India - A Dominant Global Outsourcing Hub: SWOT Analysis of Emerging Technology Sectors

Abstract

Outsourcing can be described as the contracting out of the company’s major functions and activities to an external service or goods provider. India is the most preferred outsourcing destination and is a near synonym to outsourcing. India holds a 44 percent share of the global offshore outsourcing market for software and back-office services. India has achieved remarkable success in the software industry. More than 95 countries outsource their work to India. According to NASSCOM, IT and ITES services exports in India was $17.2bn in 2004-05. During 2005-06 IT and ITES recorded a 35.5 percent growth in exports with revenues of $23.49bn. With the prevailing growth rate India’s software service exports will easily cross the mark of $30bn by the end of 2006-07. The rapidly expanding service sector is emerging as a major contributor to the economic growth. IT and ITES segments remain the key drivers of the growth of this sector. It would add 7 percent to India's GDP by 2010 from present level of 4.1 percent. This paper evaluates emerging challenges for IT and ITES sectors using SWOT analysis.

With India’s strong presence in world software market, India is expected to play a leading role in the bioinformatics revolution. Bioinformatics is the science of developing computer databases and algorithms for the purpose of speeding up and enhancing biological research. Bioinformatics is a next sunrise sector for India. It has all potentials to emulate IT outsourcing success story. This paper analyses India’s competitive position in bioinformatics using SWOT framework.

Keywords: Bioinformatics, IT & ITES, Outsourcing, SWOT