REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 30, 1999--
One of the greatest risks facing businesses today is the inability to hire high tech personnel and the spiraling costs to keep existing employees.
It appears certain this trend will continue to accelerate. The Department of Labor estimates the shortage of high tech workers will exceed 1,000,000 by the end of 2005. That equates to a 285% increase over the next five years.
US colleges are graduating fewer software engineers today than in 1995, at a time when technology has moved to the forefront of corporate agendas for small and large cap firms alike. Whether developing a corporate intranet, deploying an e-commerce or company wide ERP solution, IT human resources are tapped in the United States.
With costs spiraling, job vacancies compounding, and the competitive pressures for "bleeding edge" high tech business re-engineering exploding, how can American companies hope to deliver?
Offshore outsourcing of their high tech requirements is a rapidly developing alternative.
There are numerous countries positioning to provide these services to the US but, measured in terms of price and performance, the nation of India has a decisive lead.
Currently 158 of the Fortune 500 firms outsource development requirements to India.
The challenge for US companies is selecting a skilled firm in India at the best possible price, and to avoid a myriad of potential pitfalls.
In an effort to assist companies searching for the proper development firm to handle their IT requirements, a new firm has entered the arena, Piton International. Piton has built a comprehensive database of the providers in India and assists companies in making knowledgeable selections based on their specific requirements.
"India has set their sights on this opportunity," states founder Steve Bordley. "95% of India's software development efforts were focused on software development outsourcing in 1998 and they have averaged an annual growth rate of 50% over the past ten years, with a projected market value of $65 Billion by Year 2008. They can't alleviate the entire IT shortage here in the states but they certainly offer some distinct advantages."
A study funded by the World Bank uncovered an increasing preference among US firms to develop their software in India due to its quality and cost advantages.
