Shift in outsourcing focus

Outsourcing contracts will focus on desktop management, data centre operations and network monitoring to tap the $5.5-billion market of infrastructure management services (IMS).

IMS relates to monitoring, managing and enhancing performance of a client’s IT infrastructure backbone. These include managing servers, data centres, networks and assets and providing desk-side support, IT security and maintenance services.

Such operational tasks will become the forte of offshore providers. Indian vendors, with their proven offshore process expertise and a combination of cost and reliability, stand to gain significantly from this opportunity.

A National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) report said, “Though infrastructure outsourcing has been around for a while, remote infrastructure management services represent a large and relatively untapped segment for offshore Indian vendors. It has been argued that a firm's IT infrastructure is associated and bundled with the physical assets of the IT department and the data centre, and, therefore, precludes offshore delivery.”

“However, it has been observed that 60-70 per cent of the IT services surrounding the data centre, specifically the support functions that manage and maintain the data centre, have been successfully executed remotely — and is hence offshoreable,” it added. It is estimated that 40-60 per cent of the IMS pie may be efficiently delivered through a global delivery model. This translates to a market potential of $55 billion.

“Offshore IMS is a logical extension of India’s offshore-based delivery capability and represents a sizeable opportunity for the vendors. Several global service providers such as IBM, Atos Origin, Accenture, CSC, HP and EDS have already moved components of their infrastructure services delivery processes to India,” the report said.

Indian IT firms are also busy establishing their credentials in this space. HCL Comnet, Infosys, Patni, TCS and Wipro are among the leading Indian vendors, who offer infrastructure management services. According to Forrester, Indian vendors will gain significantly from this opportunity. According to Gartner, the collective contract value for this annualised spending is more than $600 million.