The Hindu Business Line : US outsourcers feel talent crunch in India

Terms of assessment
The report surveyed 13 leading AO providers across 50 criteria grouped under current offerings, strategy and market presence.

Chennai March 29 Indian companies may not be the only ones to feel the talent crunch in the country. According to a recent Forrester Research report, North American customers have also begun feeling the skills shortage among Indian application outsourcing (AO) providers.

"They (offshore companies, mainly in India) have historically met our expectations very well, but I've seen a trend in the past six months that suggests they are having greater difficulty supplying people with the right skills. The actual supply is adequate, but the supply of the right skills is inadequate," the report quotes a customer.

It also says that some large customers have begun to notice that the ability to scale up rapidly — a key element of the offshore value proposition — is beginning to erode.

13 surveyed

The Forrester Wave: North American Applications Outsourcing Q1 2007 Report surveyed 13 leading AO providers across 50 criteria grouped under current offerings, strategy and market presence. Companies surveyed include Accenture, Capgemini, Cognizant Technology Solutions, IBM, Infosys Technologies, Keane, Perot Systems, Satyam Computers, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Wipro Technologies.

The report also says customers want companies to be proactive and suggest meaningful improvements. "They've been doing the same thing for 25 other customers, so they should bring the best of what other customers are doing to help us implement best practices. We have to push them a lot. It is hard with every outsourcer," the report quotes a customer. Another response goes "They are a CMM Level 5 shop, but they very quickly forget about that when they are on a project team in our office. Then they fall into a mode of operation that may not have as much rigour ... .They do not push back".

Leading the pack

Among MNCs, IBM and Accenture lead the pack of AO providers in all criteria, while among offshore companies Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Satyam, Wipro and Keane are categorised as leaders. Cognizant is rated ahead of Infosys and TCS in current offerings, technical support and ability to provide a cultural fit. The report also identifies Satyam's strength in enterprise applications and TCS' strong price competitiveness, strong processes and flexible contract terms.

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