Nasscom Report From India

Another Nasscom conference is over. This annual event in Mumbai, India, has grown into the largest and possibly most important outsourcing event in the world, with over 35 countries represented and promoted – much more than just an India-only event.

 There were several formal presentations representing the advantages of a number of different world regions. These included: Colombia, Poland, Germany, UK, South Africa, MENA (Middle-East and North Africa), and Africa in general.

The conference was organized some time ago, so it was interesting to see how the political changes in the news were affecting presentations that were supposed to be only positive. The MENA presentations in particular suffered from the various democratic challenges sweeping the region. But what was interesting to note was how presentations from established regions such as South Africa were so negatively received.

South Africa made a strong play over accent. They claimed to have the most attractive accent for voice agents in the offshore outsourcing market, yet there was very little else to support their claims. Even academics were leaving their session wondering what happened to the previously significant contact center industry in that region.

Though Poland was the only Central and Eastern European nation actually presenting on the main agenda, they became grouped with both the UK and Germany. All EU nations and all focused far more on the availability of skills, flexibility, and knowledge than just low-cost workers.

The market for offshore outsourcing has changed and matured, so it’s good to see regions such as Poland now aligning their offering with Western Europe. The wider EU has a strong case when pitching for hi-tech work – customers and suppliers have moved on.