO activity, are lobbying for strict cyber crime legislation in an effort to protect their market share from the US.

Increasing costs and indications of labour shortages to come are tempting some Indian companies to look offshore themselves to create subsidiaries. Wipro leads the way, setting up a centre in China. Things can't be all that bad though, with several of the tier I Indian companies maintaining growth levels between 13% and 61%.

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