Increases in costs impacting India as competitive offshore destination: Gartner

In its latest assessment of nine Asia Pacific countries as potential offshore service locations, research and analyst firm Gartner, says India is the clear global leader by revenue, while China is the most serious challenger by scale.

But Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam are continuing to gain regional traction for offshore service delivery, while more mature countries, such as Malaysia and the Philippines, are refocusing on their core capabilities of higher-end IT infrastructure, help desk, application and business process services. With an average of 19 per cent of total planned applications spending for 2014 being directed offshore globally, sourcing managers are taking a keen interest in which offshore locations their services are delivered from, according to Gartner research vice president Jim Longwood.

"Ongoing cost pressures in Europe are driving some multinational corporations to consider moving their offshore services from mid-cost countries like Malaysia to lower-cost locations in Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. Some Western countries are becoming more protectionist, which is also having a negative impact on demand for offshore services from Asia Pacific," said Longwood. Cost increases - either due to currency exchange and/or increases in cost for local resources and infrastructure - are affecting the ability of India and China to be as cost-competitive as they have been. However, service providers are also taking advantage of market changes to revise their business strategies, according to Gartner.