Source: www.transworldnews.com

Although India is still far ahead of its nearest competitors in terms of volume of outsourcing business, China, Philippines and Eastern Europe are making fast progress to capture market share from India. Philippines and Eastern Europe score ahead of India and China on many counts and are forcing Indian outsourcing companies to modify their strategy to remain competitive.

There are a number of considerations in terms of identifying a particular country as a favorable spot for outsourcing. Apart from the very obvious cost related advantages, some of the other considerations include: availability of skilled manpower, competitiveness of suppliers/service providers, cultural compatibility and language proficiency, government support, educational system, infrastructure and intellectual property protection. The report evaluates each of these nations on various parameters related to outsourcing. Here is a brief highlight of each of these outsourcing locations and an overview of differences among them.

India:

Early-mover advantage in the outsourcing industry and critical mass has made India the most attractive global location for companies looking at outsourcing. The global leadership achieved by India is not only being achieved by its large availability of skilled labor, especially in the IT industry, but by a strong set of other favorable factors as well, including its strong educational system, cultural compatibility in terms of large English speaking population, huge incentives from the government to promote outsourcing and relatively lower infrastructure and telecom costs.

Further, the outsourcing boom has attracted thousands of service providers in the industry and scalability as well as volume is not an issue In the IT and BPO space, India is far ahead of its immediate competitors. The current economic scenario is also a strong supportive factor in the growth of Indian economy. The country boasts one of the highest GDP growth rates in the world and its buoyant capital markets has attracted huge foreign investments in the country.

One of the major drawbacks of India has been its poor infrastructure. However, the increasing interest of foreign investors to participate in infrastructure development in India has resulted in huge foreign direct investment inflow in this sector.

India’s leadership position is being given strong competition by Eastern Europe, Latin America and other Asian players like Philippines. The sharp appreciation of the Rupee against the US dollar is also a concern. Another factor going against India is the increasing preference of US and European companies to engage in nearshoring rather than offshoring. New players like countries in Latin America are posing stiff challenges to Indian companies, who are now themselves forced to set up offshoring centers there. . The rising cost of wages, expected shortage of skilled labor in the future and near saturation levels in tier one cities are factors to consider when choosing India.

China:

China has a significant advantage over India in terms of labor cost, booming economic growth and huge inflow of foreign investment in the country.

China is fast emerging as a outsourcing powerhouse in the information technology space. China has a reverse brain-drain situation and a fast-growing IT talent pool. China’s efforts in becoming a future IT outsourcing powerhouse are also supported by government officials, many of whom are forging partnerships with multinationals to train IT engineers.

One of the biggest problems for China is the cultural and language barrier. The lack of English proficiency and significant cultural differences with the Western World acts as a big deterrent for China. Further, the communist government and tight political control also poses difficulties for China to succeed. Also, even though China has a large pool of IT workers, the quality of IT talent pool is still a question.

The Chinese government has realized the potential of outsourcing and is taking steps to capitalize on this opportunity and to overcome roadblocks, Major emphasis is been given to English learning by the Chinese government to prepare the country’s IT graduates for outsourcing jobs.

Another interesting trend is that Indian companies like Infosys and Wipro have started software development centers in China to take advantage of low cost labor rates.

The Philippines:

In recent years, the Philippines has become one of the most preferred offshore destination for call center outsourcing, specializing in customer support services. Like Indians, Filipinos also have a high level of English proficiency and strong customer orientation.

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Source: money.cnn.com
Company announces second office in Mumbai

PPD, Inc. today announced the appointment of Philip Mathew, M.D., as director of strategic development, to lead the company’s Phase II-IV operations and expansion in India.

Dr. Mathew will provide strategic leadership for PPD’s drug development business on the Indian subcontinent, including clinical project management and patient recruitment for key therapeutic areas. He will also be responsible for identifying and helping to develop new clinical sites and business opportunities as well as liaising with local and national government departments.

“A native of India, Dr. Mathew brings extensive clinical trials experience and in-depth knowledge of the healthcare industry in this country,” said Simon Britton, vice president of clinical operations for PPD in Asia. “His leadership will enable us to strengthen our presence in this important global clinical research market as we continue to meet the growing needs of our clients. We are pleased to welcome him to PPD.”

The company also announced it is opening a second Mumbai office, where Dr. Mathew will be based. The office, located at the Dynasty facility in the Mumbai business district, expands the company’s global footprint for providing clinical services.

Prior to joining PPD, Dr. Mathew was associate medical director at Covance Inc. He had previously served as principal investigator with MDS Pharma Services; attending physician with the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital; instructor of medicine with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; staff physician with the Clinical Research Center of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; and consultant physician with the Church of South India Mission Hospital.

Dr. Mathew attended St. Joseph’s College at Calicut University in Kerala, India, and received bachelor’s degrees in medicine and surgery from Calicut Medical College. He earned his medical degree in general medicine from Christian Medical College at Vellore in Tamil Nadu, India. Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and in its subspecialty of infectious diseases, Dr. Mathew has authored numerous publications and presentations.

PPD is a leading global contract research organization providing discovery, development and post-approval services as well as compound partnering programs. Our clients and partners include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government organizations. With offices in 30 countries and more than 10,000 professionals worldwide, PPD applies innovative technologies, therapeutic expertise and a commitment to quality to help its clients and partners maximize returns on their R&D investments and accelerate the delivery of safe and effective therapeutics to patients. For more information, visit our Web site at http://www.ppdi.com.

Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations and assumptions, including expectations and assumptions about the above-named employee’s performance and value to PPD contained in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Although PPD attempts to be accurate in making those forward-looking statements, it is possible that future circumstances might differ from the assumptions on which such statements are based. In addition, other important factors which could cause results to differ materially include the following: the ability to attract and retain key personnel; economic conditions and outsourcing trends in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries and government-sponsored research sector; loss of or delay in large contracts; dependence on collaborative relationships; rapid technological advances that make our products and services less competitive; risks associated with acquisitions and investments, such as impairments; competition within the outsourcing industry; continued success in sales growth; and the other risk factors set forth from time to time in the SEC filings for PPD, copies of which are available free of charge upon request from the PPD investor relations department.