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Hans Van Herwaarden

With Europe eager more than ever to walk the India path, opportunities to get business out of the continent are growing for Indian IT vendors.

And this is happening at a time when offshoring is seen losing charm in the US. The concept is gradually becoming more acceptable in Europe, and perceptions such as it is difficult to offshore to India or India is a faraway land are changing, says Hans Van Herwaarden, Chief Executive officer, Quint.

Quint is an independent management consulting firm specialising in IT-related organisational challenges. It helps companies organise their IT infrastructure and functions, and make IT effective for the business. It determines the strategy and helps select the right outsourcing partners, according to the company.

The situation is different from what it was three years ago. A few daring companies have done it and others are looking at them and saying `let's look into it,' says Herwaarden. He says a lot of visits are going on, and there is a lot more interest in India.

There have been organisational changes in European companies that have helped as well. Earlier, the decision-makers belonged to the older generation who did not want to take too much risk, says Herwaarden. But now that is changing, he adds.

Previously the European companies outsourced work to local IT companies such as Atos Origin, Capgemini and others. These European IT companies were a bridge to the Indian IT vendors because they offshored work to the Indian vendors.

But now the European companies are willing to engage directly with Indian players such as Infosys or Wipro or Tata Consultancy Services.

The Indian vendors are very dedicated, follow procedures correctly and have high quality manpower, which is an advantage, he says. However, they would have to be more flexible and ready to improvise. This could be a challenge because they are not always willing to do so, says Herwaarden. Also, in most cases, the Indian vendors do not have a local foothold, which could be a problem.

Though offshoring is becoming more popular in Europe, US companies are gradually moving away from the business model. They are looking at near-shore locations to outsource work, says Herwaarden.

The major reason behind this is that the price advantage in India is no longer as attractive as it used to be. In India too, prices are rising, and the US and India are coming closer as far as the price structure is concerned. Indian vendors who have nearshore operations will benefit from this trend, says Herwaarden.

E-mail to:Shamik.paul@thehindu.co.in

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