Bush's 2nd term signals new IT/BPO wave

NEW DELHI: As America braces up to a second term verdict for George W Bush, Indian software industry is looking up towards USA as a long term ally and partner when it comes to business in the IT sector. Industry pundits in the IT and the BPO sector are quick to congratulate Bush and at the same time are positive that the outsourcing outcry will die down.

Speaking about the impact of US elections on the burgeoning IT industry in India, Nasscom president Kiran Karnik said that the Indian IT industry welcomes the re-election of George W Bush as the President of the largest democracy in the world. The US is the powerhouse of the global economy and the Indian IT industry is delighted in being a partner to US corporate, helping to make them more competitive.

"Software exports to US from India account for 68 percent of our total software exports and have been growing at around 30 percent a year. We are confident that with George Bush getting re-elected, the growth momentum will continue," he added.

India is now expecting that policy makers within President Bush's administration will take cognizance of 'business economics,' as they have done earlier. Research reports by various think tanks and academic institutions in US have already shown that the US economy gains by offshoring work and job loss, if any, due to outsourcing from the US is very small.

"We hope that the Bush administration will be supportive of visa issues, so that there is unhindered movement of professionals, who play a key role in contributing to the growth and development of the US economy," Karnik was quick to add on.

Riding high on the India's success story, Indian BPO companies are confident of continuing with the kind of focus and strong character that they have been doing in the past. According to CEO at Mumbai based Infowavz Zia Shiekh, this election campaign saw a lot of negative remarks being made on the topic of outsourcing and offshoring of jobs. Now this is likely to die down.

"I think that at the same time, president Bush will have to seriously think about taking initiatives and formidable steps towards generating high-end technical jobs in the US, so that the jobs lost can be balanced by new high-end jobs being created in the market," he added.

One of the early trendsetters in the Indian BPO industry, Wipro Spectramind president and CEO Raman Roy confirmed that he always believed that the issue of outsourcing involves commercial realities and it wouldn't have mattered much even if Kerry had won the election.

"I have always said that outsourcing will continue no matter who is elected in the US. This is purely driven by the business dynamics involved in the US and the fact that there is a lot more to be done on this front will make sure that India shines in the coming years to come," he added.

Speaking on the same lines, GM— BPO operations for Noida based R Systems Sidhartha Dubey said that outsourcing of IT to low-cost locations will continue even in a bigger fashion and the opponents of outsourcing phenomenon must realize that this is not happening for the first time.

"Outsourcing has happened in a lot of sectors mostly in the manufacturing side. No one speaks about the Levis factories being closed in the US or the car manufacturing shifting out of US. So this trend of IT work getting done in low cost locations like India will only increase and now with Indian companies improving a lot on the quality front, this is going to provide better options to US based companies looking to outsource," he added.

Overall, this trend of outsourcing has now by all means become a movement and is by no means going to stop or subside. Gauging by the industry sentiments, there are good times ahead for the Indian BPO, outsourcing and offshoring industry as a whole.