The Hindu Business Line : `West European outsourcing market grows fastest'

Western Europe has become the fastest growing market for IT outsourcing opportunities, outstripping traditional big markets such as the US, the UK, Japan and Australia.

According to Mr Partha Iyengar, Vice-President-Research, Gartner, the IT outsourcing business is set to grow from $191 billion in 2004 to $266 billion in 2009. He said this while delivering the keynote address on "IT value enhancement through effective and efficient delivery of quality IT Services" at the Nasscom Emerging Companies Forum hosted by US Technology Resources at Technopark here.

The forum was centred on the theme of "Creating a client-centric delivery organisation." It deliberated on how IT can help businesses get increased return of investment.

It also dealt with the strategic shift that information technology has undergone over the last decade — from being viewed as a solution provider to being realised as a business partner.

Among others who took part in the forum were Mr Sankar Krishnan, former Partner, McKinsey; Mr Anand Parthasarathy, Consulting Editor, The Hindu; Mr G. Vijaya Raghavan, CEO, Venture Management Associates and founder-CEO, Technopark; and Mr Arun Narayanan, Vice-President-Global Delivery, US Technology Resources.

"Companies in emerging IT hubs like Kerala are now setting new standards of service excellence for global clients," said Mr Arun Narayanan.